{"id":8260,"date":"2011-01-18T23:44:36","date_gmt":"2011-01-19T08:14:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.dmzhawaii.org\/?p=8260"},"modified":"2011-01-18T23:44:36","modified_gmt":"2011-01-19T08:14:36","slug":"high-altitude-mountainous-environmental-triaing-hamet-on-mauna-kea-criticized","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.dmzhawaii.org\/?p=8260","title":{"rendered":"High-Altitude Mountainous Environmental Triaing (HAMET) on Mauna Kea criticized"},"content":{"rendered":"

Hawai’i island activist Cory Harden reports that the Mauna Kea Management Board was sharply critical of the Army’s High-Altitude Mountainous Environmental Training (HAMET) environmental assessment.\u00a0\u00a0 Mahalo to Cory for sharing her comments on the Army’s Environmental Assessment for High-Altitude Mountainous Environmental Training on Mauna Kea<\/a>:<\/p>\n

Comments Re: Environmental Assessment (EA) for High-Altitude Mountainous Environmental Triaing (HAMET) <\/strong><\/p>\n

at Pohakuloa, December 2010<\/p>\n

for Mauna Kea Management Board meeting 10 AM Tuesday, January 18, 2011<\/p>\n

by Cory Harden, Box 10265, Hilo, Occupied Hawai\u2019i 96721 8080-968-8965 mh@interpac.net<\/a><\/p>\n

Please call for a Federal Environmental Impact Statement. The Army wants to start training next month, but the EA has many shortcomings.<\/p>\n

ALTERNATIVES<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

The EA does not fully explore the alternative of training in Colorado, where a train-the-trainer course for HAMET is already available. [p. 2-13]<\/em><\/p>\n

SCOPE<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

An \u201cexercise would include up to three flights [of one or two aircraft]<\/em> per mountain [Mauna Kea and Mauna Loa], <\/em>running continuous operations for up to 18 hours for each 24-hour period.\u201d Helicopters would fly 1,500 to 2,000 hours each year. LZs (landing zones) are at 8,000 to 12,000 feet. [p. 2-8]<\/em><\/p>\n

LZs were already constructed under special-use permits [p. 2-8],<\/em> not an EIS, so we may never know the full impacts. Helicopters have been already landing on Mauna Kea for seven years with little public oversight. Helicopters expand military training beyond Pohakuloa Training Area into the State Conservation District.<\/p>\n

SAFETY<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

The EA says crashes are \u201cunlikely\u201d [p. 4-12] <\/em>and \u201c\u2026the CAB (Combat Aviation Brigade) has had zero accidents related to flight at high altitude, both in theater and at garrison\u201d [p. 2-7] <\/em><\/p>\n

<\/em><\/p>\n

There is no mention of three fatal military helicopter crashes in fifteen years on O\u2019ahu<\/p>\n

2009– two pilots died in a Kiowa crash and fire.\u00a0 [1] <\/em><\/p>\n

2001– six soldiers died when two Black Hawks crashed at night. [2]<\/em><\/p>\n

1996– two soldiers died when a Cobra crashed. [2] <\/em><\/p>\n

The EA describes no plans for<\/p>\n