Category: O’ahu

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Army recovers 32 underwater munitions from “ordnance reef”

The AP reports:

The Army has recovered 32 munitions from the ocean floor off the Waianae Coast this month during a project to clear away most of the weapons the military dumped there decades ago.

Of these 12 were treated to remove and destroy the explosive contents.  But the not all munitions found are being removed:

It’s been difficult for the robot to remove the weapons as coral growth has basically cemented many to the ocean floor. The Army is leaving heavily coral encrusted munitions in place.

There are an estimated 2,000 weapons in the area nicknamed “Ordnance Reef.”

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Nuclear Radiation Workshop: Demystifying the Science & Uncovering the Lies

Nuclear Radiation Workshop

Demystifying the Science & Uncovering the Lies

*Alpha * Beta * Gamma Radiation*

*Rads * Rems * Sieverts * Becquerel *

*Cesium-137 * Iodine-131 * Strontium-90*

*Depleted Uranium * Plutonium*

*Health Effects of Ionizing Radiation*

*Exposure vs Dose*  Risk Models*

*Latent and Long Term Effects*

*Atomic Physics * Nuclear Fuel Cycle*

*Nuclear Power * Nuclear Weapons*

*Hiroshima * Nagasaki * Fukushima * Chernobyl*

In remembrance of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki and the dozens of nuclear tests in the Pacific and in light of the recent Fukushima nuclear disaster and discovery of depleted uranium on O’ahu and Hawai’i island, learn to protect yourself from the effects of nuclear radiation and the lies perpetuated by the nuclear industry with the power of knowledge. Join physics educator and peace activist Lynda Williams in a friendly workshop covering basic atomic physics and the health effects of nuclear power and ionizing radiation. No prior scientific knowledge required. Free, accessible and welcome to all.

When: Weds, August 3, 6-9 pm

Where: Honolulu Friends Meeting House 2426 O’ahu Avenue, Honolulu

FREE

More Information: kyle.kajihiro@gmail.com / 808-988-6266.

Sponsored by: AFSC Hawai’i/Hawai’i Peace and Justice,

DMZ-Hawai’i / Aloha ‘Aina   http://www.dmzhawaii.org/

Global Network Against Weapons and Nuclear Power in Space

www.space4peace.org

 

Download the poster

Download the press release

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Making Waves: Defending Ka’ena

Making Waves: Defending Ka’ena, Episode 55

Length: 0:27
Social issues & cultural programming dedicated to peace and social justice.
7/19/2011 Tue 9:30 am, Channel NATV Channel 53
Or streaming online:  http://olelo.granicus.com/MediaPlayer.php?view_id=30&clip_id=21987

I speak with Summer Mullins and Uncle Fred Mullins about their efforts to protect Ka’ena from the scourge of off-roaders destroying the sand dunes with their mud bogging, drunken crashes, bonfires and garbage. According to Uncle Fred Mullins, 90% of the offenders are military.  We show some video and photos from Ka’ena.

Also, you can watch past episodes online.

Making Waves, Episode 54 “No Can Eat Concrete!”

I speak with Wai’anae kupuna, Auntie Alice Greenwood (Concerned Elders of Wai’anae) and Candace Fujikane (UH Manoa English Professor) about the struggle for environmental justice to preserve Wai’anae’s cultural sites and agricultural lands from industrial encroachment.

Making Waves, Episode 51, “Violence and the Military Culture”

Darlene Rodrigues speaks with Col. Ann Wright about the epidemic of violence against women in the military and discuss how the military culture exacerbates the violence.

 

 

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Neighbor islands iced out of Senatorial seat

The Reapportionment Commission which is dominated by O’ahu (8 O’ahu representatives versus 1 neighbor island representative) voted to count non-resident military and students in the redistricting formula.  As a result Hawai’i County will not get a 4th Senatorial Seat.    Senator Malama Solomon wrote the following appeal urging neighbor island residents to testify for only counting permanent residents in redistricting, as specified in the Hawai’i constitution:

http://www.hawaii247.com/2011/07/15/solomon-hawaii-island-neighbor-islands-iced-out/

Solomon: Hawaii Island, Neighbor Islands iced out

Posted on 6:26 am, Friday, July 15, 2011.

 

Sen. Malama Solomon submitted the following column on reapportionment:

On U.S. and Hawaii State constitutional grounds guaranteeing “one man/one vote” equity in representation, I encourage all Hawaii Island residents – and all neighbor islanders – to speak out now against the 2011 Hawaii State Reapportionment Commission decision that robs Hawaii County voters of fair and equitable representation by denying the addition of a 4th Senatorial Seat for the Island.

Call, write or email the Reapportionment Commission today:
Toll Free/Neighbor islands: 877-854-6749
Email: reapportionment@hawaii.gov
Mail: State Capitol, Reapportionment Project Office, 415 S. Beretania St. Room 445, Honolulu, HI 96813.

When you call or write, be sure to address your comments to both the Hawaii Reapportionment Advisory Council and the Statewide Reapportionment Commission. Make some noise! It’s your right – and responsibility — as an American to be fairly represented.

How serious is this? Given population growth over the past decade, if Hawaii Island continues to have only three senators, each senator will represent 60,000 residents, where most other senators in the state will have only about 40,000 residents to represent.

This clearly marginalizes Hawaii County residents’ “voice” in all major decisions impacting their lives! How fair is that?

The specific decision in question by the 2011 Reapportionment Commission is to include “nonresident military and dependents, nonresident students and incarcerated felons” in the population data used to determine districts.

First, let me make this clear: I am the sister of a dearly loved fallen soldier who gave his life in Vietnam for the freedoms we enjoy, and am therefore, deeply committed to protecting the rights and interests of our dedicated men and women in uniform.

However, to suggest that Hawaii is dishonoring the contribution of our military forces by excluding these “nonresidents” in our population base is a very effective distraction from the real truth, which is that these Americans are just that — “nonresidents.” They consider their “homes” to be elsewhere in the USA where they are emotionally rooted and where they have permanent residences and where – historically — they vote.

Second, as the current District 1 State Senator, appointed to the position by the Governor, I have nothing to gain or lose with the addition of a 4th Senate seat for Hawaii Island.

However, my constituents have a great deal to lose – as do all Neighbor Islanders — because a 4th Senate Seat for Hawaii Island, which also represents an additional vote for the neighbor islands as a group – can make a huge difference for neighbor islanders who are consistently left out by the Honolulu-centric manner that our state functions, both within and outside of government.

Please understand that the question about including “nonresidents” should be moot: The people of Hawaii weighed in on the issue of fair and equitable representation in the reapportionment process with passage of a Hawaii Constitutional Amendment in 1992. That amendment changed the population base to be used for reapportionment from “registered voters” to “permanent residents.”

How can the 2011 Reapportionment Commission simply ignore the Hawaii State Constitution?

I thank members of the Hawaii, Maui and Kauai County Reapportionment Advisory Councils – and also Tony Takitani (the only member of the statewide commission from a neighbor island and the only one who voted “no” on this issue).

The neighbor island advisory councils also did the right thing by voting early on to recommend Hawaii continue to exclude nonresident military and dependents, nonresident students and incarcerated felons. But this has been totally ignored by the statewide commission, which, by the way is made up of eight Honolulu residents, and only one neighbor islander. How equitable is that to begin with?

I also thank the Hawaii County Committee of the Democratic Party of Hawaii for formally requesting that the Statewide Reapportionment Commission reconsider its earlier decision on this matter.

How urgent is it to speak out? The next meeting of the Reapportionment Commission is at 2 p.m. Tuesday, July 19, 2011 and there’s a place on the agenda to discuss “community input received.”

For Hawaii Island – there’s a meeting at 4 p.m. Friday, July 15 at Waimea Community Center of the County Advisory Council. So, your input is urgently needed — please call or go online today.

Speak up, Hawaii Island! Speak up, Maui and Kauai, too! We have the Constitutional law of the land backing us up.

I look forward to the Statewide Reapportionment Commission’s favorable reconsideration.

Sen. Malama Solomon
District 1

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The struggle for ex-military lands from Puerto Rico to Hawai’i

In her article “Struggles for Ex-Base Lands in Puerto Rico” published in the Peace Review, Mills College professor and Puerto Rican activist/scholar Deborah Berman Santana writes:

Community struggles against militarism do not end once they succeed in ending military occupation and closing down bases. In fact, such victories often signal the beginning of a potentially much more difficult struggle—that is, to ensure that the formerly militarized lands and resources will benefit the communities that were most impacted by the bases. Since military bases are usually built in highly desirable locations in terms of accessible coastlines, fertile lands, and abundant water resources, once closed, they often become targets for corporate and elite control.

Nowhere is this more apparent than in Puerto Rico, a United States colony since 1898 with a continuing history of U.S. military occupation and corporate economic exploitation, as well as political domination by an entrenched local elite. The story of the sixty-year struggle of the people on the Puerto Rican island of Vieques against U.S. Navy occupation and bombing received international attention, while continuing efforts of that community to hold the Navy accountable for its toxic legacy have recently begun to receive more coverage. Yet the equally important struggle of the communities impacted by the Roosevelt Roads Naval Station—the huge naval complex to which Vieques belonged—is virtually unknown outside of Puerto Rico. This essay examines the important community struggle, based both on class and colonial resistance, to regain the lands that comprised the military base known as Roosevelt Roads for sixty years.

DOWNLOAD THE FULL ARTICLE

The difficulty of the clean up process is well known in Hawai’i at sites like Kaho’olawe, Waikane, and Waikoloa. However,  in Hawai’i we need to address whose vision dictates the reuse of the former military lands.

The Navy has begun to sell and lease excess lands in Hawai’i to generate revenue for Ford Island redevelopment. It was a special loophole created by Senator Inouye to facilitate the privatization of former military lands, to the exclusion of the conversion of these excess lands to other conservation, sustainable development or culture oriented reuses.    This issue may arise in Lualualei, where the land has been relatively underutilized by the military and may be a candidate for some sort of transfer in the future.  The community in Wai’anae wants to see the lands return to agriculture, especially since the Lualualei vertisols are some of the richest agricultural soils in Hawai’i.  But developers want to exploit this “frontier” of closing military lands.

The Wai’anae community is resisting the encroachment of industrialization in Lualualei. But these profit driven elites are pushing for changes to the Wai’anae Sustainable Communities Plan, including an industrial spot zone in Lualualei and a Pohakea bypass road that would penetrate the Wai’anae mountains and destroy agricultural lands, native forest and sacred sites.  The Pohakea road was inserted into the draft plan without the knowledge or consent of the community.  It has been compared to another H-3 Freeway.

On Sunday, Na Wahine O Kunia sponsored a cultural access to Pohakea in the Wai’anae mountains. It is one of the traditional passes through the Wai’anae range (the other being Kolekole that is also controlled by the military) where Hi’iaka traveled from Wai’anae to ‘Ewa in her epic journey.  They plan another hike on July 16 to raise awareness about the riches of the area and the sacred landscape that would be affected by over development.

 

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Man dies from heart attack playing ‘paintball’ at Bellows Air Force Station

The Honolulu Star Advertiser reports:

A 25-year-old man participating in a “paintball exercise” at Bellows Air Force Station in Waimanalo collapsed in cardiac arrest Saturday afternoon and later died at a hospital, police said.

There were no apparent signs of foul play, police said.

The case is being handled by the Naval Criminal Investigative Service, according to the Honolulu Medical Examiner’s Office.

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Pearl Harbor Restoration Advisory Board Meeting, July 12, 2011

The next Pearl Harbor Restoration Advisory Board (RAB) meeting will be held at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, July 12, 2011 at the Holomua Elementary School Cafeteria, 911561 Keaunui Drive, ʻEwa Beach.

On the agenda:

  • Draft Engineering Evaluation/Cost Analysis for Substation P, Kalaeloa
  • Draft Final Remedial Investigation for West Loch 4th Street Coral Pit Disposal Area
  • Underwater Navy Defensive Sea Area Site Investigation Status (Underwater unexploded ordnance)

For more information contact Rachel Gilhooly, Ph. 808.356.5343, Rachel.Gilhooly@aecom.com

 

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Army to test underwater robots for removal of unexploded ordnance off Waiʻanae

The Honolulu Star Advertiser reports that Army demonstrated a remote-controlled underwater robot it will test for possible use to remove unexploded munitions off the Waiʻanae coast at a location known as “ordnance reef”.

The Army said it will begin a 21-day trial run Monday of a remote-controlled submersible designed to remove discarded military munitions from the ocean floor off the Waianae Coast.

The area called Ordnance Reef is littered with more than 2,000 World War II-era munitions including grenades, bullets, bullet casings and bombs, the Army said.

Officials will use the trial to evaluate the effectiveness of the vehicle to collect munitions, as well as gauge any damage to the reef. If the trial is a success, full-scale removal operations could begin next year.

[…]

Munitions would be brought to a barge equipped with equipment to destroy the munitions, in most cases by cutting them up and baking them in a specially designed oven to render explosive material inert.

The project has an estimated cost of $2.5 million to $6 million, including the $1 million cost of the submersible.

READ THE FULL ARTICLE

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“A lot of the guys who had bad discharges from the military just ended up staying here”

The Hawaii Reporter published an article about the challenges of helping Hawai’i’s homeless military population.   It is not news that a large percentage of the homeless in any given place are former military personnel.   Some of this population suffers from PTSD and/or substance abuse issues.  Here are some facts reported in the article:

On Oahu, the number (of homeless military personnel) can range from 500 or 1,200.

Retired Sergeant Major of the Marine Corps Allan Kellogg, a homeless benefit counselor at Veterans Affairs, said:

“A lot of the guys who had bad discharges from the military just ended up staying here. I mean, if you’re going to be homeless, this (Hawaii) is the place to be.”

The profile of the homeless veterans is changing with more former military personnel having served in the recent wars:

While Kellogg mainly assists those veterans from Vietnam, he has seen around 30 soldiers this year who served in more recent wars.

And even military advocates are critical of the state’s draconian anti-homeless program:

Calvin Griffin, a U.S. Army Veteran and local radio talk show host, is critical of Hawaii’s 90-day plan.

“Anytime there’s an event in Hawaii, I’ve noticed that the government just rounds the homeless up, gets them out of the way. You know, because this is the state of Aloha. There’s supposed to be a sense of well being here,” said Griffin, who noted the APEC conference, which will attract world leaders, is set for November.

The problem of homelessness and houselessness (Kanaka Maoli who are native to this land, but are landless or unable to afford a house) are the products of this economic system that displaces people from their land and treats people as disposable commodities.  Criminalizing and sweeping the homeless and houseless only disperses them and exacerbates the problem.  We must also critique of the military component of this system.  The military system and the policies it executes destroys the lives of many men and women, a percentage of whom end up on the streets.   To prevent the epidemic of homeless vets, stop destroying the humanity of those who are lured into the military.

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Military as jobs program vs base conversion

President Obama recently announced plans for partial troop withdrawals from Afghanistan.  But the headlines should have read “Obama continues the wars”, a betrayal of promises to end the wars.  The responses from military personnel in Kaneʻohe were surprising:

Lance Cpl. Brandon Johnson, who just returned from Afghanistan last Saturday.”This war should be over,” Johnson said.Johnson, the married father of a 4-year-old daughter, has been in the Marines for four years. During that time, the infantryman has been deployed to Afghanistan twice and Iraq once, he said.”Pulling out is probably the best thing just because I’m sick of hearing about Marines dying. A few of our Marines died in country and, just, what’s the point,” Johnson said.

Another vet compared Afghanistan to Vietnam:

“We don’t learn from our history,” said Air Force veteran Tom Morse of Aikahi, who likened the situation in Afghanistan to Vietnam.Speaking outside Aikahi’s Drop In Cafe, Morse said, “If he’s (President Obama’s) gonna pull out 30,000, then pull out the other 70,000. That’s the way I look at it. We’re not winning, we can’t win over there. They know it.”

Still, Andrew Bacevich writing in Tom Dispatch finds evidence that “war fever” is subsiding in Washington. This should inspire us in Hawai’i to rethink the basis of Hawai’i’s military-dependent economic plan, or lack thereof.

As discussed previously on this site, the RAND corporation, a Department of Defense funded research institute, recently released a report on the economic impact of military spending in Hawai’i that was undertaken at the request of the Hawaii Institute of Public Affairs and the Chamber of Commerce of Hawaii. But this economic strategy is shortsighted and costly to the environment, the cultural survival and human rights of Kanaka Maoli and Hawaiian nationals and the loss of resources and capabilities for long-term sustainability.

In “The Military as a Jobs Program: There are More Efficient Ways to Stimulate the Economy”, Ellen Brown of the Public Banking Institute argues that the military economy is not the best way to stimulate jobs.

Bases can become industrial parks, schools, airports, hospitals, recreation facilities, and so forth. Converted factories can produce consumer and capital goods: machine tools, electric locomotives, farm machinery, oil field equipment, construction machinery for modernizing infrastructure.

[…]

A 2007 study by Robert Pollin and Heidi Garrett-Peltier of the University of Massachusetts found that government investment in education creates twice as many jobs as investment in the military. Spending on personal consumption, health care, education, mass transit, and construction for home weatherization and infrastructure repair all were found to create more jobs per $1 billon in expenditures than military spending does.

The author cites the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) as an example of a successful conversion from military to civilian applications of personnel and technologies. However, the USACE is still part of the military, which biases its thinking, approach and culture. The attitude that engineering can solve anything with little public oversight has resulted in environmentally destructive projects such as altering and cementing streams or building breakwaters and jetties that destroy reefs or disrupt the flow of sand. Instead, a better solution might be to convert the USACE into an entirely civilian agency for public works that is more oriented to community collaboration, sustainability and environmental protection.

Bruce Gagnon of the Global Network Against Weapons and Nuclear Power in Space has argued and campaigned for the conversion of Maine’s military-dependent shipbuilding industry into factories for the manufacturing of windmills to produce renewable energy.  Could the Pearl Harbor Shipyard be converted into a plant for production of renewable energy?  The recent article in the Honolulu Star Advertiser tries to rally for the shipyard with its jaunty headline “Navy industrial site shipshape”, but the article reveals how precarious the situation really is:

Six years ago this month, Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard, the state’s largest industrial employer, barely escaped inclusion on a Pentagon list for possible base closure.

Today the shipyard is healthy and hiring. But defense cuts loom nationally, and one of the first victims, for the shipyard anyway, could be the military construction projects that are modernizing the 103-year-old yard and which are a key component of continued progress, officials said

It was largely Senator Inouye’s influence that prevented the closure of the shipyard, but how long can Hawai’i depend on him steering military spending to the islands?  It would be better to begin planning for converting the base into a facility that would better serve the long-term economic viability of Hawai’i.

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