HomeMy WebLinkAboutCOM 0377.514 2024-2026From: radhika gupta
Sent: Tuesday, September 2, 2025 6:23 AM N
To: Council Testimony o
Cc: Kimball, Heather, Kagiwada, Jennifer; Onishi, Dennis; Kierkiewicz, Ashley; KanealL chi,
Kleinfelder, Matt; Hustace, James; Galimba, Michelle M.; Villegas, Rebecca,ghaba�
y
Holeka
Subject: Strong Support of Resolution 234-25
Aloha Chair Inaba, Vice Chair Onishi and councilmembers, N `"
My name is Radhika Gupta, and I am a resident of the state of California in Santa Clara County and I am
writing to testify in strong support of Resolution 234-25: urging the State of Hawai'i to protect the health and
safety of Hawai'i Island residents by ceasing ALL live -fire exercises at Pohakuloa Training Area until a full
archaeological inventory survey and Ka Pa'akai analysis are completed, and by rejecting any lease renewals
or land swaps with the military.
For over six decades, the military has used these sacred conservation lands at Pohakuloa—leased for just $1
in 1964—for destructive training activities. Despite their legal and cultural significance, these lands have been
bombed, burned, and contaminated. More than 1,000 wildfires have been sparked, endangered species
habitats destroyed, and unexploded ordnance and depleted uranium shells continue to threaten the safety of
our people and environment. In the entire time they occupied PTA, the Army has given the people of
Hawaii NO indication they will ever be good stewards.
The courts have already confirmed that the State has failed to uphold its constitutional duty to monitor and
protect these lands. In Ching v. Case (2019), the Hawai'i Supreme Court found the State breached its trust
obligations by neglecting cleanup and oversight responsibilities at Pohakuloa. These failures cannot continue.
The Army's own environmental review was rejected by the Board of Land and Natural Resources in May. The
FEIS omitted key cultural and environmental surveys, failed to meaningfully assess contamination risks to
groundwater, and ignored the constitutional requirement to protect Native Hawaiian rights. To this day, no
comprehensive archaeological inventory survey or Ka Pa'akai analysis has been completed, despite their clear
legal mandate.
The Hawai'i State Constitution is explicit: these public trust lands must be held for the benefit of Native
Hawaiians and the general public —not for military destruction. Article XII, Section 7 further mandates
protection of Native Hawaiian cultural and religious practices. Continuing live -fire exercises in violation of these
constitutional protections is unacceptable.
Before any discussion of lease renewal or land swaps, the military must first finance and complete a
comprehensive cleanup, restoration, and bioremediation plan to heal the lands it has degraded.
Approving Resolution 234-25 sends a powerful message that Hawaii County stands with its people —
families, communities, cultural practitioners, and environmental stewards who have long raised concerns about
PTA's short- and long-term impacts.
It signals that Hawai'i County will no longer accept unilateral military decisions that compromise our land,
culture, and health without meaningful engagement, cleanup commitments, and legal compliance with public
trust obligations.
Further, as a settler myself on Indigenous Lands (Lisjan Territories) and as someone who suddenly started
having a "wildfire" season during my childhood, I deeply urge the council members to not only respect the
terms of the resolution, but to consult Indigenous Peoples in all decisions as the United Nations has laid out in
their declarations on the rights of Indigenous People which, amongst other things, lay out the need for Free,
Prior, and Informed Consent — none of which appears to be present here. If you'd like to take this further, I
deeply encourage reading the Land Back Red Paper or at least the Part One: Spectrum of Consent Section,
from Yellowhead Institute OR engaging with the work of Rematriation focused organizations like Sogorea Te'
Land Trust. I am sure there are organizations doing similar work in Hawai'i and I urge you to consider their
viewpoints as primary — not as an afterthought or only when demanded to do so by legislative / judicial powers
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or mass public mobilization. I visited Hawai'i twice — once when my father won an award for the Best Paper at
Percom 2005 and once to compete in a choral competition on its 50th anniversary where my choir was blessed
to place first. Both times I was stunned by the natural beauty; or so I thought; of the Islands. In the 10-20 years
since these respective visits, I have come to deeply respect and appreciate the Indigenous Peoples who
continue to protect about 80% of our world's rapidly diminishing biodiversity.
I hope that the council does right by the peoples who live on and have — historically & today, protected these
lands. Thank you for reading my message.
Radhika "Rads" Gupta (they/she)
Santa Clara County, CA