HomeMy WebLinkAboutCOM 0176.001 2002-2004 for Public Works and [ntergovernmental Relations Committee April 1, 2003
re. resolution 54-03, supporting formation of a community advisory board to provide
citizen input for Pohakuloa Training Area.
Cory Hazden PO Box 10265 Hilo 96721 968-8965 mh@interpac.net
I support an advisory board for Pohakuloa. I met with some of you about my concerrts,
and sent a report on Pohakuloa to others.
[ believe our country needs a strong defensive force. And I have the greatest respect for
people in uniform, who are willing to put their lives on the line for the rest of us.
But I hope the Council will send a strong message to the military that the people of
Hawaii [sland are deeply concerned about activities on current and former military sites.
With Sierra Club, [wrote the Army and our Congresspeople in December 2002 asking
that a board be set up. The Army wrote back March 6 saying they're working on it.
And I received supportive letters from Rep. Case and Rep. Abercrombie. But we still
don't have a board.
We need a board to address many concems. Three concerns are immediate. (1) The
military needs to clean up hazards on former military sites. (2) Expansion is planned at
Pohakuloa (3) The environment is not being protected at Pohakuloa.
First, on former sites: my report includes a map showing only about IS sites, but it toms out
there at least 53 sites on Hawaii Island. There are known hazards on 47 of these sites. For
5 sites, there are no records of what hazards may or may not exist.*
What we do know is not reassuring. On the Largest site, Waikoloa Maneuver Area, 200
square miles, five to ten thousand people now live, work, or go to school. Live ordnance
was found there in 2002, 1999, 1998, 1994, 1993, 1983, 1954, and 1945. Three people
were been killed by that ordnance, in 1954 and i 945.
Cleanup is underway, but at present funding levels cleanup will take 120 years. One-
fourth of the area is not even being investigated for cleanup-because landowners refuse
right of entry, or active training is ongoing.
Environment Hcrwmr reseazched former sites in 1992 and concluded that the list of
hazardous sites is probably incomplete, and that explosives were probably used on most
training areas. Old explosives can become unstable, corrode, and release toxic
substances.
Comm. No. ~ ~b•
File No. w~q
Ref. To: tr~~r~ eG
Ref. Date APR 1 2003
Sierra Club is writing to the Army asking for site characterization studies on all former
military sites on Hawaii Island, a status report on Waikoloa Maneuver Area, and a
statement on the pattern of practice for restoring former military sites.
Weal] remember that the military withheld the truth about germ and chemical tests at
Waiakea Forest Reserve in the 1960s. No one was told about the-hazazds until Patsy
Mink dug up the truth. We must never allow an unknowing public to be exposed to
hazazds from the military again.
Second. on the expansion: the Army is proposing to expand Pohakuloa by 23,000 acres,
bring in larger planes, and build a new tank trail from Pohakuloa to Kawaihae.
But the military already controls 4% of Hawaii Island and 22% of Oahu. And Ron Borne,
Transformation Manager for US Army Hawaii, said if the Army can't get the 23,000
acres, it "would took at doing this training some other location...using existing military
land." So I question whether the military actually needs more land.
This proposed expansion is imminent: the draft Environmental Impact Statement is due
in May or June. Comments will be taken for 45 days.
Third, on the environment: in the 1980s the Army built a lazge complex at Pohakuloa
without doing proper environmental studies. This brought a lawsuit and then a settlement
agreement. But the Army has not lived up to the agreement.
Given this history, I urge you to take action. First, please support a board for Pohakuloa.
Second, please use the comment period after the Drafr Environmental Impact Statement
to call for cleanup of old military land and question the need for any new land.
'The one remaining site is an active one, Kilauea Military Camp. Information is
compiled from Formerly Used Defense Site website.