Stop Bombing Pohakuloa!
Dec. 27, 2019 Press Release on Depleted Uranium (DU) at the Pohakuloa Training Area (PTA)
Protest planned at PTA main gate on Saturday, Jan. 4, 2020 from 10AM until 12 noon
further contact: Dr. Michael Reimer GeoMike5@att.net
and/or Jim Albertini
Malu 'Aina Center for Non-violent Education & Action
P.O. Box 489
Kurtistown, Hawaii 96760
Phone 808-966-7622
email ja@malu-aina.org
visit us on the web at www.malu-aina.org
sign up on our website to automatically receive our posts
*** Missing Depleted Uranium (DU) could pose dangers to contractors at PTA and the public
Missing Depleted Uranium (DU) could pose dangers to contractors and the public. “There should be no construction/remodeling at PTA cantonment until they locate the missing DU,” according to Nuclear expert, retired Nuclear Geologist, Dr. Michael Reimer, Ph.D. See the complete Dr. Reimer’s press statement below.
*** Possibly more DU used at PTA than previously stated
According to Jim Albertini of Malu ‘Aina, besides the missing fragments cited by Dr. Reimer, there is all the Depleted Uranium (DU) spotting rounds used in the 1960s (in the Pohakuloa impact area that have been turned into DU oxide dust particles by decades of high explosives fired into the impact area. Testimony before the Hawaii County Council in 2008 and 2009 by Army spokesperson Col. Howard Killian revealed that based on the number of people trained to fire the Davy Crockett nuclear weapon system at PTA, it is possible that 2000 spotting rounds or more (not 700 as previously stated) containing DU may have been fired at PTA, far more than previously stated. And there may be additional DU at PTA besides the Davy Crockett spotting rounds. For years the military denied that any DU was used at PTA, then they were caught lying when discovery documents in court proceedings proved DU was used. It is also important to remember that around the same time the Army started using DU at Pohakuloa the Army got a lease of State land in the Waiakea forest reserve on Stainback Highway to do what the Army said was “WEATHER TESTING.” Well, the Army was lying about what they were doing. They were testing chemical and biological weapons in Hilo’s watershed, including Sarin nerve gas — 1/50 of a drop can kill you. In 2008, the Hawaii County Council passed Resolution 639-08 by a vote of 8 to 1 that called for 8 actions including stopping of ALL live-fire at PTA until there was a comprehensive assessment of the DU present at PTA and the DU at PTA was cleaned up. This has not been done. The military has ignored the expressed will of Hawaii County to protect the health and safety of Hawaii’s people and visitors.
***Dangers of inhaled DU oxide particles and military unethical human experimentation
According to Dr. Lorrin Pang, MD and retired from 24 years in the Army Medical Corps, inhaled DU oxide particles carried by the wind is the most dangerous form of radiation. See the short video on DU dangers by Dr. Pang here. https://vimeo.com/19153948. Dr. Pang also said. “In 1994 the US Congress convened a hearing and condemned experiments on US and Canadian communities conducted and kept hidden for 30 years. Biologic agents, chemicals and radiation were released over states and cities. Though harm was difficult to prove in retrospect (after 30 years) the activities were universally condemned for failure to adhere to the Nuremberg Code – the obtaining of individual informed consent from those exposed. Furthermore the argument that this was done for the sake of National Security was struck down. All US agencies and institutions had failed to protect human rights and the regulatory agencies promised that they would do so in the future. Obviously the EPA and NRC have forgotten their promise to US citizens.
While Malu Aina believes the entire Big Island may be at risk from spreading DU oxide particles dispersed by the wind and particles being transported on vehicles like cocqui frogs, we believe that specific high risk areas are the Saddle Rd, the Gilbert Kahele Park (formerly Mauna Kea Recreation Area), and the down wind luxury South Kohala/Kona residential and resort properties.
*** Stop Bombing Pohakuloa Protest to be held on Sat. Jan. 4th
A Stop Bombing Pohakuloa protest will be held at the PTA main gate on Saturday, January 4, 2020 from 10 AM till 12 noon to demand answers to serious health and safety questions about DU and other matters at Pohakuloa, such as B-2 and B-52 nuclear war bomber training at PTA, possible ground water contamination, etc. We expect PTA commander Lt. Col. Loretto Borce ((808) 969-2401, (808) 969-2402 or (808) 969-2403) to come outside the base entrance to address these concerns of the general public and news media. We want a complete listing of all the POISONS the military has used at Pohakuloa, including what toxins are in the shallow water well drilled at PTA in 2013 that hit water at a depth of 700 feet near the Army’s Headquarters building on leased land from the State of Hawaii.
News Release by Dr. Michael Reimer, Ph.D geologist:
Depleted Uranium Gone Missing At PTA
A review of public documents within the Nuclear Regulatory Commission on-line library indicates that a significant quantity of depleted uranium at the Pohakuloa Training Area (PTA) has gone missing.
The U.S. Army trained at Pohakuloa with Davy Crockett atomic weapons in the 1960s and some of those practice weapons, notably a spotting round, were fired first to determine accuracy for the main warhead. The spotting round contained depleted uranium (DU), a known toxic and radioactive material. Because the DU was not recovered and left in place and a previous license had expired, the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) issued a Notice of Violation, Severity Level III, to the Army. An Army contractor was tasked to find where the DU was located. The contractor identified areas near the Saddle Road and the Mauna Kea Park (now Gilbert Kahele Recreation Area) where spotting rounds and main warhead components positively were located. The contractor removed some of the material for safekeeping by the U.S. Army Garrison and marked the location of other DU fragments for possible future recovery. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission then issued a new license to the U.S. Army for possession of the Davy Crockett DU at PTA. The license required monitoring to determine if DU was migrating away from PTA.
Dr. Michael Reimer, Ph.D., a geologist and former resident of the Big Island, felt the monitoring program designed by the Army and endorsed by the NRC was severely flawed and would not detect any migration of DU even if present. He believed that other radioactive isotopes contaminating the spotting round components when manufactured would be better indicators for the presence of DU. To test whether those trace isotopes were present in the atomic weapon system components, he asked that some of the weapon pieces that were collected by the Army contractor be fully analyzed.
In their reply, the NRC avoided a direct response to Dr. Reimer’s request to analyze those fragments but instead stated that those isotopes were in small quantities and not radioactive enough to present a hazard. The NRC failed to acknowledge if they still were at the PTA headquarters area or elsewhere and no tracking record of safekeeping has been located in the on-line library of NRC documents. The location of those removed DU fragments is unknown as it has not been revealed by the NRC. “For the tracer isotopes, it is not a question of radioactivity but a question of detectability. They would be absolute indicators of DU presence,” said Dr. Reimer.
Dr. Reimer, in a recent response to Malu `Aina Center for Non-Violent Education and Action, said he sent a letter to the NRC pointing out that there was remodeling construction planned for the cantonment area at PTA. If those fragments of DU were still at PTA and not found and properly removed, they would present a hazard to construction contractors, soldiers and civilian employees. The amount of DU recovered by the Army contractor is unknown but could be a significant portion of the DU found at PTA. The license allows for about 140,000 grams at PTA.
Correspondence from Dr. Reimer to the U.S. NRC has several times pointed out that photographs in the contractor reports indicate other practice components show a yellow coating of potential DU oxidation. “They probably received coatings of DU from other exploding components of the main practice warheads,” Dr. Reimer said. “That could significantly increase the amount of DU present at PTA, requiring a license amendment.” The NRC disagrees with Dr. Reimer but has not tested the components and has not explained why there are only fragments instead of a complete warhead if it did not explode.
The U.S. NRC maintains an on-line public library where communication and reports are stored. It is the Agencywide Documents Management and Access System [ADAMS] and is available at: https://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm.html
The most recent comment to the NRC by Dr. Reimer on additional DU at PTA is document number ML19178A033.
The December 9, 2019 NRC reply to Dr. Reimer is document number ML19200A034.
The contractor reports for PTA showing DU fragments are documents ML091170322 and ML092950352.
Notice of DU possession violation issued by NRC is ML111080087.
Radiation hazards from inhaled DU are presented in a video report by Dr. Lorrin Pang, M.D., Maui, and is available at https://vimeo.com/19153948.
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