Army training burns 450 acres, Navy unexploded ordance

On October 10, Army training activity caused a brush fire that burned for 18 days and scorched more than 450 acres of the Waiʻanae mountains. The column of thick blackish brown smoke could be seen all the way from Honolulu.  In the Kona winds, the smoke blanketed the north shore for nearly a week.

The news reported that the fire was “100% contained” on Monday, 10/28/2013. The army claims that no homes or endangered species were threatened by the fires:

The fire on Army and Dole Food Co. property has burned about 450 acres of brush land but posed no threat to facilities or endangered species, Army spokesman Dennis Drake said.

However it is impossible to know for certain what impacts the fire may have had on the ecosystem or on Native Hawaiian cultural sites until a thorough biological and cultural survey can be conducted. Furthermore, the fire could have long term negative impacts on native ecosystems.

The Waiʻanae mountains is an endangered species hot spot, with some extremely rare species found no where else in the world. The more pernicious impact is the way that fires create space for invasive weeds to aggressively spread and transform the ecosystem in lasting ways. These weeds eventually can overtake native forests that may have been spared from the direct impact of the fire, but may succumb to the altered landscape in the future.

Līhuʻe (the location of the Army Schofield training range) was an important cultural and political center for Oʻahu chiefs. There are hundreds of cultural sites in the impact zone alone. It is unclear what cultural sites may have been affected by the fire.

In addition to respiratory problems caused by particulate matter (smoke particles and ash), contaminants in the training range, including explosives, energetics, lead and depleted uranium can be mobilized by fires.  There has been a reported increase in health problems in the surrounding area according to Hawaii News Now:

Hawaii News Now – KGMB and KHNL

The brushfire that burned on Schofield Barracks property has been 100% contained.  However the fire, which burned 450 acres of land, caused headaches for residents of central Oahu.

Although the fire has never threatened any homes, it has proved to be a big concern for many residents of Wahiawa.

The reason is all the smoke that has drifted into town over the past six days.

“There has been an uptick in the number of patients coming in with respiratory complaints” said Doctor Thomas Forney, the Director of the Emergency Department at Wahiawa General Hospital.

Meanwhile, the AP reports (10.29.2013) that a Navy contractor Cape Environmental Management Inc. will detonate unexploded munitions dredged from the sediment in Ke Awalau o Puʻuloa (Pearl Harbor):

The Naval Facilities Engineering Command said Monday a contractor will destroy the munitions using controlled detonations at a safe location on the Waipio Peninsula.

The article suggests that the ordnance may be “from the 1941 Japanese bombing and the explosion of a landing ship in West Lock in 1944.”

But other ordnance has been discovered in the channel at Puʻuloa that came from U.S. training activities.

(Another) Bomb-like object found at Hapuna beach

 

Photo: Hawaiʻi State Department of Land and Natural Resources

Wreckage from the military use of Hawaiian land continues to surface. The Honolulu Star Advertiser reported“Bomblike device recovered off Big Isle” (June 15, 2013):

Army ordnance disposal experts removed a bomblike object Friday night that prompted the closure of part of Hapuna Beach State Park in West Hawaii.

A diver found the object in waters offshore from the park Friday morning and took it to the park concession area, the state Department of Land and Natural Resources said. It was long and cylindrical and had a tail assembly with about 12 fins. It appeared old and was encrusted with corrosion or marine growths.

The Hawaii County Fire and Police departments were notified, and DLNR Division of Conservation and Resources Enforcement officials contacted an Army unexploded ordnance unit at Schofield Barracks.

The article didn’t say if the munition was live.  Many unexploded munitions have been found in Hapuna Beach in the so-called “Gold Coast” of Kona.  It was formerly used as a training area for the U.S. military, one of hundreds of sites throughout the Hawaiian islands.

 

 

 

 

Unexploded bomb found near Puʻunene School

The AP reported that an unexploded bomb, most likely from World War II, was found in a sugar cane field near Puʻunene School on Maui:

The Maui News reports that the aerial bomb was discovered by an employee of the Hawaiian Commercial & Sugar Co. during a weed control operation. It was found just east of the old Puunene School. The area once hosted a military base during World War II.

Police were called and photographed the rusted cylindrical ordnance, which was about 2 feet long by 4 to 6 inches wide. The photographs were immediately sent to the U.S. Army’s Explosive Ordnance Division. Army officials determined it posed no immediate danger.

A trench was dug Tuesday and the bomb was detonated on location.

 

Military junk pulled from Kalaeloa pond raises fresh concerns

 

COURTESY JOHN BOND Ordy Pond, off Tripoli Road near Coral Sea Road on the former Barbers Point Naval Air Station, is shown in a photo taken with former City Councilman Tom Berg in August of last year.

Some Native Hawaiian cultural practitioners and historians are protesting the Navy’s method of cleaning up unexploded ordnance at a sinkhole site within Kalaeloa (once the site of Barber’s Point Naval Air Station). The Honolulu Star Advertiser reports (“Military junk pulled from Kalaeloa pond raises fresh concerns” February 3, 2013):

The Navy said at least 300 bits of junk and ordnance-related material have been pulled out of or near Ordy Pond, a 10,000-year-old sinkhole and possible pre-contact fishpond on the former Barbers Point Naval Air Station that has come under scrutiny by Hawaiians, historians and state officials.

Controlled detonations will be used Monday on site to destroy some of the items, including MK-24 aircraft flares used to mark submarine locations; 1-pound “spotting” charges in 100-pound practice bombs; and a spotting charge in an MK-106 practice bomb, the Navy said.

Apparently, the Navy dumped all sorts of munitions and scrap into the pond:

According to a 2007 Navy study, Ordy Pond reportedly was used for the disposal of ordnance-related scrap from the late 1960s to the late 1970s.

But no detailed information about the types of ordnance disposed of was available, according to the Navy report. The study also said that during site surveys, the Navy found and removed flares and small arms ammunition, but no explosive ordnance was discovered.

[. . .]

During an ordnance survey in 1994, “they found a couple of unusual items they didn’t expect to find,” said Denise Emsley, a Naval Facilities Engineering Command Hawaii spokeswoman. “They found some flares, some flare dispenser cartridges, an inert bomb fin assembly. So bits and pieces of things that shouldn’t have been there.”

Emsley added that Ordy Pond was never used as a training area, “and the fact that this stuff was found (means) it was probably left there or dumped there incorrectly.”

I suppose this is how military valued Hawaiʻi.

One concern about the cleanup is the use of heavy equipment to remove mangrove and the detonation of munitions.  The ʻEwa plains have some of the most unique geological, biological and cultural formations in the Hawaiian islands.  Critics of the Navy’s actions fear that such activity will harm the cultural sites:

John Bond, an Ewa Beach historian, said Ordy Pond has become a “major destruction site” with all the heavy equipment work.

“This entire Ordy Pond project has all the appearances of way too much to spend with way too little documentation,” Bond said. “There could be very significant impacts to the pond water, underground karst system and very possible destruction of numerous yet undocumented archaeological sites — and even iwi kupuna burials.”

The work could have been done with chainsaws and machetes to better protect the pond environment, Bond said.

[. . .]

Both Bond and Michael Lee, a cultural descendant of Native Hawaiians buried in the area, question why an archaeological inventory survey was not conducted for the Ordy Pond site.

“How can you say you are protecting archaeological sites when you haven’t inventoried them?” Lee asked.

A May 5, 2011, letter from the state Historic Preservation Division to the Navy noted that the Ordy Pond project “area of potential effect” included 18 archaeological features and said an archaeological inventory survey would be “appropriate.”

The Navy said the project subsequently was revised to “avoid all archaeological resources,” so the survey was not done.

Bond said that “doesn’t appear to be the case at all,” adding, “In fact, the entire project has been greatly expanded into the most important and culturally sensitive area on the former base.”

Kaʻala Farm a modern kīpuka in the fire

The fire that began in the Lualualei Naval Reservation and burned 1200 acres in Waiʻanae, including the traditional hale pili classroom at the Kaʻala Farm and irrigation pipes, spared the loʻi kalo.  The farm is a real kīpuka, a green oasis of life amidst the charred landscape.

The Honolulu Star Advertiser reported “Seeds planted for farm’s revival” (June 13, 2012):

Kaala Farm Cultural Learning Center sits like an oasis in upper Wai­anae Valley bordering the Wai­anae Forest Reserve after last week’s wildfire spared it from heavy destruction. Only a grass hale (left of the green taro patches) and adjoining area with a composting toilet building and lau hala grove were destroyed.

Oahu’s largest brush fire this year swept through Wai­anae and Lua­lua­lei valleys charring almost 1,200 acres, but leaving 100 acres near the Wai­anae Kai Forest Reserve mostly untouched — except for a nearly 3-decade-old, 30-foot Hawaiian grass hale.

[. . .]

Enos estimated that it will cost more than $150,000 to replace the hale, built in the mid-1980s. But the real loss of a structure that has come to symbolize Hawaiian culture in a place used for teaching, cultural ceremonies and gatherings may be immeasurable.

The wildfire fire began June 4 at Radford Street and Kole­kole Road on Naval Magazine Lua­lua­lei. It spread into the forest reserve. The Navy said Tuesday that it could not determine how the fire started.

PHOTO BY DAVID SMITH

As we have described before, places such as Kaʻala Farm are cultural and political kīpuka, oases in the lava flow that restore the life of the forest:

Enos described the area as being like “kipuka” — which he described as the area that is spared during a lava flow. “It’s like when the lava goes around an old forest area, sparing it. It’s a sanctuary because that’s where seeds come.

“We’ve become a kipuka — for us now is the time for regrowth and restoration — bringing people together, so the culture of the land survives.”

He said that it will take upward of $150,000 to rebuild the hale, which was styled after a canoe hale found in the City of Refuge in Kona.

Ohia logs will have to be cut and brought in from Hawaii island, Enos added.

However, he said the rebuilding of the hale will be used as a workshop for the Wai­anae community.

“We hope to use the opportunity to bring the community together. It is important to have a place of refuge to talk about the land, water and self-sufficiency.”

Kaala Farm was established as a Model Cities Wai­anae Rap Center in 1976, and organizers purchased the Wai­anae Valley land from the state. More than 4,000 students and 2,500 adults participate in its educational programs annually, according to its organizers.

[. . .]

Anyone interested in making a donation to Kaala Farm — including financial and/or materials/supplies contributions, should contact Kaala Farm at 696-4954 or kokuakaala@gmail.com. Donations are also being accepted via check at any First Hawaiian Bank location c/o “Friends of Kaala Farms Cultural Learning Center.”

There are still unanswered questions about the origin of the fire, the explosions that many Lualualei residents saw and heard during the fire, the disaster safety plan for ordnance accidents, or the slow fire response from the Navy.   This also raises questions about what kinds of munitions are being stored in Lualualei and when and how the Navy will leave Lualualei. The naval magazine has been all but inactive when most of the munitions were moved to the West Loch branch near the Pearl Harbor Naval Station.  Long ago, he navy tapped the source of Pūhāwai stream and diverted the water to the base, leaving ancient loʻi kalo dry.  If those areas had been in cultivation, like at Kaʻala Farm, the fire would not have been able to spread into some of the areas where it did.

Around ten years ago, when the base was originally slated for possible closure (prior to 9/11 build up madness), a group of us led by Vince Dodge hiked in to inspect different sites. We hiked to the source of the Pūhāwai stream and saw the dry loʻi beds as well as the massive pipe that diverted millions of gallons of water from the natural stream flow. Since the naval base was underutilized even then, the water was spilling out of the overflow valve onto pavement.  It was not even placed back into the stream a few yards away.

When we inspected the stream beds we saw that there were traces of water percolating  up but not enough to flow.  The dream then as now is to restore the sites to productivity.

But whose vision will drive the conversion of Lualualei valley from military to civilian use?   Will it be the developers who wish to create industrial parks, subdivisions and highways in agricultural lands, including a new tunnel and road through Pōhākea pass?  Will it be the Navy planners who have gotten into the real estate business by “disposing” of excess military land on the real estate market through  sale or lease for profit?  Or will it be the residents and traditional practitioners of Waiʻanae who wish to restore ancient wisdom of land stewardship and sustainable practices?   That chapter is yet to be written.

Wildfire that began in Lualualei naval base burns for third day, damage to cultural center and explosions reported

The wildfire in Waiʻanae continues to burn.  The Honolulu Star Advertiser reports:

Fire crews were busy in Waianae Valley this morning as Oahu’s largest wildfire of the year burned for a third day.

At least one Marine Corps CH-53 helicopter was to rejoin the Honolulu Fire Department’s air operations this morning, the Navy said.

Nine people took refugee in a Red Cross Shelter at Waianae District Park Tuesday night.

The flames are burning on two fronts — along the back of Waianae Valley into the forest reserve and another on the side of the ridge closer to Waianae Valley Road.

Firefighters were responding to brush fire calls on both sides of Waianae Valley. One flare-up was reported near Kamaile street on the Makaha side of the valley, a valley resident said.

Since Monday, the blaze has destroyed nearly 1,200 acres of brush in both Waianae and Lualualei Valleys.

According to the paper, “the fire began on government property near the Lualualei Naval Magazine at 1 p.m. Monday.”

It spread to the neighboring Waiʻanae valley and destroyed the traditional hale pili (thatched structure) at the Learning Center at Kaʻala, one of our partners in the Waiʻanae Environmental Justice Working Group:

Butch DeTroy, manager of the Kaala Farms Cultural Learning Center on Waianae Valley Road, said the wildfire destroyed an A-frame grass hale Tuesday that had been used as a classroom for up to 60 students.

The fire also destroyed half of a two-mile pipeline that supplies water to Kaala Farms taro fields on its 98-acre property.

DeTroy said he was forced to leave area Tuesday morning before the fire swept through his property.

Firefighters were able to save a kitchen facility, but the grass hale, which was 30 feet high, was destroyed.

DeTroy said a stream that borders the Waianae Kai Forest Reserve probably prevented the fire from creeping down the moutain into the nature preserve — home to native koa, sandalwood and aalii.

But the newspaper failed to report on the explosions.   Gary Forth of MAʻO organic farm and environmental activist Carroll Cox reported witnessing explosions on the Lualualei Naval Base.   Lucy Gay of the Leeward Community College Waiʻanae extension wanted to know, where is the Navyʻs disaster plan for such dangerous materials? And if there are disaster safety plans, why wasn’t the community apprised of them?

 

 

Suspected unexploded ordnance removed Flat Island, not hazardous

UPDATE:

On Sunday, the Honolulu Star Advertiser reported:

A Navy Explosive Ordnance Disposal team recovered an item Saturday morning that a swimmer reported might be an unexploded ordnance in Kailua Bay.

A Navy spokeswoman said the item is not an ordnance and there is no hazard to the public.

The Navy crew recovered the oblong object from 12 to 15 feet of water about 50 yards from Flat Island and were taking it back to Pearl Harbor for disposal.

COURTESY U.S. NAVY

A swimmer found this possible unexploded ordnance on Friday in Kailua Bay.

The Honolulu Star Adverstiser reported today that a possible unexploded munition was found underwater in Kailua:

The Coast Guard is advising mariners to stay about 100 yards away from an area near Flat Island in Kailua Bay after a possible unexploded ordnance was found today underwater, a Navy spokeswoman said.

The possible ordnance was found by a swimmer in about 12 to 15 feet of water about 50 yards off Flat Island, said Navy spokeswoman Agnes Tauyan.

Waikāne munitions cleanup feasibility study comments due 2/13/12

The Marine Corps clean up of unexploded munitions in the Waikāne ahupuaʻa is now at a critical stage where decisions will be made about the extent of clean up.  On January 12, 2012, the Marine Corps released its final draft of the Waikane Feasibility Study report. Comments on the proposed alternatives are being accepted  until February 13, 2012.

The website for minutes of the Restoration Advisory Board (RAB) and other reports and documents can be accessed here.

The full Feasibility Study that is open for review can be downloaded here.

The good news is that the Marine Corps has proposed to clean up the southern area of the site, which consists of the flat lands near the stream and the main farming and ancient taro fields, to a level suitable for unrestricted use.  This would allow the resumption of farming and cultural practices once the land is certified safe.  The safety fence would then be removed from this portion of the land.

The transfer of these lands out of the military is a separate process. The community must continue to press for the return of lands to the Kamaka family heirs.

Based on community feedback, the Marines have also proposed subsurface clearance of munitions in portions of the northern target area in the vicinity of the Kamaka family shrine and the Waikāne spring, which would allow for cultural access to these sites.  However, these sites lie in the most heavily contaminated areas. Subsurface cleanup surrounding the culturally significant sites would be an important objective for the community. The Marine Corps proposal is to clear a very narrow (8-ft wide) path to the cultural sites bounded by a 6-ft high chain link fence, which led one member of the RAB to comment that it would feel like a prison.

RAB member Emil Wolfgramm, a Tongan master story teller and cultural expert said that while he appreciated the Marine Corp’s effort, they were only dealing with the “plumbing”, i.e. the mechanical and practical methods of removing ordnance, while the Kanaka Maoli were concerned with the “water,” the spiritual and cultural content that generates meaning and restores life to the land.  He recommended that the process should begin with the reconsecration of the land so that the land can speak and direct what needs to be done.

The following changes need to be made to the current feasibility study and recommended plan:

1.  All accessible areas (less than 30 degree slope) in the Northern target and non-target areas should be surface swept and cleared of munitions.

2. The proposed fenced access corridors to the cultural sites are too narrow and obtrusive.  The Marine Corps should clear a wider path to the Kamaka family shrine and Waikāne spring to allow for more free access to the sites.

3. Procedurally, in advance of finalizing the maps, the Marines should conduct a site visit/cultural access to the shrine and spring with the Kamaka family and other cultural practitioners to determine what safety border would be appropriate and culturally sensitive.

Please submit comments on the Waikāne Impact Area Feasibility Study to the Marine Corps by February 13, 2012.

Comments may be emailed to:  randall.hu@usmc.mil.

Send a copy of the email to David Henkin, community-co-chair of the Waikāne Impact Range RAB: davidlhenkin@yahoo.com

Or mail comments to:   Commanding Officer, Attn LE (R Hu), Box 63062 Environmental, MCBH Kaneohe Bay, HI 96863-3062.

The next Waikāne Impact Area Restoration Advisory Board meeting will be Wednesday, March 7, starting at 7 p.m. at the Waiāhole Elementary cafeteria.

 

WWII-era munitions removed from Bellows driving range

The golfers at the Bellows Air Force Station in Waimanalo encountered a real hazard on the course; several bombs were unearthed.  The Honolulu Star Advertiser reported:

Several World War II-era munitions found buried at Bellows Air Force Station’s golf driving range were removed Tuesday and today, the Air Force said.

The munitions were described as “bombs,” but no details were available from the service as to their size and type.

The Air Force said the area was a former World War II bomb range. Claudia de Leon, an Air Force representative, said the site is being environmentally remediated after it was subsequently used as a clay pigeon shooting range.

Environmental and cultural groups call on governor to rescind order suspending laws

Several environmental and cultural groups joined the call for Governor Abercrombie to rescind his emergency proclamation suspending 25 laws for five years in order to expedite the clean up of unexploded ordnance on public lands.  The Honolulu Star Advertiser reports:

The Sierra Club Hawaii chapter and several other environmental and cultural groups urged Gov. Neil Abercrombie on Monday to withdraw an emergency proclamation that he made to help the Army Corps of Engineers remove unexploded ordnance, but the governor declined.

The environmental and cultural groups say Abercrombie misused his emergency powers in June when he suspended nearly two dozen state land use and environmental regulations for five years to help the corps access and remove discarded military explosives.

The groups said that Abercrombie’s decision was “ill advised and undermined transparency, accountability and community involvement.”

This is not the first time Abercrombie has  evoked emergency powers to suspend laws:

In April, Abercrombie also proclaimed a civil defense emergency and suspended more than two dozen state procurement, public works, land use and environmental laws for five years to help relocate a nesting colony of more than 400 Hawaiian nene geese near Lihue Airport on Kauai.

While the nene relocation has been previously reported by the news media, it was not apparent that Abercrombie had invoked his emergency powers under the state’s civil defense law. The governor cited the potential for collisions between the nene and aircraft as a threat to public safety.

“Plainly, it’s a broader fear that the justification here — to protect the public, essentially — could be utilized for just about any circumstance,” said Robert Harris, director of the Sierra Club Hawaii chapter, which sent the appeal jointly with the Conservation Council for Hawaii, Friends of Lanai, Hawaii’s Thousand Friends, KAHEA: The Hawaiian-Environmental Alliance, Life of the Land, Malama Kauai and Na Kupuna Moku o Keawe.

“Using that rationale and logic is basically saying the executive has all-encompassing power regardless of what the Legislature has done,” he said.

It seems that Governor Abercrombie’s “New Day” includes accruing imperial powers for the executive branch. Given the high stakes involving land and economic development in Hawai’i, this prospect is extremely troubling.

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