The Honolulu Star Advertiser published an article about the progress of unexploded ordnance (UXO) cleanup in Waikane valley in Ko’olaupoko district of O’ahu.

Waikane is a lush valley that is very significant in Hawaiian legend and history.  The name refers to the waters of the great deity Kane. Sites in the valley are referred to in ancient chants about creation. As this is a land of flowing streams, there are extensive lo’i kalo (taro fields).

Waikane was granted to the Kamaka family during the Mahele. But land speculators like Lincoln McCandless acquired vast amounts of land in Waikane and other areas like Makua, allegedly through illegal or unethical means.

During World War II, the military leased Waikane lands for training and promised to return the land in its original condition.  When the lands were returned to the Kamaka family, Raymond Kamaka began farming and working with youth.   But the bombs kept turning up.  Instead of cleaning up as promised, the Marines condemned the land over the objections of the family.

In 2003, the Marines announced that they planned to conduct jungle warfare training in Waikane and held community meetings.  The community turned out in large numbers to protest the plan and to demand that the military clean up the land and return it to the Kamaka family. The Marine corps abandoned its training plans for Waikane.  Several years later, it began the administrative process for closing and cleaning up the range.

The surrounding lands were also affected by training, but since they are currently in private hands, a different program called the Formerly Used Defense Sites (FUDS) program under the Army Corps of Engineers has the responsibility to conduct the ordnance removal.

The very fact that the munitions are being studied and removed is a win for the community.  What was once “too dangerous” and “too costly” is now within reach.  But the level of cleanup depends on the cost and feasibility analysis as well as the final land use.   This is where continued pressure is needed to ensure that the land is returned to Mr. Kamaka or to an entity that he designates to carry on the kuleana (responsibility) he solemnly swore to fulfill to his ancestors.

The Hawai’i congressional delegation can ensure that the cleanup is conducted to the highest level possible by ensuring that there is adequate funding to achieve the highest level of cleanup.

There are currently two cleanup operations underway in Waikane.  Under the Army Corps of Engineers FUDS program, a Restoration Advisory Board (RAB) has been established to oversee its portion of the cleanup. Under the Marine Corps, a separate Restoration Advisory Board has been established.  These RABs include military, government regulators and community members and provide input to the military on the cleanup process.   The meetings are open to the public.

The Army Corps of Engineers FUDS RAB will meet Wednesday, June 22, 2011 from 7-9 pm in the Waiahole Elementary School Cafeteria.

Below are excerpts from the Honolulu Star Advertiser article. The time line at the end has an error: the Marine Corps did not fence the Kamaka parcel in 1992 after it condemned the land.  It installed a fence some time after 2003, only after the community blasted the Marines for being hypocritical, i.e. claiming that the land was so dangerous it had to be condemned but never enclosing it with a fence.

Military studies Waikane Valley bomb cleanup

A Windward Oahu area littered with old munitions is being looked at by both the Marines and the Army

By William Cole

POSTED: 01:30 a.m. HST, Jun 19, 2011

WILLIAM COLE / WCOLE@STARADVERTISER.COM

Marine Corps officials and an ordnance removal technician view Waikane Valley in the vicinity of the ordnance impact area.

WILLIAM COLE / WCOLE@STARADVERTISER.COM

The Marine Corps said it is spending $1.37 million to investigate the 187-acre impact area in Waikane Valley where the majority of the munitions are located and to develop a feasibility study for cleanup options that is expected to be released in the fall. Here, a warning sign is posted at the edge of the Marine Corps’ impact area

More Photos

Up a rutted road in jungly Waikane Valley, past the old Ka Mauna ‘o ‘Oliveta Church, through a locked gate and beyond a security fence is the former Kamaka family farm, the now-defunct military training range that replaced it, and the long-held hope — going on decades now — that the land can be returned to the agricultural and cultural place it used to be.

Waikane Valley is one of dozens of former military training sites in Hawaii undergoing the slow, arduous and sometimes painful process that goes along with demilitarization.

Among those many sites, Waikane is considered by some to be a special place, and there’s been momentum in recent years to clean up the munitions that litter it.

The Marine Corps and Army Corps of Engineers are each conducting studies on removing ordnance from a total of 1,061 acres in Waikane Valley. Citizen advisory groups are asking Congress for millions in cleanup funds.

“Things seem to be moving in a good direction — at least things seem to be moving, which is a good direction,” said Windward resident and attorney David Henkin, who is on the two restoration advisory boards for the land.

Land in and around the former training area is valued as a cultural and natural resource. The city thought highly enough of the land in 1998 to spend $3.5 million for 500 acres to the southeast of the Marine Corps land that are intended to become the Waikane Valley Nature Park. A private landowner, Paul Zweng, bought 1,400 acres — part of which is in the former training area — for a proposed Ohulehule Forest Conservancy to preserve and restore the endemic flora and fauna in the valley, officials said.

[…]

Despite the potential risk, off-road vehicles tear up Waikane Stream, and pig hunters cut through the fence that surrounds the 187 acres still owned by the Marine Corps.

Between 1943 and 1953 the Army leased more than 2,000 acres in the Waiahole and Waikane valleys for jungle training; small arms, artillery and mortar fire; and aerial bombing, according to a recent Navy investigation.

In 1953, the Marine Corps took over, leasing 1,061 acres for live-fire training. The report said live fire “apparently” stopped in the early 1960s, and that the lease was terminated in 1976.

A Marine Corps clearance effort in 1976 removed 24,000 pounds of practice ordnance and fragments, and 42 unexploded munitions.

In 1984 the Marines came back and recovered 480 3.5-inch rockets from what is known as the Waikane Valley Impact Area. A 2009 site inspection turned up 66 shoulder-fired rockets, one 2.36-inch rocket and three rifle grenades.

The unexploded ordnance, or “UXO,” as it’s known, was so thick the Marines abandoned in 2003 a plan to conduct blank-fire jungle training in the valley, saying it was too dangerous.

Despite that, community members working with the military on continuing studies say there’s progress and hope that Congress will provide cleanup funding.

[…]

Two remediation efforts are taking place in Waikane Valley. The Marine Corps said it is spending $1.37 million to investigate the 187-acre impact area where the majority of the munitions are located and to develop a feasibility study for cleanup options that is expected to be released in the fall.

The Army Corps of Engineers, meanwhile, is working on 874 adjoining acres that contain fewer munitions as part of the FUDS program. In addition to a $1.34 million study, the Army Corps said it has a $1.94 million ordnance clearance effort under way with Environet Inc. focusing on two parcels totaling 44 acres.

Among the decisions the Marine Corps will have to make is whether to clean up the 187 acres it still owns and to what degree, as well as what to do with the land afterward.

While some community members have complained about the number of plans put forth and the length of time for the Marine Corps to address the issue, an email response from Marine Corps Base Hawaii to the Star-Advertiser said the latest “munitions response program,” which began in 2008, “is detailed and takes time to ensure potential risks to human health and the environment are thoroughly identified and appropriate cleanup action is selected.”

People have been injured and killed by mishandled munitions in Waikane Valley, though there have been no incidents recently, according to the Navy “remedial investigation” draft report issued in March.

In 1944, two people were killed and two others were injured when a 60 mm mortar discovered in the valley accidentally detonated, the report said.

Three children were injured in 1963 when a “souvenir” rifle grenade reportedly discovered in Waikane Valley exploded after it was thrown against a wall. There have been no other reports of injury attributed to munitions found in the valley, the report said.

Raymond Kamaka, 72, said his family owned and farmed the Marine Corps land as far back as 1850 through a deed from King Kamehameha III, and he still lays claim to it.

His great-great-great-grandmother, Racheal Lahela, who came from Waikane, was a half sister of Queen Liliuokalani, Kamaka said.

Kamaka recalled playing in the valley as a kid. “It was our playground. Up there we used to swim,” he said. He remembers three ancient heiau.

The government later said it needed the land for wartime training, leased it from the Hawaiian family, and said it would clean it up and return it afterward.

The lease was terminated in 1976, and the Marines conducted several cleanups. Kamaka, a one-time professional wrestler, returned to farm in the early 1980s. He grew taro and raised pigs and brought in schoolchildren for visits.

When munitions were found on the property’s higher reaches, the military condemned the land in 1989. Much of the family settled for $2.3 million in 1994 — but not Raymond Kamaka.

“Nobody settled with me,” said Kamaka, who claims to be the only rightful heir.

The ensuing years have been “hell,” Kamaka said. “I lost everything.” He went to jail for two years in disputes with the government over the land, he said.

He still expects to farm on the family land again one day.

“Am I gonna come back? Yes,” he said.

Kajihiro, who also is program director for the American Friends Service Committee, a Quaker organization that supports Native Hawaiian rights, said “there is some political will to do some cleanup (on the Marine Corps land). To what level is a question of cost.”

“We’re saying it should be cleaned up to the highest level possible to allow the broadest number of uses,” Kajihiro said. He added that those uses “need to be mindful of, and consistent with, Uncle Raymond Kamaka and his family’s vision and uses of the land — which were agricultural and cultural uses.”

LOOKING BACK

Waikane Valley’s history as a military training range:

Early 1940s
U.S. Army leases more than 2,000 acres in Waiahole and Waikane valleys and uses the property for jungle training, artillery, mortar, small arms fire, maneuvers and as a bombing range for air-to-ground fire.

1944
Two people are killed and two are injured by a 60-millimeter mortar discovered in the valley.

1953
Marine Corps leases 1,061 acres. Training includes small-arms fire, 3.5-inch rockets and medium artillery.

Early 1960s
Marines stop use of live fire.

1963
Three children are injured when a “souvenir” rifle grenade is thrown against a wall and explodes.

1976
Marines conduct ordnance clearance sweeps.

1984
Marines conduct additional ordnance clearance sweeps and remove 480 3.5-inch rockets.

1989
U.S. government acquires title to the 187-acre ordnance impact area.

1992
A perimeter chain-link fence is installed around the impact area.

2002
Marines propose conducting blank-fire training on the site.

2003
Marines abandon the idea when a study finds too much danger from unexploded ordnance.

2010
Marines conduct a “remedial investigation” on the 187-acre Waikane Valley Impact Area.

2011
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is investigating ordnance on 874 adjoining acres and removing munitions from 44 acres within that parcel.

Source: U.S. Army Corps of Engineers; Marine Corps