What you don't know about the United States Government could kill you...
Department of Defense documents obtained through the Freedom of Information Act expose the horrific underworld of the disposable army mentality and the government funded experimentation upon US citizens conducted without their knowledge or consent.
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There is major problems with these questions and embedded in the questions are two things.
The state relationship with the military to remove ordinance from the military installations, which in fact the truckers are getting caught up in-- via low bid procurement general/sub contractors.
The second problem are the transfere of these contaminats via the military sustainable plan which Tad Davis recently created for Hawaii. To remove DU contaminats from Schofield for the safety of their military families to outside of the military installations and on to Waianae back yard dumps.
The problem with the above is the need for the military to continue use of DU in Hawaii which is what they are applying for with the NRC.
I have not deviated from this argument and don't know why the overall argument is health issues which comes way after the fact.
Yes we have sucking jelleyfish babies in Waianae, yes we have young women dying of cancer. However, this is not where I am coming from.
I am coming from Tad Davis sustainable planning for 2050. At the end of this plan our population DNA will be so severly damaged should they receive their license to continue the use of DU arsenal.
And the fricken barginning political chip is to continue to use DU in Hawaii, but providing that they clean up after themselves.
Like little peepee boys cleaning up their toys after they play with GI Joe in the mud.
This is what I am being asked to agree to by Oahu'ians. Give the military their license to use DU in Hawaii, so that they can have a clean-up permits.
This is all crazy! Catch 22, Kanaka lolo heads from Waianae and outside entities not from Waianae guiding Kanaka lolo heads from Waianae to agree to the permit and the continued use of Du in Hawaii. Why don't toy manufactur companies put DU in toys if they haven't already.
No one in the State of Hawaii, got the olo's to disagree with Tad that's the problem with all the yadayada, no one's got the gut's to oppose the 'Great White Hope' from hell.
In Waianae the largest population are young people and a great experiment for idiot scientist to observe. They are the baby making factories, if the abortionist doesn't get to them first-- the DNA will be destroyed in the next generation. Remember, Waianae has five generations per household and they are mating with the kid next door. So bombs away!!!!
The question is how do we protect our sponge bobs from sponging up the DU? Oahu'ians are so dam stupid. Kaohi
(2) the distance from your physical residence to the closest boundary of the Army Installation for which a possession-only depleted uranium license is being considered by the NRC.
Luwella Leonardi
Your petition asserts that dust plumes emanating from the Army installation are responsible for health issues in your community. Please specify the factual foundation for this concern, including the basis for a conclusion that (1) the offending dust plumes emanate from the Army installation, (2) the dust plumes are radioactive, and (3) there is a causal connection between the dust plumes and health issues.
Your petition alleges that the Army transported contaminated soil to your community on the Waianae Coast. Please specify a factual foundation for this allegation, including the destination and purpose of the alleged shipments, their frequency, the length of time they have been occurring, and the nature of and type of the alleged contamination.
Depleted Uranium: Dirty Bombs, Dirty Missiles, Dirty Bullets A Death Sentence Here and Abroad
By Leuren Moret
At an April press conference, a group of New York Army National Guard vets raised their hands when asked if they have health problems. The soldiers, all from the 442nd Military Police Company, are complaining of headaches and fatigue after what they think is exposure to depleted uranium during their recent tour in Iraq.
"Military men are just dumb stupid animals to be used as pawns in foreign policy." - Henry Kissinger, quoted in "Kiss the Boys Goodbye: How the United States Betrayed Its Own POW's in Vietnam"
Vietnam was a chemical war for oil, permanently contaminating large regions and countries downriver with Agent Orange, and environmentally the most devastating war in world history. But since 1991, the US has staged four nuclear wars using depleted uranium weaponry, which, like Agent Orange, meets the US government definition of Weapons of Mass Destruction. Vast regions in the Middle East and Central Asia have been permanently contaminated with radiation.
And what about our soldiers? Terry Jemison of the Department of Veterans Affairs reported this week to the American Free Press that "Gulf-era veterans" now on medical disability since 1991 number 518,739, with only 7,035 reported wounded in Iraq in that same 14-year period.
This week the American Free Press dropped a "dirty bomb" on the Pentagon by reporting that eight out of 20 men who served in one unit in the 2003 US military offensive in Iraq now have malignancies. That means that 40 percent of the soldiers in that unit have developed malignancies in just 16 months.
Since these soldiers were exposed to vaccines and depleted uranium (DU) only, this is strong evidence for researchers and scientists working on this issue, that DU is the definitive cause of Gulf War Syndrome. Vaccines are not known to cause cancer. One of the first published researchers on Gulf War Syndrome, who also served in 1991 in Iraq, Dr. Andras KorŽnyi-Both, is in agreement with Barbara Goodno from the Department of Defense's Deployment Health Support Directorate, that in this war soldiers were not exposed to chemicals, pesticides, bioagents or other suspect causes this time to confuse the issue.
This powerful new evidence is blowing holes in the cover-up perpetrated by the Pentagon and three presidential administrations ever since DU was first used in 1991 in the Persian Gulf War. Fourteen years after the introduction of DU on the battlefield in 1991, the long-term effects have revealed that DU is a death sentence and very nasty stuff.
Scientists studying the biological effects of uranium in the 1960s reported that it targets the DNA. Marion Fulk, a nuclear physical chemist retired from the Livermore Nuclear Weapons Lab and formerly involved with the Manhattan Project, interprets the new and rapid malignancies in soldiers from the 2003 war as "spectacular" and a matter of concern."
This evidence shows that of the three effects which DU has on biological systems - radiation, chemical and particulate - the particulate effect from nano-size particles is the most dominant one immediately after exposure and targets the Master Code in the DNA. This is bad news, but it explains why DU causes a myriad of diseases which are difficult to define.
In simple words, DU "trashes the body." When asked if the main purpose for using it was for destroying things and killing people, Fulk was more specific: "I would say that it is the perfect weapon for killing lots of people."
Soldiers developing malignancies so quickly since 2003 can be expected to develop multiple cancers from independent causes. This phenomenon has been reported by doctors in hospitals treating civilians following NATO bombing with DU in Yugoslavia in 1998-1999 and the US military invasion of Iraq using DU for the first time in 1991. Medical experts report that this phenomenon of multiple malignancies from unrelated causes has been unknown until now and is a new syndrome associated with internal DU exposure.
Just 467 US personnel were wounded in the three-week Persian Gulf War in 1990-1991. Out of 580,400 soldiers who served in Gulf War I, 11,000 are dead, and by 2000 there were 325,000 on permanent medical disability. This astounding number of disabled vets means that a decade later, 56 percent of those soldiers who served now have medical problems.
The number of disabled vets reported up to 2000 has been increasing by 43,000 every year. Brad Flohr of the Department of Veterans Affairs told American Free Press that he believes there are more disabled vets now than even after World War II.
They brought it home
Not only were soldiers exposed to DU on and off the battlefields, but they brought it home. DU in the semen of soldiers internally contaminated their wives, partners and girlfriends. Tragically, some women in their 20s and 30s who were sexual partners of exposed soldiers developed endometriosis and were forced to have hysterectomies because of health problems.
In a group of 251 soldiers from a study group in Mississippi who had all had normal babies before the Gulf War, 67 percent of their post-war babies were born with severe birth defects. They were born with missing legs, arms, organs or eyes or had immune system and blood diseases. In some veterans' families now, the only normal or healthy members of the family are the children born before the war.
The Department of Veterans Affairs has stated that they do not keep records of birth defects occurring in families of veterans.
How did they hide it?
Before a new weapons system can be used, it must be fully tested. The blueprint for depleted uranium weapons is a 1943 declassified document from the Manhattan Project.
Harvard President and physicist James B. Conant, who developed poison gas in World War I, was brought into the Manhattan Project by the father of presidential candidate John Kerry. Kerry's father served at a high level in the Manhattan Project and was a CIA agent.
Conant was chair of the S-1 Poison Gas Committee, which recommended developing poison gas weapons from the radioactive trash of the atomic bomb project in World War II. At that time, it was known that radioactive materials dispersed in bombs from the air, from land vehicles or on the battlefield produced very fine radioactive dust which would penetrate all protective clothing, any gas mask or filter or the skin. By contaminating the lungs and blood, it could kill or cause illness very quickly.
They also recommended it as a permanent terrain contaminant, which could be used to destroy populations by contaminating water supplies and agricultural land with the radioactive dust.
The first DU weapons system was developed for the Navy in 1968, and DU weapons were given to and used by Israel in 1973 under US supervision in the Yom Kippur war against the Arabs.
The Phalanx weapons system, using DU, was tested on the USS Bigelow out of Hunters Point Naval Shipyard in 1977, and DU weapons have been sold by the US to 29 countries.
Military research report summaries detail the testing of DU from 1974-1999 at military testing grounds, bombing and gunnery ranges and at civilian labs under contract. Today 42 states are contaminated with DU from manufacture, testing and deployment.
Women living around these facilities have reported increases in endometriosis, birth defects in babies, leukemia in children and cancers and other diseases in adults. Thousands of tons of DU weapons tested for decades by the Navy on four bombing and gunnery ranges around Fallon, Nevada, is no doubt the cause of the fastest growing leukemia cluster in the US over the past decade. The military denies that DU is the cause.
The medical profession has been active in the cover-up - just as they were in hiding the effects from the American public - of low level radiation from atmospheric testing and nuclear power plants. A medical doctor in Northern California reported being trained by the Pentagon with other doctors, months before the 2003 war started, to diagnose and treat soldiers returning from the 2003 war for mental problems only. Medical professionals in hospitals and facilities treating returning soldiers were threatened with $10,000 fines if they talked about the soldiers or their medical problems. They were also threatened with jail.
Reporters have also been prevented access to more than 14,000 medically evacuated soldiers flown nightly since the 2003 war in C-150s from Germany who are brought to Walter Reed Hospital near Washington, DC
Dr. Robert Gould, former president of the Bay Area chapter of Physicians for Social Responsibility (PSR), has contacted three medical doctors since February 2004, after I had been invited to speak about DU. Dr. Katharine Thomasson, president of the Oregon chapter of the PSR, informed me that Dr. Gould had contacted her and tried to convince her to cancel her invitation for me to speak about DU at Portland State University on April 12. Although I was able to do a presentation, Dr. Thomasson told me I could only talk about DU in Oregon "and nothing overseas. nothing political."
Dr. Gould also contacted and discouraged Dr. Ross Wilcox in Toronto, Canada, from inviting me to speak to Physicians for Global Survival (PGS), the Canadian equivalent of PSR, several months later. When that didn't work, he contacted Dr. Allan Connoly, the Canadian national president of PGS, who was able to cancel my invitation and nearly succeeded in preventing Dr. Wilcox, his own member, from showing photos and presenting details on civilians suffering from DU exposure and cancer provided to him by doctors in southern Iraq.
Dr. Janette Sherman, a former and long-standing member of PSR, reported that she finally quit some time after being invited to lunch by a new PSR executive administrator. After the woman had pumped Dr. Sherman for information all through lunch about her position on key issues, the woman informed Dr. Sherman that her last job had been with the CIA.
How was the truth about DU hidden from military personnel serving in successive DU wars? Before his tragic death, Sen. Paul Wellstone informed Joyce Riley, R.N., B.S.N., executive director of the American Gulf War Veterans Association, that 95 percent of Gulf War veterans had been recycled out of the military by 1995. Any of those continuing in military service were isolated from each other, preventing critical information being transferred to new troops. The "next DU war" had already been planned, and those planning it wanted "no skunk at the garden party."
The US has a dirty (DU) little (CIA) secret
A new book just published at the American Free Press by Michael Collins Piper, "The High Priests of War: The Secret History of How America's Neo-Conservative Trotskyites Came to Power and Orchestrated the War Against Iraq as the First Step in Their Drive for Global Empire," details the early plans for a war against the Arab world by Henry Kissinger and the neo-cons in the late 1960s and early 1970s. That just happens to coincide with getting the DU "show on the road" and the oil crisis in the Middle East, which caused concern not only to President Nixon. The British had been plotting and scheming for control of the oil in Iraq for decades since first using poison gas on the Iraqis and Kurds in 1912.
The book details the creation of the neo-cons by their "godfather" and Trotsky lover Irving Kristol, who pushed for a "war against terrorism" long before 9/11 and was lavishly funded for years by the CIA. His son, William Kristol, is one of the most influential men in the United States.
Both are public relations men for the Israeli lobby's neo-conservative network, with strong ties to Rupert Murdoch. Kissinger also has ties to this network and the Carlyle Group, who, one could say, have facilitated these homicidal wars beginning from the time former President Bush took office. It would be easy to say that we are recycling World Wars I and II, with the same faces.
When I asked Vietnam Special Ops Green Beret Capt. John McCarthy, who could have devised this omnicidal plan to use DU to destroy the genetic code and genetic future of large populations of Arabs and Moslems in the Middle East and Central Asia - just coincidentally the areas where most of the world's oil deposits are located - he replied: "It has all the handprints of Henry Kissinger."
In Zbignew Brzezinski's book "The Grand Chessboard: American Primacy and Its Geostrategic Imperatives," the map of the Eurasian chessboard includes four regions strategic to US foreign policy. The "South" region corresponds precisely to the regions now contaminated permanently with radiation from US bombs, missiles and bullets made with thousands of tons of DU.
A Japanese professor, Dr. K. Yagasaki, has calculated that 800 tons of DU is the atomicity equivalent of 83,000 Nagasaki bombs. The US has used more DU since 1991 than the atomicity equivalent of 400,000 Nagasaki bombs. Four nuclear wars indeed, and 10 times the amount of radiation released into the atmosphere from atmospheric testing!
No wonder our soldiers, their families and the people of the Middle East, Yugoslavia and Central Asia are sick. But as Henry Kissinger said after Vietnam when our soldiers came home ill from Agent Orange, "Military men are just dumb stupid animals to be used for foreign policy."
Unfortunately, more and more of those soldiers are men and women with brown skin. And unfortunately, the DU radioactive dust will be carried around the world and deposited in our environments just as the "smog of war" from the 1991 Gulf War was found in deposits in South America, the Himalayas and Hawaii.
In June 2003, the World Health Organization announced in a press release that global cancer rates will increase 50 percent by 2020. What else do they know that they aren't telling us? I know that depleted uranium is a death sentence. For all of us. We will all die in silent ways.
Leuren Moret is a geoscientist who has worked around the world on radiation issues, educating citizens, the media, members of parliaments and Congress and other officials. She became a whistleblower in 1991 at the Livermore Nuclear Weapons Lab after experiencing major science fraud on the Yucca Mountain Project. An environmental commissioner in the City of Berkeley, she can be reached at leurenmoret@yahoo.com.
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2007
Native Hawaiians, Community Protest Army Failure to Remove Bomb from Makua
More food for the fodder:
Army foot-dragging threatens public safety, disrupts Hawaiian cultural observance
November 17, 2007
Makua, Oahu, HI -- Since 6 p.m. on Friday, November 16, 2007, community groups Malama Makua and Hui Malama 'O Makua and their supporters have held a vigil outside the gates of Makua Military Reservation on O'ahu, protesting the Army's failure to remove a World War II-vintage, 250-pound bomb the Army claims threatens public safety on Farrington Highway and at Makua Beach Park. The vigil is being held during the time originally scheduled for observance at Makua of the opening of the Makahiki, the traditional Hawaiian celebration of the time of peace, pursuant to an October 4, 2001 settlement agreement between the Army and Malama Makua (represented by Earthjustice) that guarantees cultural access. The Army canceled the cultural access following the bomb's discovery on November 1, 2007, due to alleged safety concerns, but has refused to remove the bomb or, even, make plans for its disposal.
"We resent the Army's double-talk about the bomb," said William Aila, a spokesperson for Hui Malama 'O Makua. "If the Army is really concerned about safety, it should get rid of the bomb immediately to protect the families who use Makua Beach, fish off-shore, and travel along Farrington Highway. On the other hand, if there isn't a real threat to public safety, the Army should have allowed the Makahiki to proceed on schedule."
The Army has established an "exclusion zone" of over 5,900 feet (1,800 meters) from the bomb, which is located approximately 1500 feet mauka (east) of Farrington Highway, claiming people within that zone might be injured by bomb fragments should it explode. The area the Army claims is at risk includes all of Makua Beach Park, where Wai'anae Coast families play, swim, fish and gather limu, and extends about a half mile offshore (see attached map). The Army ignored calls to clean up the bomb prior to the busy Veterans Day holiday weekend, saying it would not even start to make plans for the bomb's removal until it completes a sweep for unexploded ordnance on November 19, 2007, nearly three weeks after the bomb's discovery.
"We've celebrated the Makahiki at Makua for six years, with no safety problems," explained Momi Kamahele, a kumu hula and cultural advisor for the Makua Makahiki. "It doesn't make any sense for the Army to say it's too dangerous for us to go into Makua to practice our religion and, at the same time, refuse to remove a bomb it says threatens the lives of keiki playing at Makua Beach. The Army's either lying about the danger, because it wants an excuse to deny us our cultural access, or it's being incredibly reckless with innocent people's lives."
The agreement the Army signed in October 2001 to settle Malama Makua's lawsuit over the Army's failure to prepare an environmental impact statement for training at Makua requires the Army to allow cultural access like the Makahiki celebration that had been scheduled for this weekend. It also calls for clearance of unexploded ordnance posing a safety threat to members of the public outside the military reservation's boundaries. The settlement provides that, "[i]n order to reduce the risk to individuals on Makua Beach and Farrington Highway, the [25th Infantry Division] shall finalize and submit to [Army headquarters] for approval a plan for [unexploded ordnance] clearance for the area within [Makua Military Reservation] extending 1,000 meters mauka (towards the mountains) from Farrington Highway." Despite the agreement's requirement for the Army to complete these clearance activities "as soon as practicable," more than six years after signing the settlement, the Army still has not done so. The 250-pound bomb discovered on November 1, 2007, lies within the 1,000-meter zone the Army was supposed to have cleared.
"If the Army had lived up to its end of the bargain, we wouldn't have this threat to public safety and this disruption to cultural practice," said Earthjustice attorney David Henkin, who represents Malama Makua and negotiated the 2001 agreement. "Six years ago, the Army agreed to clean up all the unexploded ordnance that might harm the community, including this bomb. Having failed to keep its promise then, the Army should not drag its feet now and get rid of the bomb."
Rodney Haraga, Director of Hawaii Department of Transportation, wrote
an opinion piece Friday on the Forum page in The Garden Island.
...Some background: This month a Federal court in San Francisco has
found the Army violated the National Environmental Policy Act when it
did not consider all alternatives in its decision to install the
Stryker brigade in the Hawaiian Islands. The court ordered the Army
to prepare a supplemental environmental analysis to answer the
question, "Why Hawaii?"
...DU, in a projectile does two things. It delivers a huge kinetic
impact of white hot uranium to a target. This destroys the target. It
also conveniently gets rid of a wad of "low level" radioactive waste
from an atomic power plant or weapons program; they have no place to
put the stuff. As such, DU munitions have an ongoing environmental
impact.
Why worry about Depleted Uranium? Just ask any Gulf War Veteran. The
contamination of the modern battlefield with radioactive depleted
uranium 238 is an intractable problem with a 4.5 billion year half-
life. Dating back to 1991, tens-of-thousands of United States
veterans claim they have been permanently disabled by widespread use
of these toxic munitions in Iraq.
The military denies that it has used DU munitions in Hawaii, but DU
weapons debris has been discovered at Schofield Barracks and
documented by the Associated Press. Will these weapons ever be fired
on other islands?
The lowdown on depleted uranium in Hawai‘i
Current mood:educational
Category: News and Politics
Airborne
the lowdown on depleted uranium in Hawai'i
by Keith Bettinger / 06-13-07
FPRIVATE "TYPE=PICT;ALT=Airborne"
"Damage control" has taken on a new meaning over the past year as military officials grapple with episode after episode of discarded and forgotten munitions. In addition to the tons of chemical weapons dumped offshore and conventional weapons of unknown origin resting on the sea floor at Wai'anae's Ordnance Reef, the U.S. Army is now confronted with the remnants of depleted uranium at the site of at least one of its installations.
Adding fuel to the fire is a recent visit by globetrotting depleted uranium enfant terrible Leuren Moret and a subsequent television news story describing elevated radiation readings on the Big Island. While the readings, which were obtained in an uncontrolled environment and have not been replicated, are by no means a smoking gun, they illustrate how the military and state officials respond to signals of a possible contamination threat.
Military officials insist the recent findings pose no danger, but many residents are demanding independent verification that everything is in fact OK. According to some, the recent findings are just more evidence that the Army is irresponsibly polluting the Islands.
In light of this, we have endeavored to sort out what is known and unknown, and what is truth and speculation, about depleted uranium across the archipelago.
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What is DU?
Cold War relic
A foul wind
The silent treatment
Transparency now
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What is DU?
Depleted uranium (DU) is a byproduct of the enriching process that creates fuel for nuclear reactors, and it is used because it is able to penetrate armor. According to the World Health Organization, depleted uranium emits about 60 percent of the radiation as natural uranium. In its natural state it is not especially dangerous; it is described as weakly radioactive, comparable to some naturally occurring materials. However, DU burns when heated to 170 degrees Celsius and aerosolizes, forming microscopic particles that are easily dispersed by the wind. When inhaled these particles make their way into the blood stream and cause health problems.
Some researchers believe that DU exposure is responsible for Gulf War Syndrome, which has afflicted thousands of combat veterans since the first Gulf War, but there is no conclusive evidence indicating a link.
The International Atomic Energy Agency says that elevated doses of DU can lead to cancer and that aerosolized DU from training ranges can make its way into the food chain. Although there seems to be no conclusive evidence as to the health effects of DU, health experts advise caution since no one really understands the potential for harm.
Cold War relic
The most concrete finding is the recent discovery of spotting rounds for "Davy Crocket" tactical nuclear weapons at Schofield Barracks. Davy Crockets are a relic of the Cold War and were used between 1961 and 1968. The spotting rounds contained depleted uranium because its weight is similar to that of the actual nuclear weapons (which were never fired in Hawai'i) and were used to estimate trajectories.
Several tail assemblies were unearthed at Schofield by contractors working on Stryker brigade construction, causing work to slow as special safety procedures were put in place. There is some suspicion that these munitions were also used at Makua Military Reservation and at Pohakuloa Training Area on the Big Island. As of yet there has been no evidence to support this, but perhaps more importantly there has been no testing.
Maj. Gen. Robert Lee, state adjutant general and highest homeland security official, says that DU munitions have never been used in training where armor piercing is required in Hawai'i and that there is no reason to be concerned about DU contamination.
"Leuren turned the counter on, and it started out at 30, and soon was up to 40, then 50. Over a two hour period the high was 93."—Big Island resident Doug Fox
"People don't know the whole story. It's only used to blow up enemy tanks and armor. Once that is done DU munitions are not used. None of my troops that were called up even handled DU," he says, referring to National Guard troops that had been deployed to Iraq.
DU is currently used in tank ammunition, rounds for the A-10 and Harrier aircraft, Bradley Fighting Vehicle rounds and ammunition for the Navy's Phalanx CIWS defense system. In 1994, two rounds containing DU were accidentally fired into the Ko'olau Mountains north of 'Aiea from the Phalanx. Though no damage or injuries were reported, the rounds were never recovered.
The Army also says that depleted uranium munitions are not and have never been used on the Hawaiian Islands. Though the recent discovery of the tail assemblies would seem to contradict the official statement, the Army maintains that the Davy Crocket spotting rounds are a different class of munitions. It is a subtle semantic separation, but a significant one. It suggests that while things are clear now, there is no way to know what is buried beneath the ground. Currently a special license from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission is required to fire and store DU munitions in the United States. There are no such permits for any of the military facilities on the Hawaiian Islands except for the Naval storage magazine at Lualualei. However, it is unclear whether there was any permit for the Davy Crocket spotting rounds.
Kamoa Quiteis, the field director of the cultural monitors who supervised clearance for Styrker Brigade construction and transformation at Schofield Barracks, was on hand when the first of the tail assemblies were discovered. (The presence of Cultural Monitors is required by law; they safeguard relics and sites of special significance.)
"They initially found 15 tail assemblies, but recently they have found more," he says.
Quiteis explains that while widely circulated rumors of open burning of the tail assembles are not true, there is regular open burning on the ranges at Schofield to maintain a clear line of sight. These fires often cause unexploded ordnance on the range to detonate.
"Our concern is, are the fires aerosolizing these fin assemblies?" Quiteis says. "And how much DU gets kicked into the air when they do live-fire exercises?"
Quiteis was also concerned about contamination of streams that feed into Kaukonahua stream, which flows through taro and other agricultural fields in Waialua.
A foul wind
In addition to the findings at Schofield, concern has been increasing recently among residents of the Big Island over possible depleted uranium contamination. These concerns stem from some elevated radiation readings obtained on a hand-held Geiger counter. "We had a strange windy day with winds coming from the direction of Pohakuloa. Leuren (Moret) turned the counter on, and it started out at 30, and soon was up to 40, then 50. Over a two hour period the high was 93," said Doug Fox, a Kona resident who was present when the readings were taken.
Normal readings for Kona, according to Fox, are between two and 15 counts per minute. "We were quite shocked."
Fox and visiting activist Moret conducted an informal survey from Cape Kumukahi up through the Saddle Road and the Mauna Loa access measuring soil and collecting samples. Fox indicated that the elevated readings were obtained during Stryker maneuvers at Pohakuloa. Findings were broadcast by a local television news station, but official comment has treated these findings as an unreliable artifact.
"Something is being released and is impacting a number of people," says Fox. "We do know that the military said it didn't use DU here, but we know that it did," referring to the spotting rounds found at Schofield.
In the wake of these findings a citizens' monitoring movement is taking shape on the Big Island. "I've been running a Geiger counter all the time for the past two and half weeks. I download all the data…We are trying to put information out because there is a lot of bogus stuff," says Kona resident Gunther Monkowski. "I don't want to put out false information…so far I think [my readings] are still in the natural radiation scope."
Fox also says that he has not been able to replicate the elevated reading. "It is an anomaly, but when you have an anomaly, you have to investigate it. I've satisfied myself that it is reality," he says.
The group is working on compiling the results into a database and making them available to the public. Results should be available soon at [www.world-peace-society.org].
Monkowski says that his meter had the highest possible accuracy and was used frequently by professionals. Fox told Honolulu Weekly that a number of people have ordered counters, and so they should soon have five to 12 monitoring stations up and running around Pohakuloa.
The silent treatment
A perceived failure to address the issue does not help the Army's credibility. Despite a promised interview with Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Army for Environment, Safety and Occupational Health Tad Davis, the Army refused to comment for this story.
Davis recently made several appearances in Hawai'i to discuss discarded munitions at Wai'anae and World War II-era chemical weapons dumps and expressed a willingness to discuss DU on the record. However, Davis ultimately did not respond to our requests for an interview.
Previous media accounts indicate that the Army will conduct radiological testing this summer at Schofield, Makua military reservation and Pohakuloa, but when this will happen and who will be involved is a mystery. Nor are there any answers to questions regarding the extent of the Davy Crocket firings on the Islands or records of these firings. Difficulty in obtaining information from the military is not an isolated phenomenon, as local NGOs frequently complain of obscurantism and obstructionism.
"Our concern is, are the fires aerosolizing these fin assemblies? And how much DU gets kicked into the air when they do live-fire exercises?" —Kamoa Quiteis
Kyle Kajihiro, program director of the American Friends Service Committee says the military in Hawai'i has a history of not quite telling the whole truth. "The problem of something like DU for example comes from the fact that the military is so pervasive and no one has held them accountable," he says. "They have too much power, and they tend to abuse it."
Citizens concerned about their health report similar difficulties. "We were trying to get information about the hazards from the Army, but we never really got the information," says Quiteis.
Transparency now
If the Army isn't saying anything, though, state officials and local representatives are taking notice. State Rep. Josh Green (6th District Kailua-Kona) introduced a bill (HB 1452) during the recently ended legislative session calling for testing around military reservations in response to the findings at Schofield.
"We felt very strongly that we ought to know if there is depleted uranium in the state," Green says.
The bill was subsequently scaled down in committee but was passed by both the House and Senate before stalling in conference committee due to a lack of funding. "I encountered no one who was against the bill in principle," the state representative adds. "My understanding is that we just ran out of funds."
Green, a medical doctor and legislator known for environment-friendly bills, says that he would try to get the bill passed next year.
Before HB 1452 stalled out, it ran into opposition from the military and the state. "The bill wanted to have a state incursion onto federal property, which we can't do," says Lee, who testified against the bill. "Our intention was not to kill the bill, but to have the state [Department of Health] work with the army."
Department of Health (DOH) Program Manager for Noise, Radiation and Indoor Air Quality Branch Russell Takata explained that the DOH's opposition was procedural. "It's a legal obstacle for DOH to test on federal property."
"It's really a shame that the Legislature let it die," says Kajihiro, who testified in support of the bill. "It was a minimal step…but it has helped to raise the public awareness and stimulate discussion on the issue."
The Health Department has also looked into alleged elevated readings on the Big Island. Takata says that his department took readings but found nothing out of the ordinary. "We did go down there, and we will do this periodically," he says.
Takata welcomes the monitoring efforts of citizens, but urges them to be aware that their reading my be inaccurate. "It's good in that when there is some type of emergency there is always an insufficient number of meters," he says. "However, for precise background measurements they should buy better equipment."
According to Takata, many hand-held Geiger counters are not considered by experts to be accurate in the lower ranges, because they cannot precisely pick up the energies of hundreds of different radio isotopes that are naturally occurring. He adds that meters should be calibrated once a year.
Takata's department provides training for first responders and emergency workers. This includes six hours of classroom instruction and hands-on training for specific meters, tailored to the types of equipment participants have. There is no charge for the training, and Takata says the department would be willing to work with Big Island residents to better utilize their equipment.
"There have been a lot of claims lately, and a lot is unscientific." Lee indicated that more testing was required before any action was taken. "Remnants are still out there," he says of Schofield. "That's why the Army is coming: to get the information to prepare a remediation strategy."
In response to the readings on the Big Island, the 93rd Weapons of Mass Destruction Civil Support Team was deployed to take readings and check the air filters of Humvees. "I'm in charge of homeland security, and so it's of enormous concern to me," says Lee. "They have the best equipment on the Islands and could find nothing above background radiation."
Local groups want the military to be more forthcoming and to cooperate in testing. They say at the very least the state should be involved. "A suitable solution would be for the state to participate in every level and to be a partner at every step of the way," says Marti Townsend of KAHEA, The Hawaiian-Environmental Alliance, a coalition of environmental and native Hawaiian advocates throughout the Islands.
"We're having to take health protection efforts into our own hands," says Townsend of the Geiger counter movement.
However, for many citizens, nothing short of completely independent testing and monitoring will suffice. Lorrin Pang, a consultant with the World Health Organization, is suspicious of official statements. "You really have to pin [the Army] down," Pang says. "What are they really saying? It's always vague."
Pang echoes the sentiment of many on the Big Island, calling for independent, unannounced testing.
"There must be transparency," he says. "Give us references. Don't tell us what you think."
Pang served for 24 years in the Army Medical Corp and says he is familiar with the bureaucracy. He says, "I've seen how this system works. I don't love it, and I don't hate it. I just know how it can be."
So, it's clear that DU has been used on the Islands. It will probably continue to pop up from time to time. The danger of the old assemblies is debatable. It's also likely that radiation readings on the Big Island can be attributed to calibration or user errors, rather than surreptitious and illegal use of DU munitions. Likely is by no means certainly, though. DU is just the latest chapter in a long saga, and it is telling that Hawai'i has learned to keep one eye on its military tenants.
Keith Bettinger can be reached at [email: kisu1492]"
Honor Hawaiian Kingdom Neutrality status
Current mood: irritated
Category: News and Politics
Many do not comprehend that the Hawaiian Kingdom's international status is one of neutrality and the laws of neutrality still exists. This is one of the reasons Hawaii Nationals want the US to deoccupy our country. During it's U.S. belligerent occupation of the Hawaiian Kingdom, the U.S. continues to violate and defy the international laws of occupation and neutrality. The U.S. military's ongoing presence in Hawaii creates havoc, devastation, abuse and desecration of our territory and people. For these reasons we protest against the U.S. presence here and using our land for its selfish purposes.
We have been fighting against the Stryker Brigade being assigned in Hawaii to further the desecration and violate international laws. The military's argument is that it is essential to base it here for training U.S. soldiers which is imperative for their safety in fighting the wars in the Middle East.
You've heard it from the horses' mouth in the following article:
"...Two of the four stryker vehicles and about half of the roughly 50 soldiers who deployed on the training mission touched down at Hickam Air Force base on Air Force C-17 transport planes. While in Korea, they put the strykers to the test.
"We could put the pedal to the metal. We could shoot any kind of rounds we really wanted to, as many rounds as we wanted to, so we got a lot better training in a week, week and a half over there than I think in a month, two months over here( Hawaii)," said Army Sgt. Jamie Norris."
Can we say it better?
Tane
From: Niniane
Date: Apr 3, 2007 3:36 AM
Army Says Strykers Key During Training
Brooks Baehr - bbaehr@kgmb9.com - KGMB
The first Army stryker vehicles to ever be deployed from Hawaii returned to the islands safely Monday morning. They did not come back from Iraq or Afghanistan. They were flown back from South Korea where about 50 soldiers from Schofield Barracks and four strykers spent a week and a half training.
The troops love the strykers, but the battle over whether or not the belong in Hawaii rages on.
Two of the four stryker vehicles and about half of the roughly 50 soldiers who deployed on the training mission touched down at Hickam Air Force base on Air Force C-17 transport planes. While in Korea, they put the strykers to the test.
"We could put the pedal to the metal. We could shoot any kind of rounds we really wanted to, as many rounds as we wanted to, so we got a lot better training in a week, week and a half over there than I think in a month, two months over here," said Army Sgt. Jamie Norris.
Some of the soldiers who returned from South Korea Monday have served in Iraq. They drove the dusty roads in Humvees, but if they get orders to go back, they would prefer to ride in the sturdier strykers.
"The survivability rate is that much greater then the Humvee. I've experienced an IED (improvised explosive device) and, you know, Humvees don't stand a chance. Stryker is where it's at. It's our chance as Americans to bring our soldiers back alive," said Army Sgt. James Burciaga.
The Army hopes to eventually bring about 300 stryker vehicles to Hawaii, but its plans have been slowed by opposition from three native Hawaiian groups. They say the vehicles and the mock battle fields the Army wants to build for stryker training would damage the environment, kill endangered species and destroy culturally significant sites.
"They've already, in doing some of the introductory work on a Stryker training facility at Schofield, destroyed part of Hawaiian temple. So we've got irreplaceable resources that are going to be bulldozed, literally bulldozed," said David Henkin, an attorney for Earthjustice which represents the native Hawaiian groups.
Henkin contends Alaska, Washington State and even South Korea would be better training bases.
In October a federal appellate court ruled the Army violated environmental law by not considering alternate training sites. The Army wants the court to reconsider. In the meantime, limited training is allowed in Hawaii, including training going on right now at the Pohakuloa Training Area on the Big Island.
I think this will be an interesting teleconference with the judges.
I am sure they will continue to be very polite almost to the point of being
condescending but their objective is really to dismiss the challenges to the
request for license. The easiest way is for them to rule that the petitioners
have no standing in that they failed to show harm or a probable link to future
harm.
Do you know if any people in your neighborhood have cancer of the lung, kidney,
brain, bladder, or any kids or adults with leukemia? The numbers may not be
great enough to show increased risk but the fact that they occur is worth
mentioning.
But one thing is clear. You are concerned about it, your fear of this excess
radiation and toxic substance is genuine and that stress is enough to bring on
illness, sleepless nights, worry about the children. The judges want to tell
you not to worry about it because the uranium is not that much more than natural
uranium occurrences, but it is still more. If the judges feel the people of
Hawaii lack the education to understand it as they do, then I invite you the
judges to come over here and teach us courses in nuclear engineering so we can
see it from their perspective.
Luwella, you are doing the right thing reading up on some of the ways things
were handled in the past. You don’t have to be an expert.
I don’t know if you can get NRC to not issue a license. But you might be able
to change it. My concern is that a possession license would allow the military
to bring in more DU. Maybe with the Stryker brigade. The license can impose
very strict monitoring activity and require disposal of the DU when found. I
prefer a cleanup. So if it is going to happen, let it happen with the best
protections possible and at limits no more than that suspected form the DU
spotter rounds.
There are some issues that can be raised but one of the restrictions is that the
panel may limit you to those already expressed. This is where you can be very
humble and state that is what you meant to say in your original complaint but
maybe the way you expressed it did not come through to them. An example of that
is a claim that the Army does not have standing to request the license to
possess if the land is leased. The other is that they are requesting a wrong
license that it should be a license to operate a low level waste facility.
Those two statements of claims are sort of far out but will get the panel to
address them. They are in areas that cause much confusion within the Nuclear
Regulatory Commission, such as whether or not DU is a class A radioactive
material (very low level and risk) or a class C because it probably comes from
reprocessed reactor fuel rods. I enclose a little write up on that at the end
of this message.
There are three judges. One, I think the head of the panel of three, is a law
judge. He is most familiar with the rules and regulations. The other two are
technical judges. They are most familiar with the radiation science and
engineering. They are scientists.
I think you have a good argument on the depleted uranium issue where you live.
I may not be accurate as I am not familiar with the area so I am making some
generalizations. Valleys are tunnels for wind. As the valley narrows, any wind
moving up that valley increases in speed. Any dust or aerosols are likely to
remain suspended in the air.
When some DU studies were done on Oahu, it included some burn studies where
grasses and plants were burned. Although the contractor tried to collect
airborne samples to measure for depleted uranium, the wind prevented them from
collecting the filters because of concern of contamination from blowing dust.
So they went into the burn areas and collected some ash on the ground. This is
not a very good field procedure as no protocols were mentioned such as how much
ash, how much dirt was collected with the ash, how were the samples prepared for
analysis.
The results did not rule out the presence of DU in the ash. The ash and other
aerosols can be carried by the air and perhaps quite some distances in the wind.
Now it is known that DU spotter rounds were found on Oahu and soil samples in
the immediate area of the finds showed increased uranium concentrations. This
is from one of the reports I red on the Schofield studies.
Burning the grass is a common and regular maintenance procedure. Therefore it
is highly likely that some of these particulates from the DU will be carried by
the wind toward and even to where you live, placing you at risk of inhalation of
depleted uranium.
The testing in any case was inadequate to characterize your risk. The Army may
proudly state, “we did not find any,” nor would they be likely to find any
using the methods they did.
Now you (the judges) know uranium shows up on filters when they test for uranium
in air and people probably breathe these particulates. Natural uranium in
contained in a silicate matrix. Depleted uranium is nearly pure uranium maybe
with some alloy metals. There was no attempt to separate the two in the
analysis.
The judges know the argument presented by the Army that the uranium
concentration is still low regardless of its source and does not place people at
any real risk because it is below some standard published by some world health
organization.
You live on Hawaii with one of the lowest natural uranium concentrations in the
rocks. The island was built from the oceanic basalts that typically have less
than 1 part per million uranium. This was even confirmed by Dr. Rubin of the
University of Hawaii. Another good marker of this is our radon concentration,
the lowest of all the states, and confirmed by the U.S. EPA in the write up for
Radon Risk Potential for Hawaii prepared by Dr. Reimer.
Although the Army contractors did not test for uranium to see if it is depleted
or natural at your house or neighborhood or how it compares to background
elsewhere, whatever the source, why should you be subject to breathing in more
uranium than is background? As long as NRC follows the linear-no threshold
theory, risk is related to concentration and elevated concentrations, even below
some action threshold, place you at increased risk. Whether the elevated risk
is 1 in a million, or 1 in five-thousand, it is still elevated risk.
Unlike our brave women and men in uniform who are often subject to accidents of
the battlefield, if you do not include adequate provisions for testing and clean
up in this possession license, then you are guilty of making me and my neighbors
victims of friendly fire."
Try reading and responding to this email...this is what I am up against.
Thank you for the talk, I had to stay home for the Xmas holidays was not feeling well. I usually visit the homeless but was not able to leave my comfort zone to even do that.
The issue is getting stupid if you ask me.
It is too political and reeks with social group antics. The contentions is to stop the bombing for the sake of the future generation. The present depleted uranium in volume exist and present in our environment. What I am battling with among our fellow citizens (Kanaka's) is the continued use of depleted uranium during bombing and training. How can that be?
There is no pretext to permitting the use of depleted uranium. These crazy social groups want to be involved with the military and do some partnership crap. That's nuts! Blurring the line is irresponsible, but what the hell that is exactly what these lolo's did during the Kahoolawe years!!!
It's difficult to live with Kanaka's and their counterparts, that have careers in partnership more than caring for the citizens of Hawaii. Oh well, this is an abortion state! How 'go for broke' between the legs can we be? We kill the evidence since 1972 of deformed babies, since DU been around since the 60s. This is a Kanaka trail of trim-tabbing for the sake of their status with the non-brownies.
I don't know...anymore, but not to dispair tomorrow is another day. Kaohi
It's only too sad that the inequity still exist for kanaka women and we have to resort to not be birthing pawns for an on and off governing entity policy. It's okay for kanaka women to have their children with their natural selection partner, then it's not okay. We have to mate with whomever and we are still adhering to their choices of partners. We have no choice when a governing entity set policy. Senator Inouye was so happy over that Hawaii is the Abortion state not to mention he has a huge following as far as tax payers and their 1972 vote. What a thing to brag about in congress. Eugenics does hurt Kanaka women.
In the year 2050, all Waianae residence will have so damaged DNA that it would be impossible to mate with partners that one grew up with and loved within their childhood community. This is not new, it happened among our cousin to cousin period which we are now coming out of thanks to our genealogist.
"Islands on the edge of time" is a video that everyone should view and take into consideration of what is present today. I do believe Kauai is the edge that is visible, but yet not part of the process that is on going. I am so sorry that this phenon slipped through the cracks for Kauain's. All that I can do is try to do my best on Jan 13, 2010. Please give my aloha to the people on Kauai. Mahalo Kauai Kaohi
Aloha Kaohi,
Mahalo for sharing your Mana'o with all of us! There are many Kanaka who may be skeptical of what you are doing, but know that what you are doing is on the fore front and imperative for our culture, our children and their future! Many laughed at Noah when he built his ark! what you are asking "that there be an escape route for the people prior to the licensing " is very reasonable! it allows the military and those IGNORANT Kanaka's who sole out by supporting the military licensing to continue contaminating our aina through their bombing an opportunity to "save face". If the military does NOT grant you, your very reasonable request come January 13, 2010, They, the military will be held accountable in a higher court of justice! A court where the laws of human rights and justice prevails… at the gate way to Heaven! after all...The United States "touts" "One Nation under God"! Kaua'i prayers are with you!
I thought about what you said. Yes, education on why depleted uranium is so poison to the next generation is necessary. Will begin a curriculum and hopefully expand it to educating the mass'es as to why the military in Hawaii and the Pacific should stop their occupation in Hawaii and go home.
"Islands on the edge of time" is important to view and remain standing in the wind against military in Hawaii and our Pacific.
Mahalo for all your kind words of encouragements. Kaohi
Islands on the edge of time is a perfect example of natural resources, people, cultures, and values being exploited by the Corporations that are owned by the trilateral who control the US Government. White Supremacy-- Eugenics, funded by Anglo Americans ie. Rockefellers, JP Morgan, Rumford, etc..http://www.eugenics.net/
We can only educate those who will listen. As MOTHERS it starts with US, in our homes educating our children on the “skills of survival“. We need to prepare our children so that OUR blood lineage can prosper in the future. This should be the natural instinct of all mammal mothers . It is unfortunate pharmaceutical companies who are controlled by the government create chemical compositions (formulas, recipes) that destroy mothers (ice, etc..) This is eugenics way of ensuring that only the best of the best DNA genes prosper in the future.
Replies
The state relationship with the military to remove ordinance from the military installations, which in fact the truckers are getting caught up in-- via low bid procurement general/sub contractors.
The second problem are the transfere of these contaminats via the military sustainable plan which Tad Davis recently created for Hawaii. To remove DU contaminats from Schofield for the safety of their military families to outside of the military installations and on to Waianae back yard dumps.
The problem with the above is the need for the military to continue use of DU in Hawaii which is what they are applying for with the NRC.
I have not deviated from this argument and don't know why the overall argument is health issues which comes way after the fact.
Yes we have sucking jelleyfish babies in Waianae, yes we have young women dying of cancer. However, this is not where I am coming from.
I am coming from Tad Davis sustainable planning for 2050. At the end of this plan our population DNA will be so severly damaged should they receive their license to continue the use of DU arsenal.
And the fricken barginning political chip is to continue to use DU in Hawaii, but providing that they clean up after themselves.
Like little peepee boys cleaning up their toys after they play with GI Joe in the mud.
This is what I am being asked to agree to by Oahu'ians. Give the military their license to use DU in Hawaii, so that they can have a clean-up permits.
This is all crazy! Catch 22, Kanaka lolo heads from Waianae and outside entities not from Waianae guiding Kanaka lolo heads from Waianae to agree to the permit and the continued use of Du in Hawaii. Why don't toy manufactur companies put DU in toys if they haven't already.
No one in the State of Hawaii, got the olo's to disagree with Tad that's the problem with all the yadayada, no one's got the gut's to oppose the 'Great White Hope' from hell.
In Waianae the largest population are young people and a great experiment for idiot scientist to observe. They are the baby making factories, if the abortionist doesn't get to them first-- the DNA will be destroyed in the next generation. Remember, Waianae has five generations per household and they are mating with the kid next door. So bombs away!!!!
The question is how do we protect our sponge bobs from sponging up the DU? Oahu'ians are so dam stupid. Kaohi
This is the heart of the problem:
All Petitioners
Please provide the following information:
(1) the address of your physical residence; and
(2) the distance from your physical residence to the closest boundary of the Army Installation for which a possession-only depleted uranium license is being considered by the NRC.
Luwella Leonardi
Your petition asserts that dust plumes emanating from the Army installation are responsible for health issues in your community. Please specify the factual foundation for this concern, including the basis for a conclusion that (1) the offending dust plumes emanate from the Army installation, (2) the dust plumes are radioactive, and (3) there is a causal connection between the dust plumes and health issues.
Your petition alleges that the Army transported contaminated soil to your community on the Waianae Coast. Please specify a factual foundation for this allegation, including the destination and purpose of the alleged shipments, their frequency, the length of time they have been occurring, and the nature of and type of the alleged contamination.
By Leuren Moret
At an April press conference, a group of New York Army National Guard vets raised their hands when asked if they have health problems. The soldiers, all from the 442nd Military Police Company, are complaining of headaches and fatigue after what they think is exposure to depleted uranium during their recent tour in Iraq.
"Military men are just dumb stupid animals to be used as pawns in foreign policy." - Henry Kissinger, quoted in "Kiss the Boys Goodbye: How the United States Betrayed Its Own POW's in Vietnam"
Vietnam was a chemical war for oil, permanently contaminating large regions and countries downriver with Agent Orange, and environmentally the most devastating war in world history. But since 1991, the US has staged four nuclear wars using depleted uranium weaponry, which, like Agent Orange, meets the US government definition of Weapons of Mass Destruction. Vast regions in the Middle East and Central Asia have been permanently contaminated with radiation.
And what about our soldiers? Terry Jemison of the Department of Veterans Affairs reported this week to the American Free Press that "Gulf-era veterans" now on medical disability since 1991 number 518,739, with only 7,035 reported wounded in Iraq in that same 14-year period.
This week the American Free Press dropped a "dirty bomb" on the Pentagon by reporting that eight out of 20 men who served in one unit in the 2003 US military offensive in Iraq now have malignancies. That means that 40 percent of the soldiers in that unit have developed malignancies in just 16 months.
Since these soldiers were exposed to vaccines and depleted uranium (DU) only, this is strong evidence for researchers and scientists working on this issue, that DU is the definitive cause of Gulf War Syndrome. Vaccines are not known to cause cancer. One of the first published researchers on Gulf War Syndrome, who also served in 1991 in Iraq, Dr. Andras KorŽnyi-Both, is in agreement with Barbara Goodno from the Department of Defense's Deployment Health Support Directorate, that in this war soldiers were not exposed to chemicals, pesticides, bioagents or other suspect causes this time to confuse the issue.
This powerful new evidence is blowing holes in the cover-up perpetrated by the Pentagon and three presidential administrations ever since DU was first used in 1991 in the Persian Gulf War. Fourteen years after the introduction of DU on the battlefield in 1991, the long-term effects have revealed that DU is a death sentence and very nasty stuff.
Scientists studying the biological effects of uranium in the 1960s reported that it targets the DNA. Marion Fulk, a nuclear physical chemist retired from the Livermore Nuclear Weapons Lab and formerly involved with the Manhattan Project, interprets the new and rapid malignancies in soldiers from the 2003 war as "spectacular" and a matter of concern."
This evidence shows that of the three effects which DU has on biological systems - radiation, chemical and particulate - the particulate effect from nano-size particles is the most dominant one immediately after exposure and targets the Master Code in the DNA. This is bad news, but it explains why DU causes a myriad of diseases which are difficult to define.
In simple words, DU "trashes the body." When asked if the main purpose for using it was for destroying things and killing people, Fulk was more specific: "I would say that it is the perfect weapon for killing lots of people."
Soldiers developing malignancies so quickly since 2003 can be expected to develop multiple cancers from independent causes. This phenomenon has been reported by doctors in hospitals treating civilians following NATO bombing with DU in Yugoslavia in 1998-1999 and the US military invasion of Iraq using DU for the first time in 1991. Medical experts report that this phenomenon of multiple malignancies from unrelated causes has been unknown until now and is a new syndrome associated with internal DU exposure.
Just 467 US personnel were wounded in the three-week Persian Gulf War in 1990-1991. Out of 580,400 soldiers who served in Gulf War I, 11,000 are dead, and by 2000 there were 325,000 on permanent medical disability. This astounding number of disabled vets means that a decade later, 56 percent of those soldiers who served now have medical problems.
The number of disabled vets reported up to 2000 has been increasing by 43,000 every year. Brad Flohr of the Department of Veterans Affairs told American Free Press that he believes there are more disabled vets now than even after World War II.
They brought it home
Not only were soldiers exposed to DU on and off the battlefields, but they brought it home. DU in the semen of soldiers internally contaminated their wives, partners and girlfriends. Tragically, some women in their 20s and 30s who were sexual partners of exposed soldiers developed endometriosis and were forced to have hysterectomies because of health problems.
In a group of 251 soldiers from a study group in Mississippi who had all had normal babies before the Gulf War, 67 percent of their post-war babies were born with severe birth defects. They were born with missing legs, arms, organs or eyes or had immune system and blood diseases. In some veterans' families now, the only normal or healthy members of the family are the children born before the war.
The Department of Veterans Affairs has stated that they do not keep records of birth defects occurring in families of veterans.
How did they hide it?
Before a new weapons system can be used, it must be fully tested. The blueprint for depleted uranium weapons is a 1943 declassified document from the Manhattan Project.
Harvard President and physicist James B. Conant, who developed poison gas in World War I, was brought into the Manhattan Project by the father of presidential candidate John Kerry. Kerry's father served at a high level in the Manhattan Project and was a CIA agent.
Conant was chair of the S-1 Poison Gas Committee, which recommended developing poison gas weapons from the radioactive trash of the atomic bomb project in World War II. At that time, it was known that radioactive materials dispersed in bombs from the air, from land vehicles or on the battlefield produced very fine radioactive dust which would penetrate all protective clothing, any gas mask or filter or the skin. By contaminating the lungs and blood, it could kill or cause illness very quickly.
They also recommended it as a permanent terrain contaminant, which could be used to destroy populations by contaminating water supplies and agricultural land with the radioactive dust.
The first DU weapons system was developed for the Navy in 1968, and DU weapons were given to and used by Israel in 1973 under US supervision in the Yom Kippur war against the Arabs.
The Phalanx weapons system, using DU, was tested on the USS Bigelow out of Hunters Point Naval Shipyard in 1977, and DU weapons have been sold by the US to 29 countries.
Military research report summaries detail the testing of DU from 1974-1999 at military testing grounds, bombing and gunnery ranges and at civilian labs under contract. Today 42 states are contaminated with DU from manufacture, testing and deployment.
Women living around these facilities have reported increases in endometriosis, birth defects in babies, leukemia in children and cancers and other diseases in adults. Thousands of tons of DU weapons tested for decades by the Navy on four bombing and gunnery ranges around Fallon, Nevada, is no doubt the cause of the fastest growing leukemia cluster in the US over the past decade. The military denies that DU is the cause.
The medical profession has been active in the cover-up - just as they were in hiding the effects from the American public - of low level radiation from atmospheric testing and nuclear power plants. A medical doctor in Northern California reported being trained by the Pentagon with other doctors, months before the 2003 war started, to diagnose and treat soldiers returning from the 2003 war for mental problems only. Medical professionals in hospitals and facilities treating returning soldiers were threatened with $10,000 fines if they talked about the soldiers or their medical problems. They were also threatened with jail.
Reporters have also been prevented access to more than 14,000 medically evacuated soldiers flown nightly since the 2003 war in C-150s from Germany who are brought to Walter Reed Hospital near Washington, DC
Dr. Robert Gould, former president of the Bay Area chapter of Physicians for Social Responsibility (PSR), has contacted three medical doctors since February 2004, after I had been invited to speak about DU. Dr. Katharine Thomasson, president of the Oregon chapter of the PSR, informed me that Dr. Gould had contacted her and tried to convince her to cancel her invitation for me to speak about DU at Portland State University on April 12. Although I was able to do a presentation, Dr. Thomasson told me I could only talk about DU in Oregon "and nothing overseas. nothing political."
Dr. Gould also contacted and discouraged Dr. Ross Wilcox in Toronto, Canada, from inviting me to speak to Physicians for Global Survival (PGS), the Canadian equivalent of PSR, several months later. When that didn't work, he contacted Dr. Allan Connoly, the Canadian national president of PGS, who was able to cancel my invitation and nearly succeeded in preventing Dr. Wilcox, his own member, from showing photos and presenting details on civilians suffering from DU exposure and cancer provided to him by doctors in southern Iraq.
Dr. Janette Sherman, a former and long-standing member of PSR, reported that she finally quit some time after being invited to lunch by a new PSR executive administrator. After the woman had pumped Dr. Sherman for information all through lunch about her position on key issues, the woman informed Dr. Sherman that her last job had been with the CIA.
How was the truth about DU hidden from military personnel serving in successive DU wars? Before his tragic death, Sen. Paul Wellstone informed Joyce Riley, R.N., B.S.N., executive director of the American Gulf War Veterans Association, that 95 percent of Gulf War veterans had been recycled out of the military by 1995. Any of those continuing in military service were isolated from each other, preventing critical information being transferred to new troops. The "next DU war" had already been planned, and those planning it wanted "no skunk at the garden party."
The US has a dirty (DU) little (CIA) secret
A new book just published at the American Free Press by Michael Collins Piper, "The High Priests of War: The Secret History of How America's Neo-Conservative Trotskyites Came to Power and Orchestrated the War Against Iraq as the First Step in Their Drive for Global Empire," details the early plans for a war against the Arab world by Henry Kissinger and the neo-cons in the late 1960s and early 1970s. That just happens to coincide with getting the DU "show on the road" and the oil crisis in the Middle East, which caused concern not only to President Nixon. The British had been plotting and scheming for control of the oil in Iraq for decades since first using poison gas on the Iraqis and Kurds in 1912.
The book details the creation of the neo-cons by their "godfather" and Trotsky lover Irving Kristol, who pushed for a "war against terrorism" long before 9/11 and was lavishly funded for years by the CIA. His son, William Kristol, is one of the most influential men in the United States.
Both are public relations men for the Israeli lobby's neo-conservative network, with strong ties to Rupert Murdoch. Kissinger also has ties to this network and the Carlyle Group, who, one could say, have facilitated these homicidal wars beginning from the time former President Bush took office. It would be easy to say that we are recycling World Wars I and II, with the same faces.
When I asked Vietnam Special Ops Green Beret Capt. John McCarthy, who could have devised this omnicidal plan to use DU to destroy the genetic code and genetic future of large populations of Arabs and Moslems in the Middle East and Central Asia - just coincidentally the areas where most of the world's oil deposits are located - he replied: "It has all the handprints of Henry Kissinger."
In Zbignew Brzezinski's book "The Grand Chessboard: American Primacy and Its Geostrategic Imperatives," the map of the Eurasian chessboard includes four regions strategic to US foreign policy. The "South" region corresponds precisely to the regions now contaminated permanently with radiation from US bombs, missiles and bullets made with thousands of tons of DU.
A Japanese professor, Dr. K. Yagasaki, has calculated that 800 tons of DU is the atomicity equivalent of 83,000 Nagasaki bombs. The US has used more DU since 1991 than the atomicity equivalent of 400,000 Nagasaki bombs. Four nuclear wars indeed, and 10 times the amount of radiation released into the atmosphere from atmospheric testing!
No wonder our soldiers, their families and the people of the Middle East, Yugoslavia and Central Asia are sick. But as Henry Kissinger said after Vietnam when our soldiers came home ill from Agent Orange, "Military men are just dumb stupid animals to be used for foreign policy."
Unfortunately, more and more of those soldiers are men and women with brown skin. And unfortunately, the DU radioactive dust will be carried around the world and deposited in our environments just as the "smog of war" from the 1991 Gulf War was found in deposits in South America, the Himalayas and Hawaii.
In June 2003, the World Health Organization announced in a press release that global cancer rates will increase 50 percent by 2020. What else do they know that they aren't telling us? I know that depleted uranium is a death sentence. For all of us. We will all die in silent ways.
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Leuren Moret is a geoscientist who has worked around the world on radiation issues, educating citizens, the media, members of parliaments and Congress and other officials. She became a whistleblower in 1991 at the Livermore Nuclear Weapons Lab after experiencing major science fraud on the Yucca Mountain Project. An environmental commissioner in the City of Berkeley, she can be reached at leurenmoret@yahoo.com.
*****************************************************
2007
from John Kaminski:
More food for the fodder:
Army foot-dragging threatens public safety, disrupts Hawaiian cultural observance
November 17, 2007
Makua, Oahu, HI -- Since 6 p.m. on Friday, November 16, 2007, community groups Malama Makua and Hui Malama 'O Makua and their supporters have held a vigil outside the gates of Makua Military Reservation on O'ahu, protesting the Army's failure to remove a World War II-vintage, 250-pound bomb the Army claims threatens public safety on Farrington Highway and at Makua Beach Park. The vigil is being held during the time originally scheduled for observance at Makua of the opening of the Makahiki, the traditional Hawaiian celebration of the time of peace, pursuant to an October 4, 2001 settlement agreement between the Army and Malama Makua (represented by Earthjustice) that guarantees cultural access. The Army canceled the cultural access following the bomb's discovery on November 1, 2007, due to alleged safety concerns, but has refused to remove the bomb or, even, make plans for its disposal.
"We resent the Army's double-talk about the bomb," said William Aila, a spokesperson for Hui Malama 'O Makua. "If the Army is really concerned about safety, it should get rid of the bomb immediately to protect the families who use Makua Beach, fish off-shore, and travel along Farrington Highway. On the other hand, if there isn't a real threat to public safety, the Army should have allowed the Makahiki to proceed on schedule."
The Army has established an "exclusion zone" of over 5,900 feet (1,800 meters) from the bomb, which is located approximately 1500 feet mauka (east) of Farrington Highway, claiming people within that zone might be injured by bomb fragments should it explode. The area the Army claims is at risk includes all of Makua Beach Park, where Wai'anae Coast families play, swim, fish and gather limu, and extends about a half mile offshore (see attached map). The Army ignored calls to clean up the bomb prior to the busy Veterans Day holiday weekend, saying it would not even start to make plans for the bomb's removal until it completes a sweep for unexploded ordnance on November 19, 2007, nearly three weeks after the bomb's discovery.
"We've celebrated the Makahiki at Makua for six years, with no safety problems," explained Momi Kamahele, a kumu hula and cultural advisor for the Makua Makahiki. "It doesn't make any sense for the Army to say it's too dangerous for us to go into Makua to practice our religion and, at the same time, refuse to remove a bomb it says threatens the lives of keiki playing at Makua Beach. The Army's either lying about the danger, because it wants an excuse to deny us our cultural access, or it's being incredibly reckless with innocent people's lives."
The agreement the Army signed in October 2001 to settle Malama Makua's lawsuit over the Army's failure to prepare an environmental impact statement for training at Makua requires the Army to allow cultural access like the Makahiki celebration that had been scheduled for this weekend. It also calls for clearance of unexploded ordnance posing a safety threat to members of the public outside the military reservation's boundaries. The settlement provides that, "[i]n order to reduce the risk to individuals on Makua Beach and Farrington Highway, the [25th Infantry Division] shall finalize and submit to [Army headquarters] for approval a plan for [unexploded ordnance] clearance for the area within [Makua Military Reservation] extending 1,000 meters mauka (towards the mountains) from Farrington Highway." Despite the agreement's requirement for the Army to complete these clearance activities "as soon as practicable," more than six years after signing the settlement, the Army still has not done so. The 250-pound bomb discovered on November 1, 2007, lies within the 1,000-meter zone the Army was supposed to have cleared.
"If the Army had lived up to its end of the bargain, we wouldn't have this threat to public safety and this disruption to cultural practice," said Earthjustice attorney David Henkin, who represents Malama Makua and negotiated the 2001 agreement. "Six years ago, the Army agreed to clean up all the unexploded ordnance that might harm the community, including this bomb. Having failed to keep its promise then, the Army should not drag its feet now and get rid of the bomb."
Contact:
David Henkin, Earthjustice, (808) 599-2436, ext. 14
......................
http://kauaiworld.com/articles/2006/10/16/opinion/edit02.txt...
by Juan Wilson
Posted: Sunday, Oct 15, 2006 - 10:19:58 pm HST
Rodney Haraga, Director of Hawaii Department of Transportation, wrote
an opinion piece Friday on the Forum page in The Garden Island.
...Some background: This month a Federal court in San Francisco has
found the Army violated the National Environmental Policy Act when it
did not consider all alternatives in its decision to install the
Stryker brigade in the Hawaiian Islands. The court ordered the Army
to prepare a supplemental environmental analysis to answer the
question, "Why Hawaii?"
...DU, in a projectile does two things. It delivers a huge kinetic
impact of white hot uranium to a target. This destroys the target. It
also conveniently gets rid of a wad of "low level" radioactive waste
from an atomic power plant or weapons program; they have no place to
put the stuff. As such, DU munitions have an ongoing environmental
impact.
Why worry about Depleted Uranium? Just ask any Gulf War Veteran. The
contamination of the modern battlefield with radioactive depleted
uranium 238 is an intractable problem with a 4.5 billion year half-
life. Dating back to 1991, tens-of-thousands of United States
veterans claim they have been permanently disabled by widespread use
of these toxic munitions in Iraq.
The military denies that it has used DU munitions in Hawaii, but DU
weapons debris has been discovered at Schofield Barracks and
documented by the Associated Press. Will these weapons ever be fired
on other islands?
......................................................................
Monday, June 18, 2007
The lowdown on depleted uranium in Hawai‘i
Current mood:educational
Category: News and Politics
Airborne
the lowdown on depleted uranium in Hawai'i
by Keith Bettinger / 06-13-07
FPRIVATE "TYPE=PICT;ALT=Airborne"
"Damage control" has taken on a new meaning over the past year as military officials grapple with episode after episode of discarded and forgotten munitions. In addition to the tons of chemical weapons dumped offshore and conventional weapons of unknown origin resting on the sea floor at Wai'anae's Ordnance Reef, the U.S. Army is now confronted with the remnants of depleted uranium at the site of at least one of its installations.
Adding fuel to the fire is a recent visit by globetrotting depleted uranium enfant terrible Leuren Moret and a subsequent television news story describing elevated radiation readings on the Big Island. While the readings, which were obtained in an uncontrolled environment and have not been replicated, are by no means a smoking gun, they illustrate how the military and state officials respond to signals of a possible contamination threat.
Military officials insist the recent findings pose no danger, but many residents are demanding independent verification that everything is in fact OK. According to some, the recent findings are just more evidence that the Army is irresponsibly polluting the Islands.
In light of this, we have endeavored to sort out what is known and unknown, and what is truth and speculation, about depleted uranium across the archipelago.
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What is DU?
Cold War relic
A foul wind
The silent treatment
Transparency now
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What is DU?
Depleted uranium (DU) is a byproduct of the enriching process that creates fuel for nuclear reactors, and it is used because it is able to penetrate armor. According to the World Health Organization, depleted uranium emits about 60 percent of the radiation as natural uranium. In its natural state it is not especially dangerous; it is described as weakly radioactive, comparable to some naturally occurring materials. However, DU burns when heated to 170 degrees Celsius and aerosolizes, forming microscopic particles that are easily dispersed by the wind. When inhaled these particles make their way into the blood stream and cause health problems.
Some researchers believe that DU exposure is responsible for Gulf War Syndrome, which has afflicted thousands of combat veterans since the first Gulf War, but there is no conclusive evidence indicating a link.
The International Atomic Energy Agency says that elevated doses of DU can lead to cancer and that aerosolized DU from training ranges can make its way into the food chain. Although there seems to be no conclusive evidence as to the health effects of DU, health experts advise caution since no one really understands the potential for harm.
Cold War relic
The most concrete finding is the recent discovery of spotting rounds for "Davy Crocket" tactical nuclear weapons at Schofield Barracks. Davy Crockets are a relic of the Cold War and were used between 1961 and 1968. The spotting rounds contained depleted uranium because its weight is similar to that of the actual nuclear weapons (which were never fired in Hawai'i) and were used to estimate trajectories.
Several tail assemblies were unearthed at Schofield by contractors working on Stryker brigade construction, causing work to slow as special safety procedures were put in place. There is some suspicion that these munitions were also used at Makua Military Reservation and at Pohakuloa Training Area on the Big Island. As of yet there has been no evidence to support this, but perhaps more importantly there has been no testing.
Maj. Gen. Robert Lee, state adjutant general and highest homeland security official, says that DU munitions have never been used in training where armor piercing is required in Hawai'i and that there is no reason to be concerned about DU contamination.
"Leuren turned the counter on, and it started out at 30, and soon was up to 40, then 50. Over a two hour period the high was 93."—Big Island resident Doug Fox
"People don't know the whole story. It's only used to blow up enemy tanks and armor. Once that is done DU munitions are not used. None of my troops that were called up even handled DU," he says, referring to National Guard troops that had been deployed to Iraq.
DU is currently used in tank ammunition, rounds for the A-10 and Harrier aircraft, Bradley Fighting Vehicle rounds and ammunition for the Navy's Phalanx CIWS defense system. In 1994, two rounds containing DU were accidentally fired into the Ko'olau Mountains north of 'Aiea from the Phalanx. Though no damage or injuries were reported, the rounds were never recovered.
The Army also says that depleted uranium munitions are not and have never been used on the Hawaiian Islands. Though the recent discovery of the tail assemblies would seem to contradict the official statement, the Army maintains that the Davy Crocket spotting rounds are a different class of munitions. It is a subtle semantic separation, but a significant one. It suggests that while things are clear now, there is no way to know what is buried beneath the ground. Currently a special license from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission is required to fire and store DU munitions in the United States. There are no such permits for any of the military facilities on the Hawaiian Islands except for the Naval storage magazine at Lualualei. However, it is unclear whether there was any permit for the Davy Crocket spotting rounds.
Kamoa Quiteis, the field director of the cultural monitors who supervised clearance for Styrker Brigade construction and transformation at Schofield Barracks, was on hand when the first of the tail assemblies were discovered. (The presence of Cultural Monitors is required by law; they safeguard relics and sites of special significance.)
"They initially found 15 tail assemblies, but recently they have found more," he says.
Quiteis explains that while widely circulated rumors of open burning of the tail assembles are not true, there is regular open burning on the ranges at Schofield to maintain a clear line of sight. These fires often cause unexploded ordnance on the range to detonate.
"Our concern is, are the fires aerosolizing these fin assemblies?" Quiteis says. "And how much DU gets kicked into the air when they do live-fire exercises?"
Quiteis was also concerned about contamination of streams that feed into Kaukonahua stream, which flows through taro and other agricultural fields in Waialua.
A foul wind
In addition to the findings at Schofield, concern has been increasing recently among residents of the Big Island over possible depleted uranium contamination. These concerns stem from some elevated radiation readings obtained on a hand-held Geiger counter. "We had a strange windy day with winds coming from the direction of Pohakuloa. Leuren (Moret) turned the counter on, and it started out at 30, and soon was up to 40, then 50. Over a two hour period the high was 93," said Doug Fox, a Kona resident who was present when the readings were taken.
Normal readings for Kona, according to Fox, are between two and 15 counts per minute. "We were quite shocked."
Fox and visiting activist Moret conducted an informal survey from Cape Kumukahi up through the Saddle Road and the Mauna Loa access measuring soil and collecting samples. Fox indicated that the elevated readings were obtained during Stryker maneuvers at Pohakuloa. Findings were broadcast by a local television news station, but official comment has treated these findings as an unreliable artifact.
"Something is being released and is impacting a number of people," says Fox. "We do know that the military said it didn't use DU here, but we know that it did," referring to the spotting rounds found at Schofield.
In the wake of these findings a citizens' monitoring movement is taking shape on the Big Island. "I've been running a Geiger counter all the time for the past two and half weeks. I download all the data…We are trying to put information out because there is a lot of bogus stuff," says Kona resident Gunther Monkowski. "I don't want to put out false information…so far I think [my readings] are still in the natural radiation scope."
Fox also says that he has not been able to replicate the elevated reading. "It is an anomaly, but when you have an anomaly, you have to investigate it. I've satisfied myself that it is reality," he says.
The group is working on compiling the results into a database and making them available to the public. Results should be available soon at [www.world-peace-society.org].
Monkowski says that his meter had the highest possible accuracy and was used frequently by professionals. Fox told Honolulu Weekly that a number of people have ordered counters, and so they should soon have five to 12 monitoring stations up and running around Pohakuloa.
The silent treatment
A perceived failure to address the issue does not help the Army's credibility. Despite a promised interview with Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Army for Environment, Safety and Occupational Health Tad Davis, the Army refused to comment for this story.
Davis recently made several appearances in Hawai'i to discuss discarded munitions at Wai'anae and World War II-era chemical weapons dumps and expressed a willingness to discuss DU on the record. However, Davis ultimately did not respond to our requests for an interview.
Previous media accounts indicate that the Army will conduct radiological testing this summer at Schofield, Makua military reservation and Pohakuloa, but when this will happen and who will be involved is a mystery. Nor are there any answers to questions regarding the extent of the Davy Crocket firings on the Islands or records of these firings. Difficulty in obtaining information from the military is not an isolated phenomenon, as local NGOs frequently complain of obscurantism and obstructionism.
"Our concern is, are the fires aerosolizing these fin assemblies? And how much DU gets kicked into the air when they do live-fire exercises?" —Kamoa Quiteis
Kyle Kajihiro, program director of the American Friends Service Committee says the military in Hawai'i has a history of not quite telling the whole truth. "The problem of something like DU for example comes from the fact that the military is so pervasive and no one has held them accountable," he says. "They have too much power, and they tend to abuse it."
Citizens concerned about their health report similar difficulties. "We were trying to get information about the hazards from the Army, but we never really got the information," says Quiteis.
Transparency now
If the Army isn't saying anything, though, state officials and local representatives are taking notice. State Rep. Josh Green (6th District Kailua-Kona) introduced a bill (HB 1452) during the recently ended legislative session calling for testing around military reservations in response to the findings at Schofield.
"We felt very strongly that we ought to know if there is depleted uranium in the state," Green says.
The bill was subsequently scaled down in committee but was passed by both the House and Senate before stalling in conference committee due to a lack of funding. "I encountered no one who was against the bill in principle," the state representative adds. "My understanding is that we just ran out of funds."
Green, a medical doctor and legislator known for environment-friendly bills, says that he would try to get the bill passed next year.
Before HB 1452 stalled out, it ran into opposition from the military and the state. "The bill wanted to have a state incursion onto federal property, which we can't do," says Lee, who testified against the bill. "Our intention was not to kill the bill, but to have the state [Department of Health] work with the army."
Department of Health (DOH) Program Manager for Noise, Radiation and Indoor Air Quality Branch Russell Takata explained that the DOH's opposition was procedural. "It's a legal obstacle for DOH to test on federal property."
"It's really a shame that the Legislature let it die," says Kajihiro, who testified in support of the bill. "It was a minimal step…but it has helped to raise the public awareness and stimulate discussion on the issue."
The Health Department has also looked into alleged elevated readings on the Big Island. Takata says that his department took readings but found nothing out of the ordinary. "We did go down there, and we will do this periodically," he says.
Takata welcomes the monitoring efforts of citizens, but urges them to be aware that their reading my be inaccurate. "It's good in that when there is some type of emergency there is always an insufficient number of meters," he says. "However, for precise background measurements they should buy better equipment."
According to Takata, many hand-held Geiger counters are not considered by experts to be accurate in the lower ranges, because they cannot precisely pick up the energies of hundreds of different radio isotopes that are naturally occurring. He adds that meters should be calibrated once a year.
Takata's department provides training for first responders and emergency workers. This includes six hours of classroom instruction and hands-on training for specific meters, tailored to the types of equipment participants have. There is no charge for the training, and Takata says the department would be willing to work with Big Island residents to better utilize their equipment.
"There have been a lot of claims lately, and a lot is unscientific." Lee indicated that more testing was required before any action was taken. "Remnants are still out there," he says of Schofield. "That's why the Army is coming: to get the information to prepare a remediation strategy."
In response to the readings on the Big Island, the 93rd Weapons of Mass Destruction Civil Support Team was deployed to take readings and check the air filters of Humvees. "I'm in charge of homeland security, and so it's of enormous concern to me," says Lee. "They have the best equipment on the Islands and could find nothing above background radiation."
Local groups want the military to be more forthcoming and to cooperate in testing. They say at the very least the state should be involved. "A suitable solution would be for the state to participate in every level and to be a partner at every step of the way," says Marti Townsend of KAHEA, The Hawaiian-Environmental Alliance, a coalition of environmental and native Hawaiian advocates throughout the Islands.
"We're having to take health protection efforts into our own hands," says Townsend of the Geiger counter movement.
However, for many citizens, nothing short of completely independent testing and monitoring will suffice. Lorrin Pang, a consultant with the World Health Organization, is suspicious of official statements. "You really have to pin [the Army] down," Pang says. "What are they really saying? It's always vague."
Pang echoes the sentiment of many on the Big Island, calling for independent, unannounced testing.
"There must be transparency," he says. "Give us references. Don't tell us what you think."
Pang served for 24 years in the Army Medical Corp and says he is familiar with the bureaucracy. He says, "I've seen how this system works. I don't love it, and I don't hate it. I just know how it can be."
So, it's clear that DU has been used on the Islands. It will probably continue to pop up from time to time. The danger of the old assemblies is debatable. It's also likely that radiation readings on the Big Island can be attributed to calibration or user errors, rather than surreptitious and illegal use of DU munitions. Likely is by no means certainly, though. DU is just the latest chapter in a long saga, and it is telling that Hawai'i has learned to keep one eye on its military tenants.
Keith Bettinger can be reached at [email: kisu1492]"
Honor Hawaiian Kingdom Neutrality status
Current mood: irritated
Category: News and Politics
Many do not comprehend that the Hawaiian Kingdom's international status is one of neutrality and the laws of neutrality still exists. This is one of the reasons Hawaii Nationals want the US to deoccupy our country. During it's U.S. belligerent occupation of the Hawaiian Kingdom, the U.S. continues to violate and defy the international laws of occupation and neutrality. The U.S. military's ongoing presence in Hawaii creates havoc, devastation, abuse and desecration of our territory and people. For these reasons we protest against the U.S. presence here and using our land for its selfish purposes.
We have been fighting against the Stryker Brigade being assigned in Hawaii to further the desecration and violate international laws. The military's argument is that it is essential to base it here for training U.S. soldiers which is imperative for their safety in fighting the wars in the Middle East.
You've heard it from the horses' mouth in the following article:
"...Two of the four stryker vehicles and about half of the roughly 50 soldiers who deployed on the training mission touched down at Hickam Air Force base on Air Force C-17 transport planes. While in Korea, they put the strykers to the test.
"We could put the pedal to the metal. We could shoot any kind of rounds we really wanted to, as many rounds as we wanted to, so we got a lot better training in a week, week and a half over there than I think in a month, two months over here( Hawaii)," said Army Sgt. Jamie Norris."
Can we say it better?
Tane
From: Niniane
Date: Apr 3, 2007 3:36 AM
Army Says Strykers Key During Training
Brooks Baehr - bbaehr@kgmb9.com - KGMB
The first Army stryker vehicles to ever be deployed from Hawaii returned to the islands safely Monday morning. They did not come back from Iraq or Afghanistan. They were flown back from South Korea where about 50 soldiers from Schofield Barracks and four strykers spent a week and a half training.
The troops love the strykers, but the battle over whether or not the belong in Hawaii rages on.
Two of the four stryker vehicles and about half of the roughly 50 soldiers who deployed on the training mission touched down at Hickam Air Force base on Air Force C-17 transport planes. While in Korea, they put the strykers to the test.
"We could put the pedal to the metal. We could shoot any kind of rounds we really wanted to, as many rounds as we wanted to, so we got a lot better training in a week, week and a half over there than I think in a month, two months over here," said Army Sgt. Jamie Norris.
Some of the soldiers who returned from South Korea Monday have served in Iraq. They drove the dusty roads in Humvees, but if they get orders to go back, they would prefer to ride in the sturdier strykers.
"The survivability rate is that much greater then the Humvee. I've experienced an IED (improvised explosive device) and, you know, Humvees don't stand a chance. Stryker is where it's at. It's our chance as Americans to bring our soldiers back alive," said Army Sgt. James Burciaga.
The Army hopes to eventually bring about 300 stryker vehicles to Hawaii, but its plans have been slowed by opposition from three native Hawaiian groups. They say the vehicles and the mock battle fields the Army wants to build for stryker training would damage the environment, kill endangered species and destroy culturally significant sites.
"They've already, in doing some of the introductory work on a Stryker training facility at Schofield, destroyed part of Hawaiian temple. So we've got irreplaceable resources that are going to be bulldozed, literally bulldozed," said David Henkin, an attorney for Earthjustice which represents the native Hawaiian groups.
Henkin contends Alaska, Washington State and even South Korea would be better training bases.
In October a federal appellate court ruled the Army violated environmental law by not considering alternate training sites. The Army wants the court to reconsider. In the meantime, limited training is allowed in Hawaii, including training going on right now at the Pohakuloa Training Area on the Big Island.
after we talked, I too opened my mail:
"Aloha Luwella,
I think this will be an interesting teleconference with the judges.
I am sure they will continue to be very polite almost to the point of being
condescending but their objective is really to dismiss the challenges to the
request for license. The easiest way is for them to rule that the petitioners
have no standing in that they failed to show harm or a probable link to future
harm.
Do you know if any people in your neighborhood have cancer of the lung, kidney,
brain, bladder, or any kids or adults with leukemia? The numbers may not be
great enough to show increased risk but the fact that they occur is worth
mentioning.
But one thing is clear. You are concerned about it, your fear of this excess
radiation and toxic substance is genuine and that stress is enough to bring on
illness, sleepless nights, worry about the children. The judges want to tell
you not to worry about it because the uranium is not that much more than natural
uranium occurrences, but it is still more. If the judges feel the people of
Hawaii lack the education to understand it as they do, then I invite you the
judges to come over here and teach us courses in nuclear engineering so we can
see it from their perspective.
Luwella, you are doing the right thing reading up on some of the ways things
were handled in the past. You don’t have to be an expert.
I don’t know if you can get NRC to not issue a license. But you might be able
to change it. My concern is that a possession license would allow the military
to bring in more DU. Maybe with the Stryker brigade. The license can impose
very strict monitoring activity and require disposal of the DU when found. I
prefer a cleanup. So if it is going to happen, let it happen with the best
protections possible and at limits no more than that suspected form the DU
spotter rounds.
There are some issues that can be raised but one of the restrictions is that the
panel may limit you to those already expressed. This is where you can be very
humble and state that is what you meant to say in your original complaint but
maybe the way you expressed it did not come through to them. An example of that
is a claim that the Army does not have standing to request the license to
possess if the land is leased. The other is that they are requesting a wrong
license that it should be a license to operate a low level waste facility.
Those two statements of claims are sort of far out but will get the panel to
address them. They are in areas that cause much confusion within the Nuclear
Regulatory Commission, such as whether or not DU is a class A radioactive
material (very low level and risk) or a class C because it probably comes from
reprocessed reactor fuel rods. I enclose a little write up on that at the end
of this message.
There are three judges. One, I think the head of the panel of three, is a law
judge. He is most familiar with the rules and regulations. The other two are
technical judges. They are most familiar with the radiation science and
engineering. They are scientists.
I think you have a good argument on the depleted uranium issue where you live.
I may not be accurate as I am not familiar with the area so I am making some
generalizations. Valleys are tunnels for wind. As the valley narrows, any wind
moving up that valley increases in speed. Any dust or aerosols are likely to
remain suspended in the air.
When some DU studies were done on Oahu, it included some burn studies where
grasses and plants were burned. Although the contractor tried to collect
airborne samples to measure for depleted uranium, the wind prevented them from
collecting the filters because of concern of contamination from blowing dust.
So they went into the burn areas and collected some ash on the ground. This is
not a very good field procedure as no protocols were mentioned such as how much
ash, how much dirt was collected with the ash, how were the samples prepared for
analysis.
The results did not rule out the presence of DU in the ash. The ash and other
aerosols can be carried by the air and perhaps quite some distances in the wind.
Now it is known that DU spotter rounds were found on Oahu and soil samples in
the immediate area of the finds showed increased uranium concentrations. This
is from one of the reports I red on the Schofield studies.
Burning the grass is a common and regular maintenance procedure. Therefore it
is highly likely that some of these particulates from the DU will be carried by
the wind toward and even to where you live, placing you at risk of inhalation of
depleted uranium.
The testing in any case was inadequate to characterize your risk. The Army may
proudly state, “we did not find any,” nor would they be likely to find any
using the methods they did.
Now you (the judges) know uranium shows up on filters when they test for uranium
in air and people probably breathe these particulates. Natural uranium in
contained in a silicate matrix. Depleted uranium is nearly pure uranium maybe
with some alloy metals. There was no attempt to separate the two in the
analysis.
The judges know the argument presented by the Army that the uranium
concentration is still low regardless of its source and does not place people at
any real risk because it is below some standard published by some world health
organization.
You live on Hawaii with one of the lowest natural uranium concentrations in the
rocks. The island was built from the oceanic basalts that typically have less
than 1 part per million uranium. This was even confirmed by Dr. Rubin of the
University of Hawaii. Another good marker of this is our radon concentration,
the lowest of all the states, and confirmed by the U.S. EPA in the write up for
Radon Risk Potential for Hawaii prepared by Dr. Reimer.
Although the Army contractors did not test for uranium to see if it is depleted
or natural at your house or neighborhood or how it compares to background
elsewhere, whatever the source, why should you be subject to breathing in more
uranium than is background? As long as NRC follows the linear-no threshold
theory, risk is related to concentration and elevated concentrations, even below
some action threshold, place you at increased risk. Whether the elevated risk
is 1 in a million, or 1 in five-thousand, it is still elevated risk.
Unlike our brave women and men in uniform who are often subject to accidents of
the battlefield, if you do not include adequate provisions for testing and clean
up in this possession license, then you are guilty of making me and my neighbors
victims of friendly fire."
Try reading and responding to this email...this is what I am up against.
Thank you for the talk, I had to stay home for the Xmas holidays was not feeling well. I usually visit the homeless but was not able to leave my comfort zone to even do that.
The issue is getting stupid if you ask me.
It is too political and reeks with social group antics. The contentions is to stop the bombing for the sake of the future generation. The present depleted uranium in volume exist and present in our environment. What I am battling with among our fellow citizens (Kanaka's) is the continued use of depleted uranium during bombing and training. How can that be?
There is no pretext to permitting the use of depleted uranium. These crazy social groups want to be involved with the military and do some partnership crap. That's nuts! Blurring the line is irresponsible, but what the hell that is exactly what these lolo's did during the Kahoolawe years!!!
It's difficult to live with Kanaka's and their counterparts, that have careers in partnership more than caring for the citizens of Hawaii. Oh well, this is an abortion state! How 'go for broke' between the legs can we be? We kill the evidence since 1972 of deformed babies, since DU been around since the 60s. This is a Kanaka trail of trim-tabbing for the sake of their status with the non-brownies.
I don't know...anymore, but not to dispair tomorrow is another day. Kaohi
In the year 2050, all Waianae residence will have so damaged DNA that it would be impossible to mate with partners that one grew up with and loved within their childhood community. This is not new, it happened among our cousin to cousin period which we are now coming out of thanks to our genealogist.
"Islands on the edge of time" is a video that everyone should view and take into consideration of what is present today. I do believe Kauai is the edge that is visible, but yet not part of the process that is on going. I am so sorry that this phenon slipped through the cracks for Kauain's. All that I can do is try to do my best on Jan 13, 2010. Please give my aloha to the people on Kauai. Mahalo Kauai Kaohi
Mahalo for sharing your Mana'o with all of us! There are many Kanaka who may be skeptical of what you are doing, but know that what you are doing is on the fore front and imperative for our culture, our children and their future! Many laughed at Noah when he built his ark! what you are asking "that there be an escape route for the people prior to the licensing " is very reasonable! it allows the military and those IGNORANT Kanaka's who sole out by supporting the military licensing to continue contaminating our aina through their bombing an opportunity to "save face". If the military does NOT grant you, your very reasonable request come January 13, 2010, They, the military will be held accountable in a higher court of justice! A court where the laws of human rights and justice prevails… at the gate way to Heaven! after all...The United States "touts" "One Nation under God"! Kaua'i prayers are with you!
I thought about what you said. Yes, education on why depleted uranium is so poison to the next generation is necessary. Will begin a curriculum and hopefully expand it to educating the mass'es as to why the military in Hawaii and the Pacific should stop their occupation in Hawaii and go home.
"Islands on the edge of time" is important to view and remain standing in the wind against military in Hawaii and our Pacific.
Mahalo for all your kind words of encouragements. Kaohi
We can only educate those who will listen. As MOTHERS it starts with US, in our homes educating our children on the “skills of survival“. We need to prepare our children so that OUR blood lineage can prosper in the future. This should be the natural instinct of all mammal mothers . It is unfortunate pharmaceutical companies who are controlled by the government create chemical compositions (formulas, recipes) that destroy mothers (ice, etc..) This is eugenics way of ensuring that only the best of the best DNA genes prosper in the future.
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