Judge nixes army training in Hawaii valley

[CornField]

http://www.fortwayne.com/mld/newssentinel/news/local/13784838.htm

A federal judge has denied the Army's request to resume live-fire training exercises in a valley that Native Hawaiians consider sacred.

The Army wanted to modify a 2001 settlement with the Earthjustice Legal Defense Fund and a cultural preservation group so it could resume training at Makua Valley on Oahu before thousands of Hawaii-based soldiers deploy to Iraq this summer.

U.S. District Judge Susan Oki Mollway ruled Thursday that the Army has other training areas in California and Hawaii that it can use instead. She said the proposed training in the Makua Valley was likely to degrade biological, cultural and archaeological resources.

The remote valley has been used for military training for decades, but in recent years Native Hawaiian and environmental groups have argued that the Army was destroying ancient cultural sites and endangered plants.

(more)

[laruemtt]

1. yay!

score one for us! :yourock:

[fiddlestix]

2. Good

Ancient cultural sites & endangered plants are cheering everywhere!

They don't get enough live-fire training in Iraq & Afghanistan?

[ConcernedCanuk]

3. They don't get enough live-fire training in Iraq & Afghanistan?- yeah

.
.
.

yeah, they do, but them silly people shoot BACK!!

The Iraqis and the Afghans have the idea that they own their own countries

A concept the PNACers haven't grasped yet . .

(sigh)

[KamaAina]

4. Makua is not only sacred, it's right next to high-rise apartments!

namely, the Makaha Valley Towers.

It's not like I'm anti-readiness or anything. I just question the wisdom of conducting live-fire training on what has become one of the most crowded islands in the Pacific, that's all. A-duh!

[mahina]

5. Thank God!

Makua Valley has a sad history. It was 'borrowed' during WWII and of courese never given back. My hula sister recently testfied in a related matter that the cemetary in Makua valley, home to her ancestor's graves, was bombed for years as target practice. Understand how sacred Hawaiian burials are, think about how you would feel. Families were evicted more recently, homeless Hawaiian families living not in the valley(which is behind gates, military property now) but on the beach in front of it.

The Army told me at an informational hearing at Makua Valleyr a couple of years ago that no, they never used depleted uranium there. Here's the thing- I had to ask the question three different times to get an answer, and I am sure they lied.

One of our local peace workers found evidence that the army used depleted uranium at Schofield Barracks here. In our beautiful home. On our beautiful 'aina.

[MetsMatt]

7. Depleted Uranium

While not impossible its not all that likely that they did use DU. DU is most commonly used in tank rounds. The units based in Hawaii are light infantry and don't have tanks.
However that sort of training will tend to leave unexploded ordnance lying around.

[mahina]

8. sorry, a'ole, e kala mai

SEVERAL environmental and native Hawaiian groups are accusing the Army of misleading the public after the groups discovered that a heavy metal known as depleted uranium was recovered at Schofield Barracks' range complex.

During a news conference yesterday, the groups said the Army has repeatedly assured the public that the heavy metal was never used in Hawaii.

"These recent revelations, then, indicate that the Army is either unaware of its DU (depleted uranium) and chemical weapons use or has intentionally misled the public. Both possibilities are deeply troubling," said Kyle Kajihiro, program director of the American Friends Service Committee and member of DMZ-Hawaii/Aloha Aina.

Some members of the various groups read about the depleted uranium in e-mails detailing documents submitted in federal court in December, showing that heavy metals were found at Schofield Barracks' range complex area during clearing efforts.

more at the link:

http://starbulletin.com/2006/01/06/news/story06.html

[mahina]

9. All the more reason to kill the Stryker!

Does the Stryker use DU?

[Javaman]

6. ahh, but the question that needs to be asked is...

is the army going to clean up all the unexploded ordinance?

crickets...

I thought as much.

Next will be the lawsuits when native Hawaiians start exploring the area and get blown to bits.