Depleted Uranium in Hawaii call to action!
Below is information about DU in Hawaii. Please email both the NRC and the Hawaii Department of Health to urge action. Mahalo. Jim Albertini
The Hawaii Department of Health, and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission need to conduct further investigation on this matter. Let your voice be heard! Email Gary.Gill@doh.hawaii.gov and tamara.powell@nrc.gov and your local elected officials
Mr. Orlando of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), the U.S. Army, and all,
The Dec. 12th meeting in MARYLAND (should be in HAWAII) between the Army and the NRC over the issue of whether or not the NRC will issue a license for the Army to possess DU in Hawaii. If someone has a license to possess garbage — lots of garbage — that someone is a DUMP. I (and a lot of other people) don’t want nuclear waste dumps in Hawaii. In fact, the Hawaii State constitution prohibits nuclear power plants and nuclear waste dumps in Hawaii without a 2/3 vote of both houses of the Hawaii legislature. I and others helped make that part of the State Constitution in 1978 at a Constitutional Convention. Please be aware that neither the NRC nor the Army have a right to violate the Hawaii State Constitution. The fact is the Army has several illegal dumps for DU in Hawaii and they continue to bomb those nuclear dumps causing the likely spread of the DU. Order the Army to cease and desist ALL LIVE FIRE at known sites where DU has been used. Order the widespread testing of people, on and off the military bases, for uranium in their urine. Set up comprehensive testing and monitoring to determine the full extent of radiation contamination at these military bases. The military records are lousy. They cannot be trusted. It is likely that the military used other DU weapons besides the hundreds or thousands of confirmed Davy Crockett spotting rounds. According to the Army, DU weapons were not prohibited in training until 1996, so one has to assume they were possibly used before then. There are approximately 20 different DU weapons in the US arsenal.
This is to again notify the NRC and the Army that 3 MDs and a naturopathic doctor in Hilo, Hawaii have patients that have tested high for uranium in their urine. One MD said he has a cluster of patients. There may be other doctors that I am unaware of. At least one of these doctors has contacted the Hawaii State Dept. of Health to investigate the cause of the high uranium. I personally know 2 of the people with high uranium and there are possible reasons to suspect they may have been contaminated by DU at the Pohakuloa Training Area ( PTA). The NRC and the Health Dept. should investigate this matter further and the NRC should require that all live-fire at Pohakuloa be stopped until comprehensive testing and monitoring is completed to determine the extent of radiation contamination at the base and possible links to high uranium in people’s urine. The NRC and Dept. of Health are charged with protecting public health. Do your job please.
Four years and 4 months ago, on July 2, 2008, the Hawaii County Council by a vote of 8-1 passed Resolution 639-08: Urging the US military to address the hazards of Depleted uranium at the Pohakuloa Training Area (PTA). Specifically, that resolution called for 8 actions:
1. Order a complete halt to B-2 bombing missions and to all live-firing exercises and other activities at PTA that create dust until there is an assessment and clean up of the depleted uranium already present;
2. Establish a permanent, high-tech monitoring system with procedures to ensure air quality control;
3. Establish a citizen monitoring system to work closely with military experts to assure transparency and community confidence;
4. Host quarterly meetings to update and inform the public;
5. Ensure permanent funds are available for the monitoring program;
6. Provide a liaison to the County of Hawaii to facilitate communication between the U.S. military and the County of Hawaii;
7. Provide semi-annual reports to the Hawaii County Council summarizing depleted uranium monitoring, detection, and mitigation efforts; and
8. The U.S. military shall conduct a search of all records for firing of DU at PTA and all other Hawaii State military sites and release pertinent information to the public.
TO DATE, NONE OF THESE ACTIONS HAVE BEEN CARRIED OUT!
The NRC, the Army, The State of Hawaii Dept. of Health have failed in their public health responsibility on this matter.
The NRC has the power to require the military to carry out the above 8 points of action and to do urine tests for uranium on people who live and work near Pohakuloa and regularly travel the Saddle Rd.
Mahalo.
Jim Albertini
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