The U.S. Army found few supporters at a Monday public discussion about whether part of the Pohakuloa Training Area should remain under Army control.
The meeting was one of two held this week to discuss a draft Environmental Impact Statement published to determine whether the Army can renew its lease of 23,000 acres of state land in the PTA. The current lease expires in 2029.
Lt. Col. Kevin Cronin, PTA garrison commander, called the 23,000-acre parcel the “connective tissue” of the 132,000-acre training area, because it is located in the middle of the area and allows for a degree of training unavailable elsewhere in the state.
“The type of training which we can do at PTA closely replicates the conditions of combat, which is the hallmark of good training,” Cronin said, adding that, without the state parcel, PTA would not be able to function as an Army training facility.
But most attendees at the meeting seemed amenable to the prospect of PTA ceasing to exist. About 20 people submitted oral testimony Monday, only the first two of which were supportive of the lease renewal.
Both positive testifiers — Hawaii Island Chamber of Commerce Executive Officer Miles Yoshioka and Army veteran Greg Fleming — recommended that the Army retain all 23,000 acres because of the necessity of properly trained soldiers for the country’s national security strategy.
Every other testifier on Monday said the 23,000-acre lease should not be renewed, and that the Army also should vacate the remaining 109,000 acres of federal land.
Much of the negative testimony came from ideological grounds, with several testifiers opposing U.S. military interventionism overseas.
“The U.S. military overthrew the government in Hawaii, and now you want us to support further regime change around the world?” exclaimed Keaau resident Danny Li.
Others brought up the environmental impacts of the Army’s activities at PTA. Although the draft EIS claims that there would be “less than significant impact” to nearly all environmental factors should the Army retain the full 23,000 acres, some testifiers questioned that assessment.
One commenter, Bret Mossman, claimed that during the Army’s management of PTA, six endangered bird species have disappeared from the area. Although he acknowledged that the species’ vanishing may not be the direct fault of Army actions, it is the fault of Army inaction, Mossman argued — critically endangered species require sustained direct conservation work to keep them alive, which the Army has failed to do, he said.
For example, Mossman said the Army has not properly controlled the local goat population, which has led to a significant reduction in the scrublands in the area. Other testifiers agreed, likening the area around PTA to a desert.
Still others said the Army’s continued presence on the mountain presents health risks to everyone on the island.
Jim Albertini claimed that 57 military-used sites on the island have been contaminated by toxins, including depleted uranium — a somewhat less radioactive form of uranium that was used at PTA to test the military’s Davy Crockett portable nuclear rocket launcher in the 1960s.
Albertini claimed that the Army has underreported the amount of depleted uranium ammunition tested at PTA by about five times, and said that the oxide particles generated as depleted uranium decays represent a cancer risk to those on the island.
“We are all downhill, downwind, downstream of the Army’s toxic stew,” Albertini said.
Col. Dan Misigoy, Garrison Commander of the U.S. Army Garrison Hawaii, thanked attendees for their comments and said they would be used to develop a final EIS, which will be published sometime next year.
A second pubic meeting regarding the EIS took place Tuesday in Waimea. Written public comments will still be accepted until June 7. The draft EIS, and a form to submit comments, can be found at tinyurl.com/mrf2am9d.
Email Michael Brestovansky at mbrestovansky@hawaiitribune-herald.com.
