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Home My WebLink AboutCOM 0955.003 2008-2010 MM. Pi 14 54 Erot Hawai'i County Council Committee on Human Services & Economic Develbpi'rrent Tuesday, October 5, 2010 10:45 AM 1 n County Councilroom, 25 Aupuni St., Hilo (. HT "' presentation by Rick Campbell, director of Youth Challenge Academy written comments by Cory Harden, Box 10265, Hilo, Occupied Hawai'i, 96721 808 - 968 -8965 mhna interpac.net It's unfortunate it took almost a year for someone to come answer • questions about the Youth Challenge Academy (YCA). I do not support the Academy. I do support restoring Kulani Correctional Facility (KCF) or starting a new alternative facility. I also support expanding the Natural Area Reserve. I urge County Council to get answers these questions: • What is the military track record at Kulani? In the 1960s, the Army tested deadly germ and chemical agents nearby, in secret. In the 1980s and 1990s, when military forces trained there, they often did night exercises which risked disturbing nesting birds. Every time a new officer took command, which was often, shell casings were left scattered on the ground. The Boy's School building ended up with broken windows and graffiti. • Is it wise for troubled youth to live miles from emergency services and recreation activities? • Shouldn't we wait for information from the audit and contested case? An audit of events at Kulani is due in January at the State Legislature. A contested case action is pending against the Board of Land and Natural Resources approval of YCA. • Is there funding to start YCA in January 2011 as planned? It appears State matching funds are needed to get Federal funds. But the State legislature can't vote till it convenes the third week of January. • Can one state agency transfer conservation land to another state agency? Instead of Public Safety transferring the land to Department of Defense, shouldn't the land go back to Department of Land and Natural Resources? • Are claims of YCA success valid? "Twenty -two percent of the applicants that were accepted into the ChalleNGe program last year failed to complete the [5- month] Residential Phase. "[1] Perhaps "cherry- picking," a 2010 YCA study only considered `programs that had stable staffing and that tended to receive more applicants than they could serve." [2] "...many of the differences measured between the groups at 21 months were smaller than the corresponding differences at the nine -month point... the program group's advantage in high school completion may continue to narrow over time." [2] [1] National Guard Youth Foundation website [2] Making the Transition: Interim Results of the National Guard Youth ChalleNGe Evaluation, May 2010 S. COMM �O. a Ref. To Rte: Date, _QQT 0 5 209 • How would Native Hawaiian gathering rights, practices, and burials be impacted by YCA? • Does YCA follow community plans for Kulani? 2008 Three Mountain Alliance (TMA) Management Plan 2007 MOU (Memorandum of Understanding) between TMA and DPS June 2000 Wetland Restoration Project around Mauna Loa Boy's School 1999 Final EA (Environmental Assessment) and Management Plan for Ola'a- Kilauea Partnership • Why were citizens shut out of decisions on Kulani? Some staff didn't know KCF was closing till they heard it in the news. Rumors say even Public Safety didn't know till very late. No community meetings were held about closing KCF. When YCA came before the Board of Land and Natural Resources (BLNR) last month, almost all testimony was against it. BLNR approved it anyway. Only military use has been proposed for the KCF site. Proposals for other uses have not been requested. • Why was KCF closed? Hawai'i needs more prison beds, not fewer. KCF, over six decades old, was "one of the most successful minimum security prisons in Hawai'i with the leading sex offender treatment program ". [1] 11% of people in sex offender treatment programs nationwide commit another sex crime within two years of release. But for over two decades at KCF, the figure was 2 %. [1] It cost $2.8 million a year to run KCF —but inmates provided "millions of dollars in labor" to the island. [2] Inmates helped "manage some of the state's best native forests..." [3] and protect native species. They put in about 180 hours a week, putting up and repairing fencing to keep out pigs, trapping pigs, planting koa and silversword, and eradicating unwanted plants. Kulani hosts some of the highest densities of native forest birds on the island. Those birds can only survive in higher elevations, where fewer mosquitoes mean less avian malaria and pox. Kulani is home to five endangered native bird species. One is the i`o, which is also significant in native Hawaiian culture. A second is the nene. The last three are forest birds and honey - creepers: the `akiapola'au, Hawai'i akepa, and Hawaii creeper. Kulani is also home to the endangered ope'ape'a, or Hawaiian hoary bat, Hawai`i's only endemic land mammal. Kulani hosts eleven endangered plant species, plus a highly diverse plant population. The area has one of the highest diversity rates for native insects on the island. Without ongoing care, gains in restoring the land could be lost. [1] Kat Brady, Community Alliance on Prisons, 11 -17 -09 e-mail [2] Kat Brady, Community Alliance on Prisons, testimony to BLNR 11 -19 -09 [3] Army UXO Investigators Gain Access to Kulani, Environment Hawai'i, February 2010, p. 11 • Why was the KCF closing so chaotic? Records were illegally burned in an open pit. One staff person, concerned that it wasn't right to burn them, took some home. • Why are there rumors that sex offenders from Kulani were released, though their treatment wasn't complete? • How much was spent on improvements at KCF a few years before it closed? Was a contractor paid for work that couldn't be completed because it closed? • Shouldn't the military clean up hazardous old sites before taking new sites? 50 -plus old Hawai'i Island sites have been left for decades in hazardous condition from unexploded ordnance and toxins. None of the sites on my list (attached) had been cleaned up as of 2003. OLD MILITARY SITES ON HAWAI'I ISLAND compiled 2003 by Cory Harden, Box 10265, Hilo, Occupied Hawai'i 96721 mh @interpac.net 808 - 968 -8965 DISTRICT UNEXPLODED ORDNANCE FORMER MILITARY SITES HAMAKUA Pepeekeo 1956 FATALITY Jungle Training Area, North Shore Jungle Training Area near Waipio Bay Ninoole Radar Station Waipio Bombing Targets HILO Hilo Breakwater 2000 Army Impact Range, Waiakea Richardson's Beach 2002? Big Island Bombing Targets -- Leleiwi Camp Furneaux General Lyman Field Hilo Prisoner of War Camp Hilo Storage Site Kalanianaole Camp Kaneolehua Camp Kaumana Camp Panaewa Tract 1 Jungle Warfare Area LST Landing Beach Piihonua Ordnance Storage Waiakea Storage Area Waianuenue Camp KA'U Ka La'e Military Reservation Kahuku Ranch Radar Station Ka'u Bombing Range Missile Tracking Station Morse Field Pahala Hospital Pakini Bombing Range KOHALA Hapuna Beach Big Island Bombing Targets- - 1998,1997,1995 Mahukona Range Navy Rocket Range, Hawi Upolu Point KONA Big Island Bombing Targets — Mano Point Makolea Point Kona & Huehue Station PUNA Ola'a 1955 Big Island Bombing Targets — Cape Kumukahi Kaloli Point Kea'au Wahine Maka Nui Combat Training near Mt View Firing Range near Mt View Hilo Research Site (near Kurtistown) Jungle Warfare & Maneuver (Kea'au) Kapoho Target Area Pololu Olaa Mill Camp Waiakea Forest Reserve VOLCANO Kilauea Crater maneuver /impact area Kilauea Military Camp WAIMEA/ Waimea Middle School 2002 Anti -tank, artillery, impact range WAIKOLOA Waikoloa fire 1998 Big Island Bombing Targets - -Puako Anekona Estates 1998 Camp Kilohana Waimea country 1998 Camp Pokahuloa— Chock Inn 1998 anti -tank, artillery, impact range Pheasant Ridge 1997 Kamuela Camp #4 Waikoloa Elem. School 1994 Kamuela Reservoir O'uli Parcel about 1993 Lalamilo Firing Range Pu'u Pa 1983 INJURY Mauna Loa Training Area Parker Ranch 1954 2 FATALITIES Nansay Hawaii- - Mamalahoa Hwy 1945 FATALITY Ouli Puako Navy bombing range, Kawaihae Navy rocket range, Hawi Waikoloa Maneuver Area