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Home My WebLink AboutCOM 0377.357 2024-2026Nancy Redfeather P.O. Box 906 Kealakekua, Hawaii 96750 nancvredfeath eKaDhawai i.rr.com N_ Testimony: Strong Support for County of Hawai'i Resolution 234-25 ' Regarding: US Army Land Retention Efforts at Pohakuloa c August 18, 2025 CZ) ZR To whom it may concern,, 0 As the U.S. Army and others continue to analyze the PTA Environmental Impact v Statement and begin to consider how future stewardship of the area will affect the US Armies desire to retain up to approximately 23,000 acres of state-owned land at Pohakuloa Training Area (PTA) for military training we are again at a crossroads. The public has again been invited to comment, this time about giving permission to seek fair market value for and negotiate a price for this fee simple State land with the US Army. I am opposed to the US Army purchasing, renewing their Lease, or swapping State conservation lands at PTA that are currently being used as a military training range. From a Civil Beat article dated August 2022, it appears that DLNR Agency itself is in conflict: "It appears that military training is in direct conflict of the Conservation District designation" and "in their written comments, the Department of Land and Natural Resources castigated the Army for issuing a report that contains major data gaps, relies on outdated studies, fails to specify adequate mitigation, and falls short of meeting minimum requirements of Hawaii state laws." This is not comforting information for the communities of Hawaii Island. It is my understanding that the area has been used for military training since 1943, and the state-owned land has been leased by the Army since 1964. PTA is the largest contiguous live -fire range and maneuver training area in the state and is located between Mauna Loa, Mauna Kea, and Hualalai on the island of Hawaii. Of the 132,810 acres at PTA, approximately 23,000 are leased from the state. The current 65- year lease is set to expire in August 2029. Because I stand in opposition to the continued occupation of State conservation lands on Hawaii Island for military training exercises, I would like to briefly identify points that should be seriously considered by BLNR when making the decision to do a land swap, renegotiate the Lease, or sell fee -simple. Once the Military holds these lands Comm. 0OUO'k12 1 Ref. To: Ref. Date fee -simple, without any controls through the Lease process, the State will be without recourse. The Red Hill contamination of the Oahu lens should give us all pause to reconsider. Times have changed, and conditions have changed, we must change also. Wildfire has recently been designated as the greatest environmental threat to the Hawaiian Islands. Bombing ranges start wildfires. The communities of Waikoloa and Waiki'i are both at risk. This should be a major concern to the State of Hawaii and the Governor's Office. 2. The Army has not been a responsible environmental steward of the Pohakuloa lands. In the Army's current Lease it states that the Army is required to "make every reasonable effort to remove or deactivate all live or blank ammunition upon completion of a training exercise or prior to entry by the said public, whichever is sooner." Has the Army complied with this lease provision and what were the steps taken and when to fulfill this promise? A thorough investigation of the entire area (not just 10%) should be undertaken to determine whether there is any military debris remaining and that would also include unexploded ordnance on any lands that have been used for training/exercises over the historical time period of your occupation. I know that over many years, there have been many Cultural Monitors who spent extensive time on the Pohakuloa lands and have observed firsthand military debris, including unexploded ordinance and spent shell casings on the grounds of the lands leased by the Army. 3. There was a draft document titled: "Action Memorandum for the Time Critical Removal Action" prepared 3/2015 by the US Army Garrison at Wheeler Army airfield on Schofield Barracks in Wahiawa, Oahu, Hawaii. The bazooka range at Pohakuloa was used as a military maneuver area through the early 2000s. During the joint DLNR/Army inspection in 2014, the area was found to be "heavily contaminated on the surface with potentially explosive materials and munition debris. 4 different types of ordinance were observed to be present." 1.) M29A2 training rounds with dummy M405 fuses 2.) Practice 81mm mortars 3.) Other high explosive anti-tank rifle grenades 4.) M28A2 bazooka rounds with M404 fuse 5.) M30 white phosphorus bazooka rounds At that time the Army noted the number of ordinance present on the ground "coupled with the accessibility to the pubic make for the potential for significant danger to public health and welfare." Estimated cost of clean-up in 2015 was $2,353,000.00. The reason the Army recommended this clean-up was that it "presents an imminent and substantial endangerment to public health, or welfare, or the environment." Was the clean-up effort accomplished, is it now safe for the public and the environment, what and how much waste was collected from the area, where was it disposed? This information should be of concern to the Council. 4. Recently the Army has driven ungulates West from its leased lands, and down into the Waikoloa and Waimea area greatly affecting producing farms in those areas and requiring landowners for the first time to fence their acreage. That was not a responsible action. This action should concern the Mayor and Council of Hawai'i Island. 5. An additional consideration for the Mayor and Council is the contamination of ground water serving communities at the lower elevations, contamination of soils from depleted uranium pieces and dust kicked up in the impact zone unknowingly (because you really don't know where all the DU lies) impacting both the soldiers and communities down wind, and the potential for ancient sites which have not yet been surveyed to be destroyed. Concerns still Lingering from the 8/2018 EA Finding of No Significant Impact 1. 1 can see that a through evaluation of the potential ancient and historical sites has not been completed. There have been identified 1,198 sites, 822 have not been evaluated, and 364 are traditional Hawaiian sites, and that only 20% of the high impact zone has been evaluated. That no sacred sites were identified seems highly unlikely. This information should have affected the final determination of No Significant Impact. Should be a BLNR concern also. 2. The Hawai'i County Council has passed various Resolutions demonstrating concern about these potential impacts. Resolution 639-88 urges the military to address the potential hazards of DU at the Pohakuloa Training Area. This Resolution has 8 action steps including ceasing of live fire and clean up of DU that have not been adequately addressed in the past 9 years. Should be a BLNR concern also. 4. The State of Hawai'i land lease does not allow for storage of nuclear storage on site, even though the NRC has given Pokahuloa a permit to possess DU on 3 site. The Army has not been transparent with the public about the use of DU coated weapons being used currently on site. IF the Army is not using DU coated weapons and firing them at the Pohakuloa Training Site, you should tell the public. That would make a huge difference in many peoples minds of how they view your continued presence here. Another BLNR concern. In Summary: Personal Observations: I am a farmer and retired educator who has lived in Kona for the past 50 years. I live in the Kawanui Ahupua'a of Kona at the 1,500 ft. elevation and many times over the past 25 years my house has shook from the ordnance that has been used at Pokaukoa. I have also been out on my farm and literally felt the earth shake under my feet. Can this possibly trigger earthquakes or shift movements of magma beneath the surface? I would like to see any seismic and geological information that was collected from the EIS. Thank you for taking all these concerns under consideration. I will look for updates on this process in our local news, unless you of course wish to update the stakeholders in a timely manner. Mahalo. Sincerely, Nancy Redfeather Kawanui, Hawai'i nancyredfeather@hawaii.rr.com