DESTINATION IRAQ: KANEOHE MARINES DEPART

150 Kaneohe Marines leave for Iraq

Soldiers hope to build on existing peace

Kaneohe Marines who have deployed more than once to Iraq say the country is now far more peaceful and amenable to community building projects.

"I'm hoping to do a lot of good things over there as far as helping the community, rebuilding schools, shopping centers, things like that," said Lance Cpl. Richard Johnson.

Johnson was part of a contingent of 150 Marines that left Kaneohe yesterday for a seven-month deployment to al Asad, Iraq. They are members of the 3rd Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment, which is replacing Kaneohe's 1st Battalion, 12th Regiment, now in Iraq.

The returning battalion is scheduled to go back to Iraq in November even as President Barack Obama has ordered a drawdown in U.S. forces.

By Star-Bulletin staff

POSTED: 01:30 a.m. HST, Apr 06, 2009

Lance Cpl. Richard Johnson was supposed to get out of the Marine Corps last December.

An Emotional Goodbye For Local Soldiers

About 150 Marines and Sailors boarded a bus as they leave loved ones behind for a 7-month deployment to Iraq.

[Watch]

But he extended his active-duty enlistment for a year when he learned his unit was returning to Iraq this month.

"I wanted to go back with these guys. They're a very good unit. I wanted to go back to Iraq and do good things," he said.

Johnson is among the last 150 Marines and sailors with 3rd Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment, to depart from Kaneohe yesterday for a seven-month deployment to al Asad, Iraq. About 850 other Marines and sailors of the 3rd Battalion left earlier this month.

This is Johnson's third deployment to Iraq since 2006. He said there were a lot of close combat encounters, improvised explosive device (IED) strikes, sniper shots and small-arms fire in his first deployment.

His second deployment in 2007 was more peaceful, with far fewer insurgent attacks.

Johnson is hoping for more of the same for his third deployment.

"I'm hoping to do a lot of good things over there as far as helping the community, rebuilding schools, shopping centers, things like that," he said.

And he's happy President Barack Obama plans to draw down the number of troops in Iraq by the summer of 2010.

Obama said he would like to withdraw two-thirds of the 145,000 U.S. troops now in Iraq.

"I think we did everything that we could (in Iraq). And we have a lot of priorities in Afghanistan right now," Johnson said.

The 3rd Battalion, 3rd Regiment, is replacing Kaneohe's 1st Battalion, 12th Marine Regiment, now in Iraq. The 1st Battalion is scheduled to go back to Iraq in November.

Staff Sgt. Felix Nole-Ortiz is another one of the 150 to depart Kaneohe yesterday. This will be his fourth deployment to Iraq since 1992. His first time was as part of Operation Desert Storm, the campaign to liberate Kuwait, during which some U.S. units crossed the border into Iraq, then withdrew.

He says he has seen living conditions improve for some Iraqis during his three previous deployments.

"Some of the areas are built up, some of the areas not. Some of the people are living a lot better than others," he said.

Nole-Ortiz says if the Iraqis can handle their own security, he supports the drawdown. If he is ordered to go to Iraq after next summer, he says he will do his job.

He says the only difficulty with his deployments is being away from his family. He and his wife have two sons, ages 8 and 13, and are expecting another child in June.

Nole-Ortiz says the military services have greatly improved communication opportunities between service members deployed overseas with their families back home.

"But I still write letters the old-fashioned way," he said.

And this time, Nole-Ortiz says he is bringing a laptop computer.

Choosing a form of governance:

We should remember that we elected TWO monarchs in the past. There are rules and criteria for eligibility as dictated in the constitution. The other point is many have connections to ali'i lineage and that the DNA has broadened to many. The other thing is that the ali'i abandoned their post for almost a hundred years and the maka'ainana and ali'i descendants have been able to live without them and shifted for themselves the best way they know how.

The dynamics of 2009 has changed the complexion of governance and therefore it should be up to the Hawai'i nationals to decide what form of government they wish to live under. It doesn't have to be forms that exist today but a variation that is suitable for our island kingdom/nation/state. It should fit our composition of culture, modern day economics, sustenance and pursuit of happiness, and protection of our people's human rights. Nothing is etched in stone and we can allow ourselves to make mistakes while improving our Polynesian society and lifestyle.
Once we establish our system of governance, if it isn't workable, we can change it. What people need to look at is what is going on throughout the world; what is working and what is not; the pitfalls that wrest the governance away from the people; and the safeguards to protect itself and its people.

The people themselves should don the kuleana for their country and make itself accountable for its citizens and listen to the voices of its people. The people have the kuleana to make things happen as an active member of society. You snooze; you lose. One has to take a stand and one has to listen. Trust needs to be earned and a person's word is their honor. That is what we learned while growing up and we need to put it into practice if we haven't already.

Playing games with your own mercurial rules does not do it. Kulia i ka nu'u; strive for the best.

Tane

Navy to clean up waste in Wahiawa, Wai'anae

Military installations on EPA's 'Superfund' list pose no immediate threat

By Gordon Y.K. Pang
Advertiser Staff Writer

The Navy this week signed off on an agreement to clean up hazardous waste sites on active military installations in Lualualei in Wai'anae and near Whitmore Village in Wahiawa.

Officials with the Navy and the federal Environmental Protection Agency, however, said that the agreement is largely a formality for the two locations that are on the EPA's National Priorities List, also known as the "Superfund" list.

"Preliminary investigations have indicated that no immediate threats currently exist at the sites while further investigations continue," the EPA said yesterday in a release.

Navy spokeswoman Denise Emsley said actual cleanup work began in 1991 for the sites even before the EPA put them on the Superfund list in 1994.

Both the Naval Computer and Telecommunications Area Master Station for the Pacific in Wahiawa and the Navy Radio Transmitter Facility in Lualualei continue to operate as active military installations.

Technically, 24 "sites" have been designated — 11 in Lualualei and 13 in Wahiawa.

Cleanup at five of the sites are completed, Emsley said. Most of the work already done involves the soil at former PCB transformers that the Navy deemed a priority, she said.

According to the EPA's Web site on the cleanup effort, soil from those sites was excavated and transported to a thermal desorption treatment facility at the former Naval Air Station Barbers Point. Once cleaned, the soil was returned to the excavated sites and used as backfill.

"The Navy manages its various sites to be cleaned up by dealing with those of highest concern first," those that pose the most risk to people or the environment, Emsley said.

According to the EPA, PCBs can cause cancer in animals and adversely affect the nervous, immune and endocrine systems in people.

Among the sites yet to be cleared at the Wahiawa location are a landfill, an incinerator, several disposal sites, a "service station gulch," a dump site and an abandoned firing range.

Included among the sites yet to be cleaned at Lualualei are a landfill, an old coral pit, several disposal areas, two wells and sewage ponds.

"This is a critical step in completing the cleanup actions," said Keith Takata, director for the EPA Pacific Southwest Region's Superfund Division. "Our agreement with the Navy and the state finalizes the process that the Navy will follow to complete the investigation and cleanup of any remaining chemical contamination at both sites."

Last summer, the Department of Defense publicly raised issue with the EPA's demand that it clean 11 hazardous locations across the country, including the Wahiawa location.

Both Emsley and local EPA spokesman Dean Higuchi said they did not know the reason for the Department of Defense's objections to cleaning the Hawai'i location.

Emsley said the Navy has had a cooperative relationship with the local EPA office and the state Department of Health throughout the cleanup process.

The Navy has spent approximately $250 million to date cleaning restoration sites throughout O'ahu, including at the Pearl Harbor Naval Complex, Emsley said.

PORT ROYAL GROUNDING

Navy on notice over reef damage

The state demands that restoration begin before the cost is finalized

The state put the Navy on notice this week that it will be held responsible for the damage the $1 billion warship USS Port Royal caused when it was stuck on a reef for nearly four days in February. The Navy also should pay the cost of emergency efforts to prevent further damage to the reef and must pay for the restoration of the reef, the state argues.

The diesel-powered cruiser ran aground in water about 14 to 22 feet deep near Honolulu Airport on Feb. 5 when it was offloading sailors, contractors and shipyard workers after a day of sea trials. The 567-foot cruiser was pulled free nearly four days later.

The Navy was to meet with the state today to discuss the findings of its investigation and "proposed courses of action" — information that still has not been made public. Nor has it released information on the fate of the Port Royal's skipper, Capt. John Carroll, or any of the sailors or officers standing watch when the ship ran aground.

By Gregg K. Kakesako

POSTED: 01:30 a.m. HST, Apr 02, 2009

The state has given the Navy a month to decide whether it will work to stabilize ongoing damage to the reef, coral and other natural resources caused by the grounding of the $1 billion warship USS Port Royal near the Honolulu Airport last month.

In a four-page letter to Vice Adm. Bruce MacDonald, Navy judge advocate general in Washington, D.C., Laura Thielen, chairwoman of the state Board of Land and Natural Resources, said the state has not yet tallied the costs of the emergency mitigation for the immediate damaged caused by the 9,600-ton warship, the value of the coral damaged and attempts to free the Pearl Harbor-based warship.

However, the state wants the Navy to minimize the damage caused by the warship without waiting for the state's final assessment on the entire recovery and restoration costs.

Thielen warned that costs will increase substantially unless the Navy acts to immediately mitigate the primary damage impacts by assisting in the recovery of injured coral; preventing further secondary damage by removing or stabilizing significant amounts of damaged coral rubble prior to the arrival of large south summer swells; and protecting loose live coral to prevent further damage to public trust resources, in coordination with the state and in compliance with emergency permitting requirements.

Mark Matsunaga, Navy spokesman, said, "The Navy has been working on a proposal to mediate the damage caused by the grounding of USS Port Royal in coordination with the state of Hawaii."

He said the Navy was to meet with the state today to discuss the findings of its investigation and "proposed courses of action."

That information still has not been made public. Nor has the Navy released any information on the fate of the Port Royal's skipper, Capt. John Carroll, or any of the sailors or officers who were standing watch just after dusk on Feb. 5, when the grounding occurred.

The 567-foot-long Port Royal ran aground the reef in water about 14 to 22 feet deep. After several unsuccessful attempts, the guided-missile cruiser was removed on Feb. 9.

The state Health Department already has said the Navy will not be fined over the ship's dumping 7,000 gallons of waste water while it was stuck for nearly four days on a reef a half-mile south of Honolulu Airport.

Price Unknown For Environmental Damages From Port Royal

Repairs to the navy ship are expected to cost taxpayers around $40 million and the state is worried that habitats for Hawaiian animals were damaged.

[Watch]

Laurence Lau, deputy director for environmental health administration, said that under the federal Clean Water Act, the state has "no jurisdiction over a Navy warship."

However, Thielen said the Navy will have to pay to mitigate the algae bloom effects caused by the waste-water spill as well as biological and possible ecological problems caused by the paint scraped off the Port Royal's hull. The state is waiting for the results of a toxicity study.

Thielen in her letter said the state wants immediate assistance to minimize "the amount of primary damage resulting from the grounding incident and to prevent potentially devastating secondary damage that could be aggravated by the upcoming summer swell."

Thielen added that at a March 5 meeting of Navy, Justice Department, Fish and Wildlife Service and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration officials, state officials gave the Navy 15 CDs of dive photos, a CD of measurements of the main coral scar and other related documents.

Thielen said the primary damage area covers about six to 10 acres, and the "main injury scar" to the reef covers about 9,600 square feet. Federal and state officials have found "extensive" damage to the reef, live coral and rocks in the area. Some of the damage was caused by the anchor chains dropped from the cruiser, tow boat cables and possible grounding of tugboats.

The incident also may have damaged the habitat of green sea turtles, Thielen added.

"The reef that was injured is an ancient one, full of coral colonies, some of which took hundreds of years to reach their present size. A complex reef structure such as the one that was present prior to this injury forms numerous and intricate houses for the myriad of fish, invertebrates and sea turtles that use this reef for shelter and food resources," she said.

Further damage could be caused in a larger surrounding area, Thielen added, by the coral rubble moved about by currents and waves.

The Port Royal has been dry-docked at the Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard since Feb. 19 and faces at least $40 million in repairs to its hull, sonar dome and propeller blades.