DU munitions use at Pohakuloa Training Area, Big Island, Hawaii
On Aug. 31, 2010, the U.S. Army Garrison - Hawaii announced that the results of the Army's recent depleted uranium (DU) Basic Human Health Risk Assessment (BHHRA) for the Pohakuloa Training Area (PTA) impact area indicate no likely adverse impacts to current and potential future persons working on or living near PTA due to DU present at PTA.> Download Basic Human Health Risk Assessment
By letters dated November 6, 2008, and July 8, 2009, the U.S. Army Installation Command submitted a Source Material License application to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), for the Schofield Barracks and Pohakuloa Training Area (PTA) sites in Oahu and the Island of Hawaii, Hawaii. This license application is for possession of depleted uranium (DU) due to the potential for residual DU to be at various Army Installations where testing of the M101 Spotting Round has occurred.
A request for a hearing must be filed by October 13, 2009.
Federal Register: August 13, 2009 (Volume 74, Number 155) p. 40855-40857 (download full text )
> View NRC news release Aug. 17, 2009
Army: Depleted Uranium Not a Public Risk: The military says a preliminary study has concluded the public isn't at risk from depleted uranium at the Pohakuloa Training Area on the Big Island. The Army conducted the study as part of its licensing application to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission for a site-specific environmental radiation monitoring plan. According to the report, only three pieces of the radioactive material have been found at Pohakuloa and it is thought the remainder, if any, likely fell into the cracks in the lava. The presence of depleted uranium at the training area was confirmed by the Army in 2007. After years of denials of using the material in the islands, the Army also said soldiers training in Hawaii fired 714 spotting rounds containing depleted uranium in the 1960s. (KGMB9 News, July 29, 2009)
> Download: IMCOM Memo to NRC with Enclosures, Site Specific Security and Environmental Radiation Monitoring Plans, July 8, 2009 (ADAMS Acc. No. ML091950280 ), Enclosure 4: U.S. Army Installation Management Command: Environmental Radiation Monitoring Plan For Depleted Uranium From the M101 Spotting Round For Pohakuloa Training Area, July 2009 (ADAMS Acc. No. ML091950297 )
Measurements will be taken at Pohakuloa Training Area: Airborne uranium levels will be measured by an Army contractor at three monitoring stations at Pohakuloa Training Area on the Big Island over the next 12 months, Col. Howard Killian told the Public Works Committee of the Hawaii County Council on Feb. 3, 2009. (StarBulletin Feb. 4, 2009)
Waiki'i Ranch dust samples show no depleted uranium: Twenty years of accumulated airborne dust was tested for depleted uranium (DU) using a laboratory in England. The NERC Isotope Geosciences Laboratory is one of the few labs worldwide that is capable of the extremely sensitive testing that can detect small quantities of DU. The amount of DU found in the sample from Waiki'i Ranch was found to be statistically insignificant, and was less than 1/100 the amount of naturally occurring uranium in the sample.
Waiki'i Ranch is 8-10 miles directly downwind from the Pohakuloa Training Area (PTA), where spent DU munitions have been found. Because of the close proximity, the residents of Waiki'i Ranch decided to have tests done to determine if they had been, or are being exposed to airborne DU particles. (Reader Submitted, The Honolulu Advertiser, July 14, 2008)
A military contractor confirmed the presence of depleted uranium at the U.S. Army's Pohakuloa Training Area on the Big Island, the Army said. The Army has said it did not use depleted uranium at the training range. Earlier state tests found radiation levels in the air near the Pohakuloa training range to be "normal." (The International Herald Tribune Aug. 21, 2007)
DU munitions use at Schofield Barracks Firing Range, Oahu, Hawaii
NRC requests predecisional enforcement conference with Army on unauthorized depleted uranium weapons at Schofield Barracks, Hawaii: "It appears to the NRC that the Army possesses depleted uranium (DU) at multiple Army installations without an NRC license to do so and performed decommissioning at the Army's Schofield Barracks, Hawaii installation without authorization from NRC."> Download Apparent Violation of U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Regulations and Request for Predecisional Enforcement Conference, EA-10-129
, Apr. 5, 2011 (ADAMS Acc. No. ML110660245)
By letters dated November 6, 2008, and July 8, 2009, the U.S. Army Installation Command submitted a Source Material License application to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), for the Schofield Barracks and Pohakuloa Training Area (PTA) sites in Oahu and the Island of Hawaii, Hawaii. This license application is for possession of depleted uranium (DU) due to the potential for residual DU to be at various Army Installations where testing of the M101 Spotting Round has occurred.
A request for a hearing must be filed by October 13, 2009.
Federal Register: August 13, 2009 (Volume 74, Number 155) p. 40855-40857 (download full text )
> View NRC news release Aug. 17, 2009
> Download: IMCOM Memo to NRC with Enclosures, Site Specific Security and Environmental Radiation Monitoring Plans, July 8, 2009 (ADAMS Acc. No. ML091950280 ), Enclosure 3: U.S. Army Installation Management Command: Environmental Radiation Monitoring Plan For Depleted Uranium From the M101 Spotting Round For Schofield Barracks, July 2009 (ADAMS Acc. No. ML091950292 )
The U.S. Army said on Apr. 22, 2008, it found no significant public health threat from depleted uranium used decades ago at firing ranges on Schofield Barracks. The Army used weapons containing depleted uranium in Hawaii in the 1960s. Last fall, the Army took more than 1,400 soil, water and air samples at Schofield. The level for acceptable risk set by the Environmental Protection Agency and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission is 1 in 10,000. The maximum found at Schofield was 3 in 100,000, Army officials said. "It's well below the EPA and NRC levels. So, we are saying that it is safe," said Howard Takata of the state Department of Health. The panel of experts that weighed in on the independent study concurred. The small amount of DU was found in large fragments, which made it unlikely that the contaminant could be airborne in dust, according to panel members. The Army said records show some 714 rounds containing the radioactive waste were sent to Hawaii. Only about 30 were found at Schofield Barracks firing range. (KITV Apr. 22, 2008)
> Download Final Schofield Barracks Impact Range Baseline Human Health Risk Assessment for Residual Depleted Uranium , April 2008 (ADAMS Acc. No. ML090900383)
By letter dated February 26, 2007, the Army informed the NRC on the discovery of depleted uranium contamination at the Schofield Barracks Firing Range, Wahiawa, Hawaii.
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