HomeMy WebLinkAboutCOM 0377.686 2024-2026From:
Jeanne I Wheeler
Sent:
Monday, September 1, 2025 6:50 PM
To:
Council Testimony
Cc:
Kimball, Heather, Kagiwada, Jennifer, Onishi, Dennis; Kierkiewicz, Ashley;
KmNealiic,
Kleinfelder, Matt; Galimba, Michelle M.; Villegas, Rebecca; Inaba, Holeka;
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James
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Subject:
Please continue your SUPPORT for Res. 234-25
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Aloha Chair and Council Members,
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I write again to register my full support of Resolution 234-25 to protect the health, safety, and cultural integrlR of "
Hawaii Island. This is an important & historic opportunity for all concerned residents.
We ask that you please unanimously Vote in SUPPORT of Resolution 234-25 that will help end Pohakuloa live fire and
bombing practice, and further contamination and destruction of the landscape and soil/air quality in the Pohakuloa
Training Area. By rejecting land swaps and lease renewals with the U.S. Military unless specific stipulations are
established, we can work for actual adherence to our Hawai'i State Constitution and motto through the Ka Pa'akai
Analysis on the area.
Pohakuloa - a sacred and ecologically vital area - has for decades been subjected to abuse, contamination and
destruction from military activity. These impacts extend far beyond the immediate training grounds, as what happens on
the land directly affects our island's water quality and quantity. The pollutants and toxins from bombing and live fire seep
into the soil, travel into our aquifers, and threaten the clean water that sustains our families, farms, and fisheries.
The Board of Land and Natural Resources recognized this danger when they denied the U.S. Army's Final Environmental
Impact Statement in May 2025 - its second failure to meet the requirements of our laws. The Army's recent partial clean-
up efforts are not real acts of goodwill; they are strategic moves to secure more land and reframe their public image.
True stewardship means consistent respect for cultural sites and environmental health - not compliance only when more
land is at stake.
Pohakuloa is culturally sacred. Its central location at high elevation greatly impacts our island's ecological health. We
cannot allow further poisoning of our land, air, and water under the guise of national defense. To protect this area means
protecting our people, our culture, and our future.
I urge you to please adopt Resolution 234-25 without delay.
Please review these articles:
The Cost of the U.S. Military in Hawai'i:
https://hawa ilfirst. blog/2025/08/27/the-cost-of-hosting-the-u-s-military-i n-hawa i%CA% BBi/
The Army is Not Our Neighbor:
https:Hethanmckown.substack.com/p/the-army-is-not-our-neighbor?r=3bxyhg&tried Redi rect=true&utm_medi um=ios
Mahalo,
Jeanne Wheeler
Pahoa,96778
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