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Cocos Island (Guam)
Encyclopedia
- Not to be confused with Isla del Coco or Cocos Keeling Islands.
Guam
Guam is an organized, unincorporated territory of the United States located in the western Pacific Ocean. It is one of five U.S. territories with an established civilian government. Guam is listed as one of 16 Non-Self-Governing Territories by the Special Committee on Decolonization of the United...
, located within the Merizo Barrier Reef, part of the municipality
Municipality
A municipality is essentially an urban administrative division having corporate status and usually powers of self-government. It can also be used to mean the governing body of a municipality. A municipality is a general-purpose administrative subdivision, as opposed to a special-purpose district...
of Merizo
Merizo, Guam
Merizo , is the southernmost village in Guam, a U.S. territory. Cocos Island is a part of the municipality. The village's population has decreased since the island's 2000 census. - History :...
. The island is uninhabited, 1600 metres (5,249.3 ft) long in a southwest-northeast direction, but only between 200 metres (656.2 ft) and 300 metres (984.3 ft) wide, and has an area of 386303 square metres (95.5 acre). It sits atop the southwestern coral
Coral
Corals are marine animals in class Anthozoa of phylum Cnidaria typically living in compact colonies of many identical individual "polyps". The group includes the important reef builders that inhabit tropical oceans and secrete calcium carbonate to form a hard skeleton.A coral "head" is a colony of...
reef
Reef
In nautical terminology, a reef is a rock, sandbar, or other feature lying beneath the surface of the water ....
rim of Cocos Lagoon
Lagoon
A lagoon is a body of shallow sea water or brackish water separated from the sea by some form of barrier. The EU's habitat directive defines lagoons as "expanses of shallow coastal salt water, of varying salinity or water volume, wholly or partially separated from the sea by sand banks or shingle,...
.
The west coast of the island is a resort hotel complex. The east side is public land part of the Territorial Park System. Ferries run to Merizo, Guam
Merizo, Guam
Merizo , is the southernmost village in Guam, a U.S. territory. Cocos Island is a part of the municipality. The village's population has decreased since the island's 2000 census. - History :...
.
A Coast Guard
United States Coast Guard
The United States Coast Guard is a branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven U.S. uniformed services. The Coast Guard is a maritime, military, multi-mission service unique among the military branches for having a maritime law enforcement mission and a federal regulatory agency...
long-range navigation station operated on Cocos Island from 1944-1963.
Military tests on soil from Cocos Island in late 2005 showed levels of polychlorinated biphenyl
Polychlorinated biphenyl
Polychlorinated biphenyls are a class of organic compounds with 2 to 10 chlorine atoms attached to biphenyl, which is a molecule composed of two benzene rings. The chemical formula for PCBs is C12H10-xClx...
s (PCBs) contamination 4,900 times higher than the federally recommended level. Tests on 12 species of fish in the lagoon showed all but one of those species had high levels of PCBs. One had 265 times the acceptable level. The contamination most likely originated from transformers and other electrical equipment at the Coast Guard
Coast guard
A coast guard or coastguard is a national organization responsible for various services at sea. However the term implies widely different responsibilities in different countries, from being a heavily armed military force with customs and security duties to being a volunteer organization tasked with...
station, but was not tested for earlier.
Officials from the Guam Environmental Protection Agency
Guam Environmental Protection Agency
The Guam Environmental Protection Agency is a government agency of Guam. Its administrative headquarters and its operation building are in Tiyan, Barrigada.-External links:*...
, Guam Department of Public Health and Social Services
Guam Department of Public Health and Social Services
The Guam Department of Public Health and Social Services is an agency of the government of Guam. The agency's headquarters are in Mangilao.-External links:*...
, and the Coast Guard announced their findings on 20 February 2006 and warned people not to eat fish caught in the lagoon.
See also
- Health effects of PCBs