HomeMy WebLinkAboutCOM 0377.158 2024-2026DATE: Sunday, August17,2025
TO: Hawaii County Council, Policy Committee on Environmental and Natural Resource
Management N
FROM: Ronald Fujiyoshi, 1196 W. Kawailani St., Hilo, H196720
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RE: Resolution 234-25, A resolution urging the State of Hawaii to ensure the health and"
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safety of Hawaii Island residents by requesting the military to cease all bombing and co
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desecration activities at the Pohakuloa Training Area, rejecting land swaps and lease
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renewals with the military unless certain stipulations are established, and conducting a_Ka
Pa' akai analysis on the area. to
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Dear members of the Hawaii County Policy Committee on Environmental and Natural
Resource Management. Mahalo for the opportunity to testify in writing on Resolution 234-
25.1 want to state clearly that I stand in strong support of the resolution.
Although I am not Kanaka Maoli, the host people of this land, I first moved to Moku O
Keawe in 1957, sixty-eight years ago. My spouse was born on Hawaii Island and is of a
third -generation family that calls Hawaii Island her home.
I support resolution 234-25 for the following reasons:
• 1 do not believe the US military has been a good neighbor. Its bombing of the
Pohakuloa Training Area (PTA) and preparing people for war has affected negatively
both the psyche and the land of Hawaii Island. The Hawaiian Kingdom was a neutral
nation renouncing war to settle differences.
• Having the US military in Hawaii makes us, not safer, but more a target of military
action against us.
• My research leads me to believe that depleted uranium particles are harmful to the
health of our people and especially to the young. Bombing of the land and fires
caused by neglect causes these depleted uranium particles to travel in the air.
Much of PTA is on the ahupuaa of Kaohe, whose name indicates that it is a major
aquifer that supplies fresh water to Hawaii Island. This water source is threatened
by the bombing and military practice conducted by the US military.
• I am aware that the Hawaii Supreme Court ruled in 2019 that the State of Hawaii
breached its constitutional duty to inspect and monitor the land at PTA to ensure
that the military complied with lease terms and cleanup obligations.
• 1 have also been made aware that the Hawaii Supreme Court ruled in 2000 that the
Ka Pa' akai analysis is required to protect Native Hawaiian cultural practices and
resources. This has never been conducted on the PTA.
• I have also been made aware that on May 9, 2025 the State Board of Land and
Natural Resources voted to reject the US Army's final Environmental Impact
Statement to extend its lease for the PTA after listening to hours of testimony to do
SO.
For these reasons, I ask you Council members to pass this resolution and request the U.S.
Military to immediately cease all bombing and desecration activities at PTA.
Mahalo for this opportunity to testify! Comm. o
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