National Public Lands Day "What a JOKE"

National Public Lands Day


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National Public Lands Day by U.S. Army Garrison-Hawaii.









FORT
DERUSSY, Hawaii - Angela Jones, park ranger from the U. S. Army Corps of
Engineers Pacific Regional Visitors Center, labels a storm drains on
Fort DeRussy to help prevent the illegal dumping of materials. The
stencil reads: Dump No Waste, Protect our Waters.For Life.

Times, serif" size="+2"">Hawai'i still at risk from old munitions






By William Cole
AdvertiserMilitary Writer


















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Chief Warrant Officer 2 Stephen Negahnquet pointed out potentially dangerous unexploded ordnance found in Waikane Valley
in Kahalu'u back in 1984. Anyone who comes across unexploded ordnance is
encouraged to implement the "3 Rs" — recognize, run and report. Waikane
Valley is one of 46 sites around the state that potentially contains
unexploded ordnance. The munitions are very much a part of Hawai'i,
after a defensive buildup before World War I and a rush to respond to
World War II. Cleanup is ongoing.













ADVERTISER LIBRARY PHOTO | Jan. 5, 1984





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POTENTIAL UNEXPLODED ORDNANCE SITES ON 6 ISLANDS


Hawai'i sites that may have unexploded ordnance:

O'ahu

Hickam Air Force Base

Dillingham Airfield

He'eia Combat Training Area, Windward

Kahuku Training Camp

Makapu'u Lighthouse Reservation

Goat Island

Pacific Jungle Combat area, Kahana

Pali Training Camp, Windward

Rabbit Island

Waikane Training Area

Waimea Valley Audubon Center

Offshore Wai'anae Sewage Outfall

2 offshore sites six miles off Honolulu

Big Island

Army Impact Range, Hilo

2 Nansay Hawai'i sites, Waikoloa

Firing Range and Camp, Waikoloa

3 Waikoloa Maneuver Areas

Pakini Bombing Range

Popoki Target Area, Puna

Ka'u Bombing Range, Hawai'i Volcanoes National Park

Big Island bombing target, Mahukona Range

Big Island bombing target, Kea'au

Big Island bombing target, Wahine Maka Nui

Kaua'i

Ahukini, offshore

Waimea Training Site

Wailua Artillery Impact Area

Grove Farm Artillery Impact Area

Moloka'i

Papohaku Ranchland, West Coast

Makanalua Bombing Range

Mokuho'oniki Island

Moloka'i bombing targets, Punakua

Maui

Makawao Gunnery Site

Kama'ole Training Base, Kihei

'Opana Point Bombing Range

Maui bombing targets, Kanouou Point

Maui bombing targets, Kanahena Point

Unexploded Ordnance Removal, Molokini

Lana'i

Kane Pu'u Naval Bombing Range

Lana'i bombing targets, Ka'ena Point

Lana'i bombing targets, Keanapapa Point

Lana'i bombing targets, Manele Bay

Lana'i bombing targets, Hulopo'e Bay

Source: Army Corps of Engineers


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Ka'u Paio was digging in a garden at Waimea Middle School in 2002 on the Big Island with other students when the earth yielded
something unexpected — a live hand grenade.



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In 1999, a stretch of beach in Makaha was closed down after a boy found a grenade, its pin still in place, buried in the sand.



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Seventeen-year-old James O'Hare was killed in 1971 when a 40 mm grenade exploded as he attempted to dismantle it. Police had said the
youth found the explosive at the military's Pohakuloa Training Area on
the Big Island.



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In Hawai'i, unexploded ordnance, or UXO, is part of the landscape — the consequence of a defensive buildup pre-World War I and
the massive rush to respond in World War II.



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Millions have been spent by the federal government on cleanup. Hundreds of millions more are needed as new neighborhoods and more
people encroach on formerly remote training ranges.



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The reality, though, is that federal funding for that cleanup falls far short of the mark.



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Under a federal UXO program for formerly used defense sites, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Honolulu District for fiscal 2006 received
$14.5 million. Congress funds the entire national program at $254
million a year, officials said. By 2010, the Hawai'i funding is
projected to drop to $12 million.



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The 135,000-acre Waikoloa Maneuver Area cleanup on the Big Island, where grenades, bazooka rounds, artillery and mortar rounds,
land mines and hedgehog missiles were used, is expected to cost $640
million alone.



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The project, started in 2004, is funded at $10 million a year. At that rate, the removal of unexploded ordnance would take 64 years.



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The Army Corps of Engineers lists 46 sites in Hawai'i as potentially having unexploded ordnance. Cleanup efforts have been
conducted or are planned for just a few because of the cost.



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Among the sites listed are popular or well-known spots that show how pervasive the problem is, including Dillingham Airfield, Makapu'u
lighthouse, Goat Island, the base of the Pali lookout, Rabbit Island,
Waimea Valley Audubon Center, Molokini crater and Hawai'i Volcanoes
National Park.



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"There's no question about it — there is a UXO problem in Hawai'i, and it is becoming more acute with development and
encroachment," said U.S. Rep. Ed Case, D-Hawai'i. "The fact is, we have
1.3 million people here running around plus a bunch of tourists."



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ARTILLERY EVERYWHERE



Ordnance is offshore and on land. While diving off Wai'anae, scuba divemaster Cameron Guadiz has found 5-inch and 3-inch diameter
shells.



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"Probably hundreds scattered around," he said.



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He's come across 5-foot torpedoes with fins and what looked to him like a coral-encrusted 500-pound bomb.



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At least nine people have been killed or injured by old munitions in Hawai'i since the 1940s.



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Case called the federal government's commitment to clean up the unexploded ordnance "woefully inadequate," not just in Hawai'i but
nationwide.



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"Basically, what we're talking about is $640 million to clean up Waikoloa versus a national budget for (the program) of
$250-plus-million, so clearly, there's a problem all across the
country," he said.



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U.S. Sen. Daniel K. Akaka, D-Hawai'i, also supports increased funding for unexploded ordnance removal.



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"Unfortunately, current appropriations are not enough for the (Defense Department) to move forward with cleanup tasks," Akaka said.



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In fiscal 2006, $254 million was appropriated nationally for unexploded ordnance cleanup under the formerly used defense site
program, but in the Bush administration's budget request for 2007, that
amount is reduced to $243 million, Case said.



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The House proposed increasing it to $258 million, while the Senate has come out with a figure of $283 million.



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The Army Corps of Engineers said it is difficult to estimate tonnage of unexploded ordnance in Hawai'i, in part because records
rarely have such information. During World War II, "record keeping was
not generally rigorous," the corps said.



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Virtually all the formerly used defense properties received some type of cleanup, and there may be records of how much was removed, but
nothing to indicate what remains.



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Only California, Arizona and New Mexico have more total unexploded ordnance sites than Hawai'i, the Corps of Engineers said.



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The formerly used defense site program covers military properties that were transferred before Oct. 17, 1986.



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RECOGNIZE, RUN, REPORT



At Waikoloa, workers have removed 1,100 rounds of ordnance since 2004 from areas immediately adjacent to present neighborhoods.



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Many who have grown up in Hawai'i are well familiar with military history and its dangers.



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The Army Corps of Engineers said it instituted a public involvement program to inform residents what to do if unexploded
ordnance is found, and has programs in schools. The Corps of Engineers
stresses the "3 Rs" — recognize, run and report — for any munitions
found.



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The Corps of Engineers said unexploded ordnance cleanup is being conducted at the former Makawao Gunnery Site and at 'Opana Point
Bombing Range on Maui.



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On O'ahu, site work is being done at He'eia Combat Training Area and the Pali Training Camp on the windward side.



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A 2004 Army Corps of Engineers report said the He'eia training area included 200 acres that supported 4,500 troops and pistol, rifle,
grenade, bayonet and obstacle course ranges until 1945. Adjacent firing
impact areas in Waihe'e and Ka'alaea valleys enlarged the area to 2,254
acres.



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The Pali Training Camp included 1,500 acres at the base of the Pali in Maunawili Valley — now a hiking area — that was an artillery
impact zone.



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The report said "extensive portions of the project area pose a potential unexploded ordnance health and safety risk to the public."



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REMOVAL EFFORTS



Waikane Valley "is being considered for ordnance removal," the Army Corps of Engineers said, with an initial property assessment
expected by October. Other assessments for possible cleanup also are
under way.



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The Marines had wanted to reactivate the valley as a training area, but studies showed it to be too thick with unexploded ordnance.



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Military training ranges still in use, including the Makua Military Reservation and those on Schofield Barracks, are undergoing
separate cleanups, and Kaho'olawe underwent a five-year, $400 million
partial unexploded ordnance removal.



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The Navy effort saw the removal of 5,000 tons of target-range scrap and shells and other military remains.



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Schofield Barracks has been conducting a range cleanup for its new Stryker vehicles that was slowed by the discovery of chemical
weapons, including chloropicrin and phosgene, both choking agents.



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The reason for the old weapons' presence initially was a mystery, but Schofield spokesman Kendrick Washington recently said, "We
suspect that these rounds were fired for military training or quality
control testing during World War II."



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Makua Valley, used by the military since the 1920s, when three tracts on the upper valley floor were purchased for howitzer
emplacements, has seen $599,000 worth of cleanup, with more ongoing,
officials said.



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In 2004, explosive ordnance disposal experts detonated three World War II explosives in the valley, including a 1,000-pound,
500-pound and 100-pound bomb.



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The Army said fixed-wing aircraft dropped bombs in the valley before, during and after World War II.



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BEFORE THE WAR



The military buildup in Hawai'i predates World War II and includes the coastal defense network of guns that ringed O'ahu.



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George Aguiilon, who grew up at the 'Ewa sugar plantation from 1928 through 1946, remembered military personnel test firing the
large-bore guns at Fort Barrette in Kapolei. A concrete enclosure still
remains.



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"The sound and vibrations from the cannons not only shook the walls, it shook the roofs, telephone poles and knocked down the ripe
mangoes (and) everything that was not nailed down in the house," he
said.



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While land-based training ranges still have unexploded ordnance that was fired, shore areas and deep-water regions around Hawai'i are
rife with ordnance that was dumped.



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Marine scientists, at the request of the Defense Department, in June conducted a survey of an area known as "Ordnance Reef" near Poka'i
Bay off the Wai'anae Coast.



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An Army Corps of Engineers survey in 2002 at Ordnance Reef identified more than 2,000 military munitions at depths ranging from 15
feet to 240 feet.



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The follow-up report is due out in coming months.



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HISTORY OF DUMPING



Publicity about the U.S. military's practice of dumping chemical and conventional weapons at sea decades ago led to data last year that
4,220 tons of hydrogen cyanide were dumped somewhere off Pearl Harbor in
1944.



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During that year, the military also dumped 16,000 100-pound mustard bombs "about five miles off of O'ahu."



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In 1945, off Wai'anae, the Army dumped thousands of hydrogen cyanide bombs, cyanogen chloride bombs, mustard bombs and lewisite
containers. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration charts
identified some as being in 1,600 feet of water.



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A report on deep-water munitions sites in U.S. waters is due out at the end of the month.



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Case commends the Defense Department for the examination, which will include a review of Navy archives for dumping.



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"I believe that the (Defense Department) is doing the right thing in the right order on a reasonable time line with respect to
marine munitions dumping," Case said.



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How a possible cleanup will be paid for is unclear.



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Hawai'i County Councilman Bob Jacobson in 2004 unsuccessfully sought the creation of a registry to record where all unexploded
ordnance was found on the Big Island.



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"There's a lot of stuff out there," he said. "Just past the breakwater in Hilo Harbor, it's my understanding there's just vast
numbers of planes and bombs and all kinds of unexploded ordnance just
dumped out there."



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It's out of sight and out of mind underwater, or obscured by vegetation or buried. But it's there.



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"I don't think people think about it," said Jacobson. "I think there's not a lot of disclosure.



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"I think there are lots of areas they say were cleared, but because it was too expensive to get into gullies or gulches, they didn't
really spend the time. The stuff is embedded underground and you don't
see the bomb on the surface."





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