HomeMy WebLinkAboutCOM 0377.007 2024-2026P PCENRM
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From: Kylie Borges
Sent: Monday, July 21, 2025 4.42 PM
To: Council Testimony COUNTY CLERK
Subject: Please vote YES on Resolution No. 234-25 COUNTY OF HAWAI' I
RECEIi�ED�
Time 8:00a.M. By
Aloha E, esteemed County Councilmembers,
Date . JUL 2 2 2025
My name is Kylie and I'm a diaspora Kanaka Maoli, currently residing in San Jose, CA
(95112) but from Pahoa, HI (96778). I aim writing today in STRONG support of Resolution
No. 234-25.
From the moment the U.S. military set foot on Hawaiian soil, it has been a poor land
steward. From its (continued) illegal occupation of Hawai'i, its nuclear bombing of
Kaho'olawe in the 1940s, its poisoning of thousands at the Red Hill storage facility, its
decades -long bombing on Makuloa, and more, the U.S. military has demonstrated time and
again that it is both incredibly reckless (with respect to life and the land) AND fails to take
accountability for the damage it causes.
The U.S. military has previously confirmed that some of the explosives they're "training"
with at P6hakuloa include depleted uranium, which carries considerable health risks for
humans and for which the military has not effectively communicated to the residents.
Furthermore, thanks to climate change and the U.S. military's poor land stewardship, there is
a greater risk of fires —like the brush fires that originated in the P6hakuloa Training Area as
recently as 2023—that have already claimed thousands of acres of land on the Big Island.
How long until another P6hakuloa fire breaks out and claims human LIVES, like what
happened in Lahaina just last year? Knowing the U.S. military's track record of inadequate
communication about health hazards and their lack of accountability for the environmental
devastation they cause, how are residents expected to feel secure in their homes or in their
future? My family still lives on the Big Island, as do more than 200,000 residents. This is
unacceptable.
For all of these reasons, the Hawai'i Island County Council must pass Resolution No. 234-
25, which would:
• demand the U.S. military halt its bombing and desecration at P6hakulola,,
Comm. o v
Ref. To:
1 Ref. Date , UL 2 2025
• blocks land swaps and lease renewals with the U.S. military unless and until they
meet the conditions that were established in the Ka Pa'akai o ka `Aina v. Land
Use Commission Hawai'i Supreme Court case, which includes, "comprehensive
cleanup,, restoration, and bioremediation," and
• requir'&u fa.11",Kd Pa'akai analysis of Pohakuloa be done
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Mahalo nui for';your time. I hope.,you'll vote YES on Resolution No. 234-25 to ensure that
this land in Hawai'i is -treated with care, not only to protect the health and safety of the
current and future Hawai'i Island residents and land, but also because it is the pono thing to
do.
Sincerely,
Kylie B.
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