Connecting the Aegis dots between Jeju, Okinawa, Guam, Hawai'i

Post Date September 05, 2011

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Author Laurel Mei-Singh

Category DMZ-Hawai'i / Aloha 'Aina In the News, Global Justice and Peace Movements, Guam / Northern Marianas, Projects and Campaigns

Koohan Paik, co-author of the Superferry Chronicles and member of the Kaua’i Alliance for Peace and Social Justice wrote an excellent op ed in the Garden Island newspaper connecting the dots between the military expansion at the Pacific Missile Range Facility on Kaua’i, the struggle to stop a naval base in Jeju, South Korea, and protest movements in Okinawa and Guam.

True defenders

When I was a child in South Korea during the 1960s, we lived under the repressive dictatorship of Park Chung-hee. Anyone out after 10 p.m. curfew could be arrested. Anyone who tried to protest the government disappeared. A lot of people died fighting for democracy and human rights.

Today, the South Korean people carry in living memory the supreme struggles that forged the freedom they currently enjoy. And after all they’ve sacrificed, they are not going to give that freedom up.

So it is no surprise that the tenacious, democracy-loving Koreans have been protesting again — this time for over four years, non-stop, day and night. They are determined to prevent construction of a huge military base on S. Korea’s Jeju Island that will cement over a reef in an area so precious it contains three UNESCO World Heritage Sites.

This eco-rich reef has not only fed islanders for millennia, but it has also been the “habitat” for Jeju’s lady divers who are famous for staying beneath the surface for astonishing periods of time, before coming up with all manner of treasures. Even during South Korea’s times of unspeakable poverty, subtropical Jeju Island was always so abundant with natural resources and beauty that no one ever felt “impoverished” there.

There happens to be a very strong connection between Jeju’s current troubles and business-as-usual on the Garden Isle. You see, the primary purpose of Jeju’s unwanted base is to port Aegis destroyer warships. And it is right here, at Kaua‘i’s Pacific Missile Range Facility, that all product testing takes place for the Aegis missile manufacturers.

On Aug. 29, when Sen. Dan Inouye was here to dedicate a new Aegis testing site, he said, “We are not testing to kill, but to defend.” It would have been more accurate if Inouye had said, “We are not testing to kill, but to increase profits for Lockheed Martin and Raytheon, no matter how many people are oppressed or how many reefs are destroyed.”

Four days later, on Sept. 2, I got a panicked call from a Korean friend that there had been a massive crackdown on the peace vigil in Gangjung village to protect Jeju’s reef from the Aegis destroyer project.

More than 1,000 South Korean police in head-to-toe riot gear descended upon men and women of all ages blockading construction crews from access to the site. At least 50 protestors were arrested, including villagers, Catholic priests, college students, visiting artists and citizen journalists. Several were wounded and hospitalized. My friend told me, “We fought so hard for democracy. And now this. It’s just like dictatorship times.”

Another reason the Koreans are so angry is that their government has been telling them that the Aegis technology will protect them from North Korea. But Aegis missiles launching from Jeju are useless against North Korea, because North Korean missiles fly too low. In a 1999 report to the U.S. Congress, the Pentagon verified that the Aegis system “could not defend the northern two-thirds of South Korea against the low flying short range Taepodong ballistic missiles.”

So if Aegis is no good against North Korea, why build the base? Again, this is not about defense, this is about selling missiles (and increasing profits for Samsung and other major contractors on the base construction job).

There is a strong similarity between resistance on Jeju (where a recent poll showed 95 percent of islanders are opposed to the base) and concurrent uprisings on Guam and Okinawa, as well. All three islands are slated for irreversible destruction to make way for Aegis destroyer berthing.

And who wouldn’t protest? Like us, these are island peoples who care passionately for their reefs, ocean ecosystems and fisheries. I have heard certain Jeju Islanders say they will fight to the death to protect their resources.

Today, the mayor of Gangjung himself, along with many others, languish in prison because of their uncompromising stance against the Aegis base. Fortunately, people across the Korean peninsula and beyond, are heading to Jeju to support the resistance movement.

Without peaceful warriors like them, there would be no more reefs, no more coral, no more fish, no more nothing. They are our true defenders, not the missile manufacturers, as Inouye’s sham logic would have us believe.

As the Pentagon conspicuously ramps up militarization in the Asia-Pacific region, individuals of good conscious should pursue de-militarization. In the words of Aletha Kaohi, “Look to within and get rid of the ‘opala, or rubbish.”

Koohan Paik, Kilauea

Read more: http://thegardenisland.com/news/opinion/mailbag/article_16c56936-d6d5-11e0-8938-001cc4c03286.html#ixzz1X7Cxfvwf

A partial win for Makua, but struggle far from over

Post Date January 14, 2011

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Author Laurel Mei-Singh

Category DMZ-Hawai'i / Aloha 'Aina In the News, Environmental Impacts, Free Makua, Hawaiian Sovereignty, Land, Culture & Human Rights, Ho’ola Hawai’i – Environmental Justice

Yesterday, the Army announced that it will end live fire training in Makua valley. This is a win for those who have struggled for many years to save Makua from the destructive and contaminating activities of the U.S. military. The Honolulu Star Advertiser ran a story and so did the Associated Press.

However, it is only a partial victory.

The Army continues to hold Makua hostage and plans to use the valley for other kinds of training. Furthermore, the Army is shifting the bulk of its training to Schofield in Lihu’e, O’ahu and Pohakuloa on Hawai’i island. This is consistent with the recent announcement of a Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement for expanding or renovating training facilities at Pohakuloa.

This was never a “Not-In-My-Back-Yard” movement. Trading one ‘aina for another is not acceptable. Furthermore, it leaves unchallenged the very premise that the training is needed. Training for what purpose? To invade and occupy other countries? Inflict death and destruction in the name of Pax Americana?

The movement to protect Makua moves into a challenging phase as we now push for the cleanup and return of the land. The Army is hoping that non-live fire training will be less likely to inflame community anger. By removing a major flashpoint, the Army hopes to deflate the momentum of the movement. It is more difficult to sustain high levels of energy around the technical and tedious clean up and restoration of a site. So we must be inspired by our vision of the alternative we hope to grow in Makua.

Every gain we make in Makua owes to the thousands in Hawai’i and around the world who have come forward to malama ‘aina, speak out, protest, pray and grow the peaceful and blessed community we wish to see in the world. The Makua movement must not forget its kuleana to the many people who have stood in solidarity with us, as we continue to stand and speak out in solidarity with others.

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http://www.staradvertiser.com/news/20110113_Army_ends_live-fire_training_at_Makua.html

Army ends live-fire training at Makua

After decades of opposition to bombing the valley, real ordnance will be used only at Schofield and Pohakuloa

By William Cole

POSTED: 01:30 a.m. HST, Jan 13, 2011

The last company of soldiers may have stormed the hills of Makua Valley with M-4 rifles blazing, artillery whistling overhead, mortars pounding mock enemy positions and helicopters firing from above.

After battling environmentalists and Hawaiian cultural practitioners since at least the late 1980s, the Army said this week it is acceding to community concerns and no longer will use the heavy firepower in Makua that started multiple fires in the 4,190-acre Waianae Coast valley and fueled a number of lawsuits.

In place of the company Combined Arms Live-Fire Exercises, known as CALFEXes, the Army said it is moving ahead with a plan to turn Makua into a “world class” roadside-bomb and counterinsurgency training center with convoys along hillside roads, simulated explosions and multiple “villages” to replicate Afghanistan.

READ THE FULL ARTICLE

Army tries, but fails to pacify Native Hawaiians in Makua, Lihu'e and Pohakuloa

Post Date June 21, 2010

Comments 1 Comment

Author Laurel Mei-Singh

Category 'A'ole Stryker, DMZ-Hawai'i / Aloha 'Aina In the News, Environmental Impacts, Free Makua, Hawaiian Sovereignty, Land, Culture & Human Rights

http://www.armytimes.com/news/2010/06/ap_army_hawaii_native_ties_062010/

Army seeks better ties with Native Hawaiians

By Audrey McAvoy – The Associated Press

Posted : Sunday Jun 20, 2010 14:14:17 EDT

HONOLULU — The people of Waianae believe the first Hawaiians were created in Makua, a lush valley about 30 miles from downtown Honolulu. The valley is also home to three large heiau, or ancient stone platforms used for worship. So it’s no surprise many Native Hawaiians consider the valley to be sacred.

The Army, though, sees Makua as a prime spot for soldiers to practice firing live ammunition.

These widely divergent perspectives illustrate the gulf between the Army and Hawaiians that have contributed to an often antagonistic and deeply distrustful relationship between the two.

Now the Army is trying to narrow the gap. In a series of firsts, the Army Garrison Hawaii commander hired a liaison for Hawaiian issues, formed a council of Hawaiians to advise him, and brought Army and Hawaiian leaders together to sign a covenant in which both sides vowed to respect and understand one another.

“Instead of going back and rehashing the past, I’m trying to make a fresh start, trying to make that relationship positive, make things better down the line,” said Col. Matthew Margotta.

But the Army did not invite several Hawaiians embroiled in ongoing disputes with the Army to join the council or sign the covenant, prompting critics to question how effective these initiatives will be.

“You want to work together but you only want to work with people who don’t disagree with you. How good is that?” said William Aila, whose uncle was ousted from Makua during World War II and who is fighting for the Army to return the valley.

The military took control of Makua in 1943 when Hawaii was under wartime martial law. Authorities told residents to leave, and the Army and Navy began using the valley for bombing practice.

The explosions damaged homes and the community’s church and cemetery. Interviews for a 1998 oral history commissioned by the Navy showed residents were embittered by the destruction and the takeover that severed their families, who had once fished and farmed in Makua, from the land.

Today the Army still controls Makua under a lease with the state that expires in 2029.

In recent years, the Army and Hawaiians have clashed over the Army’s restrictions on access to sites in the valley. The Army cites safety for the limits, although Hawaiians say they’ve long visited these sites and understand the risks.

Hawaiian anger also mounted in 2003 when the Army’s planned burn of brush raged out of control and scorched more than half of the 7-square-mile valley.

Elsewhere in the islands, Hawaiians and the Army have butted heads over the appropriate use of lands at Schofield Barracks, which is home to several thousand soldiers in the 25th Infantry Division, and Pohakuloa Training Area on the Big Island.

Last month, several Hawaiians objected when an army contractor leveling land for a new Schofield training ground unearthed an ancient bone fragment. They had opposed the construction of the training ground precisely because they feared human remains would be found if the soil was disturbed.

Hawaiian tradition says bones must stay in the ground until they’re dissolved so the deceased can complete his or her journey to the afterlife.

Margotta says the covenant, signed in March, will contribute to better relations by committing future commanders to partner and cooperate with Hawaiians. This should impose some consistency even as leaders rotate posts every two to three years.

“There’s been commanders out there who have embraced the Hawaiian community and partnered with them and worked with them. And there have been others who have been not so inclined,” Margotta said. “We wanted to codify it for successive generations.”

Col. Douglas Mulbury, who took over from Margotta in a change of command ceremony last week, agrees with the initiatives and hopes to build on them, spokesman Loran Doane said.

Neil Hannahs, the director for the land assets division of Kamehameha Schools, said the council and covenant may help ameliorate conflict by spurring dialogue.

“Let’s just get together and talk before we’re at a point of crisis and conflict,” Hannahs said.

Hannahs is on the advisory council. He also signed the covenant, although as an individual and not as representative of Kamehameha Schools, an education institution and trust established by the will of a 19th century Hawaiian princess.

Aila isn’t optimistic. He wasn’t invited to join the advisory council or to sign the covenant even though he has long clashed with the Army over access to Makua and, more recently, the treatment of human remains found at Schofield last month.

“It’s great for PR,” he said, “to give the impression that things are hunky-dory here in Hawaii. But it doesn’t reflect the reality on the ground.”

The Army would do more to improve relations by leaving Makua, Aila said. He argues soldiers can train elsewhere.

Annelle Amaral, the Hawaiian liaison for Army Garrison Hawaii, said she didn’t invite people to join the council who have “site specific” concerns. She instead gathered Hawaiians who represent fields including education, business, and religion.

She denied the council omitted people who disagree with the Army, noting it includes Rev. Kaleo Patterson. The minister has vocally opposed ballistic missile testing on Kauai and pushed for the “decolonization and total independence” of Hawaii.

For some Hawaiians, the covenant fails to address the fundamental problem as they see it: the Army is part of an illegal occupation that began when U.S. businessmen, supported by U.S. Marines, overthrew Hawaii’s queen in 1893.

“Instead of having a covenant that sort of says you know ‘we promise to be really nice and do our best to protect sacred places,’ I’d rather get a timetable for when they’ll actually stop and leave us,” said Jonathan Osorio, a University of Hawaii professor of Hawaiian studies.

Depleted Uranium: Residents accuse Army of covering up contamination

Post Date January 14, 2010

Comments 2 Comments

Author Laurel Mei-Singh

Category Depleted Uranium, DMZ-Hawai'i / Aloha 'Aina In the News, Ho’ola Hawai’i – Environmental Justice

http://www.westhawaiitoday.com/articles/2010/01/14/local/local02.txt

Residents accuse Army of covering up contamination

DEPLETED URANIUM: ‘The burden should be on the Army’

By NANCY COOK LAUER

WES T HAWAII TODAY

ncook-lauer@westhawaiitoday.com

HILO — Four Hawaii residents charged the U.S. Army with trying to cover up its discovery of depleted uranium and then taking a cavalier attitude about cleaning it up during a five-hour hearing Wednesday before a panel of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. The Army is seeking an after-the-fact license to possess the radioactive material that was used in weapons training at Schofield Barracks on Oahu and Pohakuloa Training Area on the Big Island. The DU spotting rounds were used in the 1960s and have been emitting low levels of radiation since.

The Army contends the radiation is too low to pose a safety hazard.

“We’ve been open, transparent and we believe accountable with the steps we have taken,” said Lt. Col. Kent Herring, representing the Army’s Environmental Litigation Division. “The Army has kept the public informed. …There’s no purposeful withholding.”

But the Army’s contention is disputed by the petitioners, Kurtistown resident and peace activist Jim Albertini; Cory Harden, representing the Sierra Club; and two Native Hawaiians: Isaac Harp, of Waimea, and Luwella Leonardi, of Waianae, Oahu.

They say the Army has never proven the radiation is not harming those who live and travel near the military installations and they criticized the Army for sampling less than 1 percent of the 133,000-acre PTA installation off Saddle Road between Mauna Loa and Mauna Kea.

“The burden should be on the Army to prove no harm. The Army says there is no harm because they haven’t looked and don’t want to look,” said Albertini. “A license to possess depleted uranium is a nuclear waste dump.”

The three-member Atomic Safety and Licensing Board grilled the Hawaii residents, Army staff and NRC staffers alike. A decision on whether the petitioners have standing to participate in the license application will be made next month.

The petitioners participated by videoconference from a cramped video booth at the University of Hawaii at Hilo, while the federal officials participated from a Rockville, Md., hearing room.

Both the Army and NRC staff attorneys contend the petitioners didn’t prove they have a right to intervene in the license application process. Just living nearby is not enough, they said. Nor did the residents prove there is greater health risks to them because of the Army’s actions.

“Their claims cannot be entirely speculative,” said NRC staff attorney Kimberly Sexton.

Harp was hesitant to believe the Army’s position that there was no health hazard associated with the DU contamination. He noted that the military has a long history of conducting biological and chemical warfare experiments on the Big Island under code names such as Blue Tango, Yellow Leaf, Green Mist and Tall Timber.

“No one knows how many may have become ill, disabled or died from these experiments because only the military and their partners knew about them,” Harp said.

Harden produced documents showing the government knew about the DU at Schofield as early as 1996, not 2005 as the Army claims.

“I think if it was gold and not radioactivity, I think they would have found a lot more of it,” Harden said.

Even the administrative judges weren’t completely satisfied with the Army’s position that it was using a conservative estimate of how many rounds were even used at the two sites. The Army can account for 714 rounds — containing 299 pounds of DU — shipped to Hawaii. But it doesn’t know if that’s all that was sent to the state, because the records have been lost.

“I’m still troubled by the uncertainty of the numbers,” said Judge Anthony Baratta.

Herring said the Army is not dumping any DU contaminated soil off-site, but it has started collecting some of it into 55-gallon drums that are being stored at Schofield.

And Herring said all live round exercises now under way at the two sites do not fire high explosives into the contaminated areas, but they do use 50-caliber machine guns, spotting rounds that have just enough explosive to create a puff of smoke and 120 mm mortar rounds.

“No high-explosive rounds will be fired into DU areas,” Herring said.

Weapons of Mass Destruction exercises set for Kauai next week

Post Date September 13, 2009

Comments 0 Comments

Author Laurel Mei-Singh

Category Hawaii Superferry Resistance, Militarization of Society

“Weapons of Mass Destruction”? On Kaua’i? The article below states that “Field exercises will take place on Thursday around Nawiliwili Harbor as well as at the Pacific Missile Range Facility.” Did they mean missiles and Superferries? Or are they just training to suppress protest?

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Updated at 1:46 p.m., Sunday, September 13, 2009

Weapons of Mass Destruction exercises set for Kauai next week

Advertiser Staff

The Kaua’i Civil Defense Agency will host the annual, week-long Weapons of Mass Destruction exercise in conjunction with the Hawai’i National Guard 93rd Civil Support Team.

The goal of the exercise is to ensure that Kaua’i’s first responders are prepared in the unlikely event of a terrorist attack on the Garden Isle, county officials said.

Among the county agencies that will be participating in the training are: the Kaua’i Fire Department; Kaua’i Police Department; Department of Public Works; and Department of Water.

Representatives of several state and federal agencies, along with private industry will also take part in the exercise.

Monday through Wednesday will entail classroom training. Field exercises will take place on Thursday around Nawiliwili Harbor as well as at the Pacific Missile Range Facility.

Officials are asking the public to stay away from these areas while the exercises are being conducted.

“We’re asking for the public’s cooperation by staying clear of these locations so there’s no interference with the training,” said Mark Marshall, administrator of the Kaua’i Civil Defense Agency.

He advised residents not to be alarmed if they notice a number of emergency vehicles along with National Guard troops moving about the island this week.

“When you see an emergency vehicle with flashing warning lights and sirens approaching, you should pull over to the side of the roadway in a safe manner and allow the first responder to pass,” said Marshall.

Source: http://www.honoluluadvertiser.com/article/20090913/BREAKING01/90913025/Weapons+of+Mass+Destruction+exercises+set+for+Kaua+i+next+week

Pohakuloa Radiation Hearings

Post Date August 26, 2009

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Author Laurel Mei-Singh

Category Depleted Uranium, Ho’ola Hawai’i – Environmental Justice

Last night several of us attended the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) public informational meeting in Wahiawa related to DU contamination in Lihu’e (Schofield) and the Army’s application for an NRC license to “possess” the DU material. The presentations were informative about the regulatory functions of the NRC. But is was frustrating to learn the limited authority (or political will) of this regulatory agency to impose stronger restrictions on the Army. And more shocking was how nonchalant their attitude was about the hazard in Hawai’i. When questions were raised about potential hazards of conducting training activities in an area contaminated with DU, one NRC panel member basically said that the NRC doesn’t agree that there is a risk. I was blown away. This is supposed to be an independent regulatory body?

NRC documents related to this docket can be accessed at:

http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams/web-based.html

Select “Begin ADAMS search”
Select “Advanced Search”
Enter Docket Number “04009083”

Comments on the Army’s license application can be sent to:

John Hayes
US Nuclear Regulatory Commission
Two White Flint North, Mail Stop T8F5
11545 Rockville Pike
Rockville, MD 20852-1738

Telephone (301) 415-5928
Fax: (301) 415-5369
Email: john.hayes@nrc.gov

DEADLINE to request a hearing is October 13, 2009.

Jim Albertini sent out this call to attend Nuclear Regulatory Commission public meetings in Kona and Hilo. Anyone on the Big Island, please come out to demand a halt to training activities in the contaminated areas and the clean up of the DU and the hundreds of other military toxics in Hawai’i!

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Pohakuloa Radiation Hearings

Wednesday, Aug. 26, 2009 Time: 6 – 8:30 PM

Place: King Kamehameha Kona Beach Hotel

Thursday, Aug. 27th Time: 6 – 8:30 PM

Place: Hilo High School Cafeteria

Come out and express your concern for the health and safety of the people and the aina.

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) will be holding hearings in Hilo and Kona this week on Depleted Uranium (DU) radiation at the l33,000-acre Pohakuloa Training Area (PTA), located on so-called ceded lands — Kingdom of Hawaii occupied/stolen lands. The Army is seeking a license from the NRC to allow the radiation from weapons training to remain in place. That’s the Army’s polite way of saying it wants a formal OK to do what it has already done — establish a radiation waste dump in an active bombing range in the heart of Hawaii Island.

Some background: It has been confirmed that hundreds, perhaps over 2,000, Depleted Uranium (DU) spotting rounds have been fired at PTA for just one weapon system — the Davy Crockett back in the l960s. Davy Crockett DU rounds were also fired on Oahu at Schofield Barracks, possibly Makua Valley and elsewhere in Hawaii. The Army disclosed it also fired Davy Crockett DU rounds at several locations in at least 9 other states and three foreign countries. Other DU rounds from many other weapon systems may have been fired over the past 40 years at PTA and other sites in Hawaii, since the number and types of DU munitions in the U.S. arsenal has increased dramatically.

Ongoing live-fire at PTA (millions of rounds annually) risks spreading the DU radiation already present. DU is particularly hazardous when small burned oxidized particles are inhaled. The Hawaii County Council, more than a year ago, on July 2, 2008, called for a halt to all live-fire and other activities at PTA that create dust until there is an assessment and clean up of the DU already present. 7 additional needed actions have also been noted by the Council. The military has ignored the Council and continues live-fire and other dust creating activities at PTA, putting the residents of Hawaii Island at risk, since no comprehensive testing has been completed.

It is now up to the people to sound the alarm. Seize this opportunity to speak up now, not only for your own safety but for our keiki and the aina, and for generations to come. Isn’t it time for the State of Hawaii to cancel the military’s land lease at Pohakuloa. Pohakuloa was never meant to be a nuclear waste dump. Mahalo.

Malu `Aina Center for Non-violent Education & Action P.O. Box AB Kurtistown, Hawai`i 96760.
Phone (808) 966-7622. Email ja@interpac.net http://www.malu-aina.org

Military denies involvement with fish kills

Post Date March 29, 2009

Comments 0 Comments

Author Laurel Mei-Singh

Category Environmental Impacts

The military denies that its training activity off Kaua’i and Ni’ihau had anything to do with the fish kills and whale deaths. Still the military will not disclose what activities it conducted because they are classified. The public has no reason to believe them. The military claimed that no depleted uranium was used in Hawai’i, but in 2006 we revealed that DU was discovered in Lihu’e near Wahiawa. Since then, the Army has admitted that DU was also released in Pohakuloa, and possibly in Makua. Recently the USS Port Royal, the Navy’s most sophisticated Aegis destroyer, ran aground and crushed the coral reef, and the Navy did not tell state or the public that it had dumped 7000 gallons of raw sewage just a short distance from heavily using fishing and recreational areas. The military conducted secret biologial and chemical weapons tests in Hawai’i and other locations in the 1960s, coded named Project 112/Project SHAD. Veterans of these tests have fought to get the tests declassified so that they can get proper compensation and treatment for health problems that afflict them. The tests include the release of sarin nerve gas on the Big Island and the release of biological “simulants” at still classified locations on O’ahu. A veteran of these tests told us that some of the tests involved the release of bacteria from ships in Pearl Harbor to study how the cloud of biologial “simulant” moved and behaved as it wafted up towards central O’ahu.

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Military denies involvement with fish kills

DARPA: No underwater sonar used

By Coco Zickos – The Garden Island

Published: Friday, March 27, 2009 2:10 AM HST

LIHU‘E – While the community awaits answers with regards to the Ni‘ihau, Lehua and Kaua‘i fish kills that occurred earlier this year, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency – which conducted military operations during the same time period – and the Pacific Missle Range Facility said Thursday all activities administered during the month of January were not irregular and met with their environmental guidelines.

“I’d like to further clarify that all activities that took place on the range during this time were normal and within the scope of our EIS, to include both classified and unclassified operations,” said PMRF spokesman Tom Clements in an e-mail, responding to a report in The Garden Island that military activity could have caused large fish kills and the deaths of two baby whales.

A DARPA official also said the military did not cause the deaths.

“There were classified military operations in the area during that time frame. I cannot provide details of these operations, but I can tell you definitively that no rodenticide or chemicals were involved, nor were there any underwater sonar, acoustics or explosions,” said Jan R. Walker of DARPA external relations in a written statement provided by Clements. “In short, the tests did not involve any activities that could harm fish or marine mammals.”

Chapter 12 of the Hawai‘i Range Complex Final Environmental Impact Statement/Overseas Environmental Impact Statement said there is “uncertainty in predicting impacts to marine mammals and fish from (mid-frequency active) sonar.” The document also raised concerns about swim bladder resonance in fish and the potential impacts of particular frequencies on certain species.

The adult male trigger fish, or humuhumu, collected on Ni‘ihau had a “pale liver and swollen swim bladder,” according to Don Heacock, marine biologist for the Department of Land and Natural Resources Aquatics Division on Kaua‘i.

“Typically where we see distended fish bladders is when someone is bottom fishing and brings the fish up really fast and it doesn’t have time to acclimate to the pressure changes,” Heacock said.

Preliminary analysis by Dr. Thierry Work, wildlife disease pathologist with the National Wildlife Health Center, after a gross necropsy was administered showed “no visible external lesions” and “no evidence of external or internal bleeding.”

Chris Swenson, coastal program administrator for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, confirmed Wednesday that results have ultimately revealed that rodenticide was not the cause of the fish and whale kills. He said there are a number of factors which could have contributed to the incident, and added further testing must be done for confirmation.

Heacock has “strongly suggested” that the National Water Quality Assessment Program conduct further tests which would encompass numerous pesticides, chemicals and other “abnormalities.” Dr. Carl Berg, marine biologist and water quality expert, said a number of fish collected from Ni‘ihau have been frozen and are ready to be sent for further examination as soon as approval is confirmed.

Until then, the cause of the swollen swim bladders will remain a mystery, and Ni‘ihau residents will continue to wait for answers.

Coco Zickos, business writer, can be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 251) or czickos@kauaipubco.com

Source: http://kauaiworld.com/articles/2009/03/27/news/kauai_news/doc49cc68c9888ed956057001.txt

Military ground-based missile defense shot down test missile

Post Date March 18, 2009

Comments 0 Comments

Author Laurel Mei-Singh

Category Uncategorized

US intercepts ballistic missile in Hawaii test

By AUDREY McAVOY Associated Press
March 17, 2009

HONOLULU – The military’s ground-based mobile missile defense system successfully shot down a medium-range ballistic missile during a test in Hawaii, the Missile Defense Agency said Tuesday.

It was the first time the military fired two interceptors at one target using the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense system, a program designed to shoot down ballistic missiles in their last stage of flight.

The drill followed through on a test that was planned for last September but had to be aborted when the target malfunctioned shortly after launch.

On Tuesday, the target missile was fired from a vessel off the island of Kauai.

Soldiers with the Army’s 6th Air Defense Artillery Brigade then launched two interceptors from the Pacific Missile Range Facility on Kauai’s west coast.

Two interceptors were used to increase the chances of success. The first shot down the target over the Pacific Ocean. The second was destroyed.

“Any time you’re in a combat situation, more than likely you will launch more than one interceptor in case one fails,” said Missile Defense Agency spokesman Rick Lehner.

The target separated in flight, meaning the interceptors had to differentiate between the target missile’s warhead and booster.

The military also has Patriot anti-missile batteries to intercept missiles just before they strike.

But the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system is designed to protect larger areas than the Patriot system because it intercepts targets at higher altitudes.

Even so, it can only target short and medium-range missiles. Intercontinental ballistic missiles are out of its range.

THAAD is one of two missile defense systems the military tests at the Pacific Missile Range Facility on Kauai. The other is the sea-based Aegis system. The Missile Defense Agency coordinates U.S. missile tests in cooperation with the Army, Navy and Air Force.

The artillery brigade is based in Fort Bliss, Texas.

Classified military operations coincided with fish kill

Post Date March 18, 2009

Comments 0 Comments

Author Laurel Mei-Singh

Category Accidents, Environmental Impacts

This investigative story was posted on the Hawaii Independent. What was DARPA doing in the area off of Ni’ihau? Why won’t they tell the public?

Classified military operations coincided with fish kill

Posted March 17th, 2009 in Niihau by Joan Conrow

A Navy contractor was engaged in classified operations around Ni‘ihau in mid-January when a major fish kill and dead humpback whale calf were reported on the island’s shores.

Chris Swenson, coastal program administrator for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, said crews involved with a project to eradicate rats on Lehua had to leave the islet “four or five times” between Jan. 3 and 21 to accommodate classified military operations on the north end of Ni’ihau.

Lehua is about a half-mile from Ni’ihau, where thousands of fish began washing up on Jan. 17 and a dead humpback whale calf was seen on Jan. 21. Another humpback whale calf washed up between Kekaha and Kauai’s Pacific Missile Range Facility (PMRF) on Feb. 9, and a mass kill of squid and lanternfish was discovered at Kauai’s Kalapaki Bay on Jan. 20. Scientists do not know if the events are related.

Swenson said that a representative of DARPA – the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, which develops and tests new technology for the Department of Defense – told him that Fish and Wildlife crews could not be on Lehua at night between Jan. 3 and mid-February. The same DARPA official told him that Ni‘ihau residents also had been told to stay off the north part of their island during that time.

PMRF spokesman Tom Clements previously refused to confirm whether military activities had been conducted on the range, saying only: “If an anomaly occurred at that time that people are trying to connect to our activities, we’re saying they were no different than the activities that have been done on the range over the past 40 years.”

According to the DARPA website, “Over the years, DARPA has responded to issues of national importance with new ideas and technology that have changed the way wars are fought and even changed the way we live. Since the very beginning, DARPA has been the place for people with ideas too crazy, too far out and too risky for most research organizations. DARPA is an organization willing to take a risk on an idea long before it is proven.”

Swenson said he objected to the DARPA request because “it’s a big hassle and a lot of extra risk” to repeatedly helicopter his crew off Lehua, where they were monitoring the Jan. 6 and 13 aerial applications of the rodenticide diphacinone.

“We told them we’d stay in our tents and not look out, but they weren’t buying it,” Swenson said. “They said they were doing a lot with aircraft, aerial stuff, and we had to be off Lehua at night during that time.”

During the day, Swenson said, “we saw a lot of boat activity. A lot of torpedo chasers were out cruising around.”

The January 2009 undersea warfare training exercise (USWEX), which in previous years has involved the use of sonar, also was under way during that same period, beginning at 4 p.m. Jan. 15 and ending at noon Jan. 18.

The whale deaths, and the fact that many of the beached Ni‘ihau fish had distended swim bladders, has prompted some to question whether sonar or under water explosions may have played a role.

Swenson said that sonar testing and underwater explosions “would correlate with the distended swim bladders.” As for the lanternfish and squid kills, “those are both deep water species, so something happened deep down quickly that nailed a bunch of them.”

In regard to the Ni‘ihau fish kill, Swenson said, “My gut suspicion is something got spilled during Naval exercises up there. They had the Port Royal grounding and sewage spill they [the Navy] weren’t going to tell us about.”

Swenson was referring to a guided missile cruiser that ran aground near the Honolulu International Airport’s reef runway on Feb. 5. The navy discharged about 7,000 gallons of untreated wastewater from the ship without first informing the state Department of Health.

Thierry Work, the federal wildlife biologist who conducted a necropsy on one fish collected from the Ni‘ihau fish kill, said he did not want to add to speculation about the cause. He found “acute inflammation and swelling of the gills,” which he said can be caused by a number of factors, including chemical irritants and natural toxins.

When asked why many of the fish had distended swim bladders, Work replied: “I’m stumped.” That condition occurs when a fish “loses the ability to compensate buoyancy for whatever reason,” he said, and is typically associated with hooking a fish and quickly bringing it up from deeper waters.

However, the Ni‘ihau fish kill involved shallow water reef fish – primarily humuhumu and nenue – and the specimen Work examined showed no sign of being hooked. He said detonating dynamite in the water also could cause the condition, “but then you would think all sorts of fish would be affected, not just triggerfish.”

“Each fish has different swim bladder characteristics, so even if there were many species in an area that was blasted, only a few species would have extended swim bladders,” said Dr. Carl J. Berg, a Kauai research scientist with deep-sea research experience. “Deep water fish and squid come up closer to the surface to feed at night, then go back down into the dark depths during the day, so they could have gotten nailed at night when they were nearer the surface. My guess is by underwater explosions or sonar.”

Work was unaware of the Jan. 20 lanternfish kill at Kalapaki, but said that on Jan. 26 state conservation officers gave him two lanternfish to necropsy after a number of that species washed ashore at Maui’s Puunoa Beach. He has not yet conducted tissue studies on the samples.

Although some have speculated that the rodenticide diphacinone may be the cause of the Ni‘ihau fish and whale deaths, both Swenson and Don Heacock, the state aquatic biologist for Kauai, discounted that possibility.

“There’s no way it [diphacinone] could get into a baby whale,” Heacock said. “They’re only drinking milk and the mamas don’t feed here.”

Tissue tests done on opihi and 18 live fish caught off Lehua following the rodenticide application showed no sign of diphacinone, Swenson said. Results are still pending for aama crab and seawater.

Monitoring work done on Lehua found “no detectable movement” of the pellets on land, Swenson said.

Swenson said the Health Department is testing fish from the Ni‘ihau kill for diphacinone and pesticides, but has not yet released the results.

Updated 4:54 pm with quote from Carl J. Berg.

Source: http://www.thehawaiiindependent.com/hawaii/niihau/2009/03/17/classified-military-operations-coincided-with-fish-kill/

Two dead whales and a mass fish kill on Kaua'i, Ni'ihau – Is the Navy to blame?

Post Date March 11, 2009

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Author Laurel Mei-Singh

Category Environmental Impacts

From the Hawaii Independent: http://www.thehawaiiindependent.com/hawaii/kauai-hawaii-regions/2009/03/09/fish-fears-on-kaua%E2%80%98i-ni%E2%80%98ihau-%E2%80%93-is-the-navy-to-blame/

Fish fears on Kaua‘i, Ni‘ihau – Is the Navy to blame?

Posted March 9th, 2009 in Kauai, Niihau

by Joan Conrow

It’s been weeks since a massive fish kill was discovered on Niihau, but those living on the privately-owned island remain afraid to eat the reef fish that are a dietary staple.

“For the Niihauans, fishing isn’t a hobby, it’s how they put food on their table,” said Don Heacock, the state aquatic biologist on Kauai. “It’s one of the few places in Hawaii nei where people are still practicing traditional subsistence fishing. And now they’re afraid to eat the fish because they don’t know what happened to them.”

Bruce Robinson, whose family owns the island that lies off Kauai’s western shore, first spotted fish washing ashore on Jan. 17, but did not contact state officials until Feb. 2, when he brought Heacock a sample of about 100 dead fish.

“But very few were fresh and most were seven or more days old,” said Heacock, who selected the freshest fish he could find from the sample and gave it to Thierry M. Work, a federal wildlife disease specialist, for a necropsy.

Work found that the fish had suffered severe trauma to the gills. “The most significant finding was the acute inflammation and swelling of the gills that was suggestive of an acute insult,” according to the necropsy report. “One possibility is some sort of chemical irritant, however, the identity of such a cause cannot be determined based on available information.”

Heacock said he observed hundreds of dead fish on Niihau and many had distended swim bladders, a phenomenon more typically associated with deepwater fish that are brought up to the surface. Fish use their swim bladders to “sense, hear and feel sounds and vibrations underwater,” he said.

“If there was a very large underwater explosion, for example, fish would feel that, and if it was loud enough, it could kill them,” Heacock said. “It could destroy organs and tissue.”

In response to concerns that the fish might have died during an illegal fishing operation using bleach, Work researched the scientific literature and found that “exposure to chlorine causes a distinct lesion, which I did not observe in this particular fish. If I was going with the literature, I would not suspect chlorine,” Work reported.

Heacock said that Robinson also reported a baby humpback had washed ashore on Niihau on Jan. 21. Based on photographs, Heacock said the whale was “very fresh. I could see no noticeable external signs of trauma, but it was laying on one side and I don’t know what was under that.”
A large swell apparently washed the calf away before Heacock and others were able to get to Niihau on Feb. 4, where they collected dead fish and monk seal scat and observed several seals, which appeared healthy.

On Feb. 9, another humpback calf washed ashore on a section of beach between Kekaha and Kauai’s Pacific Missile Range Facility. The whale had several broken ribs, but it’s unknown whether that injury occurred before or after the whale died, Heacock said. Necropsy results are still pending.

“We don’t know if the fish kills and the two baby whales washing ashore are related, but they might be,” Heacock said. “We do not know if there was some kind of sonic experiment or sonar testing going on. We do know there were military activities going on during that period. Several commercial fishermen said they’d seen some large Navy ships, Marine Corps helicopters and even Australian ships around Niihau in that time period.”

Paul Achitoff, an attorney with Earthjustice, said that the Navy’s counsel confirmed that the January 2009 undersea warfare training exercise (USWEX) began at 4 p.m. Jan. 15 and ended at noon Jan. 18.

The Navy did use mid-frequency active sonar during antisubmarine training exercises last year. However, PMRF spokesman Tom Clements refused to confirm whether the Navy had used sonar during this year’s USWEX, or even that military activities had been conducted at all.

“If an anomaly occurred at that time that people are trying to connect to our activities, we’re saying they were no different than the activities that have been done on the range over the past 40 years,” Clement said.

Marine mammal strandings have occurred in Hawaii following sonar exercises, including two pygmy sperm whales that washed up on Maui and Lanai after the April 2007 USWEX and a beaked whale that came ashore on Molokai during one of the exercises last year. In July 2004, a pod of melon-head whales came into Hanalei Bay shortly after the Navy used sonar. The Navy contends there is no connection between such strandings and sonar use, but has never released any necropsy reports on the dead animals.

In a response to an email posing additional questions, Clements wrote: “As far as ‘loud noises underwater,’ as you know, there are many anthropomorphic sources of sound in the water, including recreational and commercial boat traffic that crosses our range. Our activities that can cause sound in the water are managed and quantified, as expressed in the Hawaii Range Complex EIS completed in 2008.

“And regarding the introduction of toxic or noxious chemicals, if your question refers to operations specifically designed to test or train with or against chemical agents, than the answer is ‘no.’ The PMRF range did not have any spills or accidents resulting in unintended releases. Most human activities on and in the water can potentially introduce chemicals into the ocean, from sunscreen to diesel fuel emissions.”

When asked whether any intended chemical spills or releases occurred, and why the Navy declined to comment on the date or nature of its activities, Clements replied in a second email: “I believe I did respond within the context of the question by distinguishing between intended (operations specifically designed) and unintended (spills or accidents). Not commenting specifically on all-inclusive military operations within a given parameter of dates is not unusual.”

Heacock said he recommended that state officials ask the Navy for more information about the activities it was conducting when the fish and whales died. He also suggested testing samples collected from the fish kill for contaminants under the National Water-Quality Assessment program (NAWQA), but state and federal officials balked at the $15,000 price tag.

“I only recommended that because we’re dealing with human health and safety issues,” Heacock said.

“The [state] Department of Health issued warnings not to eat fish if it smelled or tasted strange, but there are many toxins with no odor and no taste. The Niihauans have a right to know what happened to their fish.”

Both Heacock and Work said fish kills and marine mammal strandings should be reported immediately so necropsies can be conducted before the animals begin to decompose.