wake up and smell the DU
In a brave first-step, Hawaii Island County Council is calling for full disclosure about depleted uranium (DU) contamination at Pohakuloa Training Area (PTA).
From our friends on the Big Island: Depleted Uranium contamination in the air and watershed poses tremendous risks to human health and the environment--impacts lasing many generations. The severity of the risks of DU upon human populations and the environment calls for immediate extensive testing of potentially affected areas. After 50 years of informed inaction on the part of the federal military and the state government to reduce and remove the toxic danger of DU in the Hawaiian environment, there is widespread concern that continuing activities in areas with DU contamination will only serve to increase the risk to the public.
Please support the Hawaii County Council Resolution 639-08 to address the hazards of Depleted Uranium at the Pohakuloa Training Area (PTA).
CLICK HERE!
Quick + Easy! Submit a letter to Councilmembers in support of Resolution 639-08. Takes just a minute!
Tags: depleted, dmz, ku'e, military, pohakuloa, toxic, uranium
D.U. WATCH
Legislation to test for D.U. in the environment:
H.B. 1452 (104K PDF) (as introduced).
Latest version: H.B. 1452 HD 1, SD1 (156K PDF) H.B. 1452, March 29, 2007.
KAHEA Testimony (120K PDF) H.B. 1452 March 29, 2007.
Bill Status for H.B. 1452
DEPLETED URANIUM DISCOVERED ON O‘AHU!
Depleted Uranium - the radioactive, heavy metal that may cause "The Gulf War Syndrome" and other health problems - was discovered last year on an Army base in Wahiawa, O‘ahu. See the Military Toxics Project's long fact sheet on DU (200k PDF) or this abbreviated fact sheet on DU (96k PDF).
Local residents are gravely concerned about the possibly detrimental affects depleted uranium is having on their health. Public Statement on the discovery of depleted uranium in Hawai‘i. (88k PDF)
Concerned community members also sent a letter to Major General Mixon, commander of the 25th Infantry Division stationed in Hawaii, requesting that he take responsibility for the proper clean-up of the depleted uranium, ensure the public is fully notified throughout the clean-up process, and institute a moratorium on all planned military expansion based on threats this and other contamination poses to the public. (72k PDF)
The Army has long denied ever using DU in Hawai‘i; reassuring residents in countless public hearings and environmental impact statements that "a records search for depleted uranium rounds was conducted and determined that these types of munitions were never part of the Army's inventory in Hawai‘i... ."
In response to past Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests, Army denied using DU in Hawai‘i (20k PDF); Navy denied using DU in Hawai‘i (592k PDF); Air Force denied using DU in Hawai‘i (32k PDF). In response to questions about DU posed during the Stryker Brigade environmental impact statement process, the Army again denied using depleted uranium in Hawai‘i. (52k PDF).
Unfortunately, this is similar to what happened in Vieques, Puerto Rico. The U.S. Navy had long used this small, inhabited island for bombing practices. The U.S. Navy routinely denied using depleted uranium in its practice rounds. It wasn't until many people in the nearby community became ill without explanation, that people began to investigate the U.S. Navy's use of depleted uranium. In 2001, after ending the decades of target practice, the U.S. Navy admitted to using depleted uranium in Viequez (48k PDF).
Given this new information, concerned community members issued another formal FOIA request (64k PDF) to all the military branches.
Emails, however, between the Army personnel and the Zapata Engineering staff charged with clearing unexploded ordnance for the Stryker Brigade confirm that depleted uranium has been used in Hawai‘i (see page 2 of the emails, 380k PDF). The possibility that the Army is either incompetent or untrustworthy is very alarming.
In a short statement released without public comment or apology, the Army confirmed that 15 pieces of sharpnel contaminated with depleted uranium were discovered in Wahiawa at a military base now named Schofield Barracks. The Army did not indicate the size of the area where these pieces of depleted uranium were found, nor did the Army indicate whether they would be testing the large fresh water acquifer under the military base for contamination.
NEWS COVERAGE OF DU IN HAWAI‘I:
- Senate Committee to Rule on Depleted Uranium Testing Bill (mp3) Hawai‘i Public Radio, Kayla Rosenfeld March 28, 2007.
- HB 1452 - Will Test For Depleted Uranium At Schofield Barracks (mp3) Hawai‘i Public Radio, Kayla Rosenfeld, March 26, 2007.
- Monitoring Depleted Uranium (128K PDF) Big Island Weekly February 28, 2007.
- Victims of Depleted Uranium Exposure File Lawsuit Against the Federal Government: Mystery Illness Blamed on Depleted Uranium (188k PDF) Honolulu Advertiser August 28, 2006.
- Schofield Uranium Find Prompts Call for Probe (128k PDF) Honolulu Advertiser January 6, 2006.
- Uranium revelation upsets isle activists (168k PDF) Star Bulletin January 6, 2006.
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