Four petitioners argued that the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) should force the Army to clean up depleted uranium (DU) contamination in Hawai’i, acccording to the Hawaii Tribune Herald. According the the article, the Army admitted it had “no way of knowing how many rounds of depleted uranium were fired at Pohakuloa Training Area and that at least 714 rounds were shipped to Hawaii in the past.” But they Army, with concurrence from the NRC, argued that the petitioners did not have standing to bring a challenge to the license.
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Testimony heard on DU request
by Peter Sur
Tribune-Herald Staff Writer
Published: Thursday, January 14, 2010 7:09 AM HST
Group wants Army to clean up contamination
Four people urged a panel of judges to force the Army to clean up its depleted uranium-contaminated lands Wednesday.
During the videoconference hearing, which lasted more than five hours, an Army attorney acknowledged that there was no way of knowing how many rounds of depleted uranium were fired at Pohakuloa Training Area and that at least 714 rounds were shipped to Hawaii in the past.
But the Army also challenged the petitioners’ standing, or right to bring a complaint, and said that even if they did have standing they did not have any admissible complaints.
http://www.hawaiitribune-herald.com/articles/2010/01/14/local_news//local02.txt
Testimony heard on DU request
by Peter Sur
Tribune-Herald Staff Writer
Published: Thursday, January 14, 2010 7:09 AM HST
Group wants Army to clean up contamination
Four people urged a panel of judges to force the Army to clean up its depleted uranium-contaminated lands Wednesday.
During the videoconference hearing, which lasted more than five hours, an Army attorney acknowledged that there was no way of knowing how many rounds of depleted uranium were fired at Pohakuloa Training Area and that at least 714 rounds were shipped to Hawaii in the past.
But the Army also challenged the petitioners’ standing, or right to bring a complaint, and said that even if they did have standing they did not have any admissible complaints.
The Army’s position was shared by attorneys for the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, to the dismay of the petitioners.
The Army on Nov. 6, 2008, applied before the NRC for a license to possess and manage depleted uranium at nine -military installations, including Pohakuloa and Oahu’s Schofield Barracks.
Jim Albertini, Cory Harden, Isaac Harp and Luwella Leonardi are opposing the license. They contend that the weak radioactive material left over after enriched uranium is removed is toxic and harmful to humans when vaporized and inhaled.
The Army has said the DU impact zones are in restricted areas and are not a threat to the public. The three-judge Licensing Board heard arguments from the petitioners, the Army and the NRC.
In the 1960s, spotting rounds containing depleted uranium were shipped to Hawaii so troops could practice with the Davy Crockett Recoilless Rifle. The gun was designed to fire a small nuclear warhead against ground troops. The DU was later rediscovered at Schofield, and in 2007 at Pohakuloa.
Wednesday, the petitioners gathered in a small room on the third floor of the University of Hawaii at Hilo’s Mookini Library to argue their cases. They spoke by videoconference to the judges and attorneys for the Army and the NRC, who gathered in Rockville, Md.
About 10 people, friends of Albertini and Harden, watched the proceedings from a television set up just outside the room. The connection dropped several times.
Speaking first, Harden asked the Army to do a thorough search for “forgotten radioactive hazards” and said only 1,000 acres of the 51,000-acre impact area at Pohakuloa was adequately searched.
“If the military has nothing to hide,” said Albertini, a peace activist, “prove it by transparency which at present is terribly lacking.”
Harp and Leonardi both spoke of their heritage as Native Hawaiians. Leonardi lives in Waianae, Oahu, and discussed the situation at Schofield Barracks.