Oppose military helicopter training on Mauna Loa and Mauna Kea
BACKGROUND
The Army plans to fly helicopters out of Pohakuloa Training Area to landing zones (LZs) on the upper slopes of Mauna Kea and Mauna Loa to train for Afghanistan. The LZs are on conservation land–ceded land which is supposed to be held in trust for all. An average of nine flight hours a day (and into the night) are planned for dates in October. After that, more may be planned.
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SEND E-MAIL ASAP (before Sept. 9th) TO
Adaline.F.Cummings@hawaii.gov
SUBJECT
Vote AGAINST C-4 (HAMET EA/ FONSI) and C-5 (HAMET permit) at BLNR 9-9-11
My sample testimony below
Dear BLNR members,
Hearings should be held on Hawaii Island concerning this military taking of public lands.
Nevertheless, at your September 9 meeting, please cut this whole process and vote AGAINST Army High-Altitude Mountainous Environment Training (HAMET) on two items
· C-4: accepting the Final Environmental Assessment (EA) and Finding of No Significant Impact
· C-5: granting a Right of Entry permit.
Our organization does not want the U.S. training anywhere to do to others what the U.S. has already done to Hawaii: overthrow and occupy its government and nation, desecrate its sacred sites, and contaminate its air, land, water, people, plants, and animals with a wide range of military toxins. We want the U.S. to stop bombing Hawaii and clean up its opala (rubbish).
All of our mothers teach us that you clean up your old mess before you even think about making a new mess. The military needs a mother and you the BLNR need to act as a surrogate. No more military taking! No more military mess. It’s long past time for military clean up NOT further build up!
The military/industrial complex is out of control in Hawaii. Hundreds of thousands of acres of land (and additional near shore waters) are littered with live explosives and other military toxins.
Actions needed:
1. Depleted Uranium (DU) radiation contamination exists on State leased land at the Pohakuloa Training Area. The lease doesn’t allow for that. Cancel that lease but first make the military fund comprehensive independent testing and monitoring (with citizen oversight) to determine the full extent of the contamination. And make them clean up their mess, not a 3rd rate job like Kaho’olawe, but first rate to habitable standards.
2. The Hawaii County Council on July 2, 2008 passed resolution 639-08 by a vote of 8-1. That resolution called for 8 action points but #1 was stopping “all live firing exercises and other activities at the Pohakuloa Training Area (PTA) that creates dust until there is an assessment and clean up of the depleted uranium already present.” The military has ignored the Council’s call for action. All 8 points!. Now you the BLNR have an opportunity to act.. The proposed military helicopter training will create dust and likely spread the radiation already present at PTA. Ground those helicopters. Vote against HAMET. In doing so, please be mindful of the military history of lying about it’s impacts. The military got a state BLNR lease in Hilo’s watershed –the Waiakea forest back in the 60s, to do weather testing. The military lied. They were not doing weather testing. They were secretly testing chemical and biological weapons, including deadly Sarin nerve gas –1/50 of a drop kills you. When the late Patsy Mink disclosed the secret testing, all hell broke loose and the BLNR did the right thing. The BLNR canceled the Army lease.
3. Today, the military is firing upwards of 14 million live-rounds annually at PTA, which is a radioactive contaminated base They are creating a multi-billion dollar mess on State leased lands and you the BLNR are allowing them to do it without even requiring bonding for clean up. Do the right thing. Cancel that lease! I raise this to emphasize the cumulative impact of the military mess. Do not allow 1 further square inch of state lands for military purposes.
I’ve used the following analogy in opposition to the TMT on Mauna Kea, but it equally applies to the military’s HAMET request. I call it The Big picture –“One more for the road!” The U.S. and Hawaii’s economy has become addicted to war. The truth is we have become military/industrial drunks, believing that one more military/warfare drink won’t hurt us. In fact, many believe it is good for us. One more for the road. One more for jobs. One more for training in “full spectrum dominance” in the war for empire disguised as a war against terrorism. One more for perpetual war to make peace. We are either still a drunk in denial or believe in an illusion.
One more military drink on the road to global military and economic destruction is not the answer. The first step in the 12 step program of recovery for an alcoholic is to admit to addiction and then seek help from Ke Akua and others to restore what is pono. The same applies to military/industrial drunks.
I urge you the BLNR to Honor and Protect Mauna Kea and Mauna Loa. It’s time to train for peace not war if we are going to survive as a species. Instead of approving HAMET, demand military clean up, cancel the military leases at PTA, and recommend the military drunks (Governor Abercrombie included) go to 12 step Rehab!
Aloha!
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Jim Albertini
Malu ‘Aina Center for Non-violent Education & Action
P.O.Box AB
Kurtistown, Hawai’i 96760
phone: 808-966-7622
email: JA@interpac.net
Visit us on the web at: www.malu-aina.org
