Tag: Accidents

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Marines Expose an Untold Number of People to Radiation at the Kane’ohe bay sandbar

Autumn.  Low tide. A group of people wading in shallow water in a row dangling line over the water.  Must be oama (baby goatfish) season, right?

Wrong. These guys are not fishing for oama. These men are workers from the state of Hawaii Department of Health absurdly conducting a radiation screening of Ahu o Laka (Kane’ohe Bay sandbar) with radiation monitors hanging over the surface of the water.  The state admits that its radiation monitors are not the right tool for surveying underwater contamination.

Photo: Carroll Cox/ carrollcox.com

Why are they screening for radiation at the popular recreational site?

In March, a Marine Corps helicopter crashed on the sandbar, killing one crew and injuring several others.  What the Marines never reported was that the helicopter components included a radioactive isotope Strontium-90, the same bone-attacking radiological substance spewed over the Pacific by the meltdown at the Fukushima nuclear power plant in Japan.   You see, Strontium-90 is chemically related to Calcium, which it mimics when ingested into the body.   Once inside bone tissue, the nasty little particles of radiation emitted from the decay of the isotope can wreak havoc on tissue, cells, and genes in very close proximity over a sustained period of time.

When another CH-53D Sea Stallion helicopter crashed into a university in Okinawa in 2004, Okinawan public safety crews and media and residents were forcefully excluded from the vicinity of the crash.   Many were concerned that Depleted Uranium often used as counterweights on the rotors were a public health hazard.  However, it appears that depleted uranium is used in the CH-46 Sea Knight helicopter, but only Strontium 90 is used in the CH-53 Sea Stallion.

Environmental investigator and activist Carroll Cox received a tip that radioactive substances were released by the crash and that rescue and salvage workers and public users of the bay may have been exposed to the hazardous material without their knowledge.   He notified state officials, who were  unaware of the public health hazard, as well as the media.  Media reports on the radiation contamination can be read here, here, here and here.

Carroll writes on his blog:

Sources alerted The Carroll Cox Show, that civilian employees within the United States Marine Corps Environmental Department knowingly and intentionally withheld critical information about the presence of the radioactive isotope from the state, the workers at the crash site, and the public. Their actions caused the possible exposure of an untold number of people to radiation as they retrieved parts, looked for clues to the crash, contained leaking fuel, removed the aircraft from the site and assessed environmental impact, because they were working without protective gear.

The civilian support staff made the decision to not tell the workers even though the marine squadron that assigned the helicopter advised them that the aircraft contained IBIS units and they should treat the site as a hazardous waste spill.

Cox sent a series of questions to the Marine Corps and received a canned response. Here’s the correspondence between Cox and Marine Corps Public Affairs Officer Major Crouch:

Questions we asked the Marine Corps:

Did the aircraft contain radioactive materials as part of its cargo? If yes, what was the material and the quantity?

Did the aircraft’s rotors contain deicers or a safety In-flight Blade Inspection System (IBIS)? If yes, how many were there? Were all of the IBIS’s recovered? If yes, when were they recovered?

Were any of the radiated materials recovered and placed in a survival raft at the crash site? Were geiger counters used to recover the IBIS’s? Where were the IBIS’s stored once they were removed from the crash site?

How much strontium-90 is contained in each IBIS unit? Were any of the IBIS units damaged? If yes, what degree of damage was noted? Did any of the strontium -90 get released into the environment? if yes, how much?

Did your agency inform the public, first responders and all recovery personnel that the downed aircraft contained IBIS with strontium-90? If yes when and how was this accomplished? If not, why?

Why did your agency representative, Mr. Randall Hu, not disclose that the IBIS units contained strontium-90 during his appearances on television and other news accounts, and only expressed concerns about the fuel that the craft contained?

Did the location and recovery of the IBIS units cause the Marines to delay the removal of the downed aircraft?

In several news accounts it was reported that “the Marines were to comb the bay looking for any metal scraps and inspect the area for any environmental damage”. Were these Marines wearing the proper safety gear to search and retrieve strontium-90, the IBIS units or other radioactive materials?

What was the final disposition of the IBIS’s or strontium-90?

Is it the opinion of the United States Marine Corps that the presence of strontium-90 aboard aircrafts that have crashed are not an environmental hazard requiring public reporting? If no, why not?

Did your agency meet with management of the Honolulu Fire Department to discuss the failure of your agency to notify them of the presence of strontium-90 aboard the downed aircraft? If yes, please provide a copy of their concerns and the Marine Corps’ response?

Were members of the recovery teams screened for exposure to strontium-90? If yes, when and by whom? If no, why not?

Is the Marine Corps conducting any type of monitoring for the presence of strontium-90 at and around the crash site? If yes, what are the results? If no, why not?

Did The Marine Corps notify the Hawaii State Department of Conservation or other agencies that the downed aircraft was equipped with IBIS’s or other parts containing strontium-90?

If yes, when and how were the each of the agencies notified? Please provide copies of the notification.

———————————————————————————————————————

The answer we received from Major Crouch:

Subject: CARROLL COX SHOW – QUERY RE: CH-53D MISHAP

From: “Crouch Maj Alan F” <alan.crouch@usmc.mil>

Date: Thu, September 01, 2011 4:34 pm

Aloha Mr. Cox, Marine Corps Base Hawaii takes its obligation to protect personnel, the public and the ‘āina very seriously. Our first responsibility after the tragic mishap on March 29 was the rescue of personnel in the downed helicopter. Rescue responders included the Marine Corps Base Hawaii Waterfront Operations, aircraft from the U.S. Coast Guard and Army and the Honolulu Fire Department, as well as another CH-53D from MCAS Kaneohe Bay.

Almost immediately, base personnel placed a floating containment boom around the site to prevent the spread of petroleum fluids. Shortly thereafter, base and squadron personnel, with assistance from Navy, Coast Guard and state personnel, began the process of recovering the remains of the helicopter while an aviation mishap board conducted its investigation.

During the recovery efforts, some aircraft components were found to have a low level of contamination. All materials found to be contaminated were decontaminated or appropriately contained here on base. All personnel involved in the handling of any contaminated material were screened to verify they were not contaminated.

The low levels of radiation previously detected pose no significant health or environmental risk and were not of a reportable quantity. The site on the sand bar where the helicopter rested was inspected both during and after the salvage and recovery of the aircraft as a precautionary measure. No radiological contamination was found at the site.

Regards,

Maj. Alan Crouch Director,

Public Affairs Office

Marine Corps Base Hawaii

(808) 257-8840/-8870

In other words, the Marine Corps dodged nearly all the questions.

But it gets even worse.  The Marines lost the raft containing the radioactive parts.  The raft drifted around Kane’ohe Bay for some time before it was found by residents near the bay:

On Sunday, September 4, after our broadcast we learned the raft used to hold and transport the IBIS units and radioactive waste came lose from its mooring at the crash site, floated around Kaneohe Bay, and ended up by Kamehameha Hwy. A number of citizens came in contact with the raft.

Here are the questions Mr. Cox sent to the Marine Corps about the lost raft:

September 5, 2011

Major Alan Crouch

United States Marine Corps

Dear Major Crouch;

It has been brought to our attention that the life raft used at the site of the US. Marine Corps CH53 helicopter crash on March 29, 2011, broke loose from its mooring and drifted from the crash site to a residential area along Kamehameha Hwy at Kaneohe Bay. It is our understanding that the U.S. Marine Corps used the raft to store and transport radioactive materials containing Strontium-90 from the helicopter. We also learned, and as you have confirmed, the raft containing the radioactive material was transported to the water ops pier at the Kanoehe Bay Marine Corps Base and stored for a period of time. Reportedly it leaked radioactive materials onto the pavement of the pier area, causing some 65 square feet of cement to be excavated. We would like to ask you the following questions regarding the raft:

1. What date did the raft become dislodged from the crash site and the Marines lose custody of the raft?

2. How many days was the raft adrift?

3. How did the marines learn the raft was missing?

4. Did any of the civilians who had the raft in their possession during the time it was adrift remove any of the materials contaminated with radiation or the IBIS components?

5. Did you screen the individuals for radiation contamination? If yes, what were the results?

6. Did the Marine Corps screen the area along Kamehameha Hwy where the raft was recovered from? If yes, what was the level?

7. We have a picture showing a civilian towing the raft by boat. Did you screen that individual for radiation contamination?

8. After the marines retrieved the raft from the civilian did the marines immediately take it the water ops area on the base?

9. Did you notify the surrounding community and the individuals that came in contact with the raft that it contained radioactive Strontium-90?

10. Will there be charges brought against any of the civilians for handling the raft and materials?

11. Did the Marine Corps notify the U.S. Coast Guard, the Dept. of Health, DLNR, or other agencies that the raft was missing for several days? If so, when and to whom was notification made?

I would appreciate it if you would please provide answers to my questions by Thursday, September 8.

Sincerely,

Carroll Cox

He has not yet received an answer. READ THE FULL ACCOUNT ON CARROLLCOX.COM.

Photo: Carroll Cox / carrollcox.com

In the photo above of the downed helicopter, you can see the orange life raft that was used to contain the radioactive IBIS parts.   This raft broke loose some time after this and drifted across Kane’ohe Bay, eventually reaching residential areas along the bay shore.

A contact who lives on the shores of Kane’ohe Bay in Kahalu’u saw the raft adrift while working on a canoe.

This incident underscores the hazards of such intensive military activity in Hawai’i, the inability of the military to manage the risks and the secrecy and lack of honesty of the military when dealing with the public.  To paraphrase our friends in Vieques, Puerto Rico, history does not permit us to trust what the military says.

This incident also highlights why we must stop the proposed expansion of helicopter and Osprey facilities and activities at Mokapu (Kane’ohe Marine base).

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State allows public access on Ahu o Laka sandbar despite radiation leak

Using radiation monitors not designed to scan under water, the state determined that it was safe for the public to access the helicopter crash site in Kane’ohe Bay where radioactive Strontium 90 leaked out. The Honolulu Star Advertiser reports:

The public will be allowed on the sandbar at Kaneohe Bay this holiday weekend despite concerns about low levels of radiation in the area, state Department of Land and Natural Resources Director William Aila said.

Aila made the declaration after officials from the state Health Department’s Indoor and Radiological Health Branch traveled to the sandbar off Heeia Kea Pier and were able to measure only background levels of radiation during a survey of the air from about 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Friday.

Testing was prompted by warnings from environmental watchdog Carroll Cox earlier this week that military officials failed to notify the state or the public about the radiation released when a CH-53D Sea Stallion helicopter crashed March 29 at the edge of the sandbar. One Marine stationed at Marine Corps Base Hawaii was killed and three others were injured in the crash landing.

The Marine Corps denies that it had a duty to inform the state or the public about the release of the radioactive substance:

“The low levels of radiation previously detected pose no significant health or environmental risk and were not of a reportable quantity,” Marine Corps Base Hawaii said. “No radiological contamination was found at the site.”

Yet, as reported in a KHON report, the Marine Corps thought the radiological threat serious enough to remove portions of asphalt on the Marine Corps Base Hawaii Kaneohe that were possibly contaminated by the Strontium 90:

Due to rigorous standards, officials at Marine Corps Base Hawaii carved out asphalt that came into contact with strontium-90 after a raft used to collect the helicopter’s IBIS system was placed on what’s known as the waterfront ops area.

“As a part of the mitigation, approximately 65 square feet of asphalt was removed from an area where contaminated components were temporarily located and isolated,” said Crouch.  “Thorough inspections were done at all aircraft component locations – both during and after recovery and salvage operations – to confirm there was no remaining contamination.”

READ THE FULL HONOLULU STAR ADVERTISER ARTICLE

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Mokoliʻi takes the lives to two soldiers

In the legend of Hiʻiakaikapoliopele, Hiʻiaka kills a monstrous moʻo (lizard/dragon) named Mokoliʻi.  Mokoliʻi island is its tail. As the Honolulu Star Advertiser reports, Mokoliʻi took the lives to two Schofield Barracks soldiers:

2 soldiers drown off Kualoa

A group hits trouble on a return from Chinaman’s Hat

By Gordon Y.K. Pang and Rob Shikina

POSTED: 01:30 a.m. HST, Sep 03, 2011

Two Schofield Barracks soldiers drowned and another soldier was injured Friday afternoon while trying to swim back to Kualoa Regional Park from Mokolii Island.

A group of four apparently walked out to the island, also known as Chinaman’s Hat, during low tide shortly before 1 p.m., said Lt. John Vines of the Honolulu Police Department’s Windward Patrol District. The four were stationed at Schofield Barracks, he said.

“Apparently on their return, when the tide was high, they got caught in higher waters and struggled,” Vines said.

Witnesses said kayakers heard the commotion and helped bring a man, 27, and a woman, 29, out of the water and onto shore where bystanders helped perform cardiopulmonary resuscitation.

The two were then taken to Castle Medical Center, where the man died.

The woman was reported in serious condition, an official with the city Department of Emergency Services said.

Honolulu fire Capt. Terry Seelig said a search for a second man was conducted by firefighters, ocean safety and Coast Guard personnel.

The man, 26, was located by ocean safety personnel about 200 yards from shore. He was pronounced dead at the scene.

A third man, 26, made it to shore without serious injuries. He would not speak to reporters.

READ THE FULL ARTICLE

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Another story about the radiation leak at Marine helicopter crash site

KHON TV carried a story about  the radiation leak at the site of a fatal Marine Corps helicopter crash in Kane’ohe Bay:

Activist concerned about possible radioactive contamination at Kaneohe Sandbar

Reported by: Andrew Pereira
Updated: 8:28 am

KANEOHE- Environmental activist Carroll Cox says a helicopter that crashed onto the Kaneohe Sandbar on the evening of March 29, killing one marine and injuring three others, released radioactive material into the surrounding area.

Cox says he was informed a week-and-a-half ago by military sources that the CH-53D Sea Stallion helicopter contained a device known as an In-flight Blade Inspection System, or IBIS.  Within the device are six half inch pellets that contain the radioactive isotope strontium-90, a known carcinogen with a half life of 29 years that’s easily absorbed by human bones.

“I’m told by sources that some did contaminate, that meant that these capsules were breeched,” Cox said in an interview with Khon2.  “I would like to see an independent entity sample that area.”

Cox believes the popular three acre sandbar should be off-limits ahead of the Labor Day weekend until the state Health Department and the Department of Land and Natural Resources can guarantee the public is not at risk.

“Sacrifice one holiday rather than sacrificing the untold numbers out there that may become exposed,” he said.

DLNR spokeswoman Deborah Ward said testing of the sandbar where the helicopter went down would proceed Friday morning in an effort to reassure the public that all is safe.

“We’ll go out and do an assessment and make a determination later that day,” said Ward.

[…]

LEFT IN THE DARK

In a post accident report obtained by Cox, the Marine Corps notes the release of jet fuel, oil and hydraulic fluid from the downed helicopter, but there’s no mention of strontium-90.

David Henkin, chairman of the Kahaluu Neighborhood Board, said it’s disappointing the military chose to keep the release of radioactive material a secret, even if it posed no risk to the public.

“It’s disappointing that the marines didn’t report that to the community,” said Henkin, a Honolulu attorney.  “We’re about to go into the Labor Day weekend and there’s going to be a lot of families out there; we want to make sure that they’re safe.”

According to Cox, there is no evidence rescue personnel who rushed to the scene of the crash were told about the possibility of encountering radioactive material.

READ THE FULL ARTICLE

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Radioactive strontium leaked into Kaneʻohe Bay from helicopter crash

Brooks Baehr reports on Hawaii News Now that the fatal Marine Corps helicopter crash in Kaneʻohe Bay in March, resulted in radioactive Strontium 90 leaking into the bay. But the Marines never notified anyone, not even the State Department of Health.

Meanwhile, Hawaii News Now reports that a missile defense test failed to hit its target off Kaua’i:

The Pentagon’s Missile Defense Agency says at approximately 3:53 a.m. (HST), a Standard Missile 3 interceptor missile failed to hit its target over the Pacific Ocean.

But the Pentagon is still planning to procure hundreds of these missiles. Bloomberg reports:

The Pentagon plans to buy more than 300 of the SM-3 Block IB missiles over the next five years, at a cost of $12 million to $15 million per missile, Lehner said.

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State to test for radiation at Kaneohe Sandbar


Posted: Sep 01, 2011 6:36 PM 

 

By Brooks Baehr

KANEOHE (HawaiiNewsNow) – A small amount of a radioactive isotope leaked into Kaneohe Bay when a CH 53D helicopter from Marine Corps Base Hawaii crashed onto the Sandbar March 29, 2011 killing a Marine and injuring three others.

A Marine Corps spokesperson told Hawaii News Now there was “none at the site once the aircraft was removed,” but the state wants to make sure. Friday representatives from the state Department of Health and Department of Land and Natural Resources will travel by boat to the Sandbar to measure radiation levels.

Environmental watchdog Carroll Cox made the leak public when he contacted the media Thursday.

“What is most troubling to me in this situation was one, the failure to disclose it, and two, to allow it to continue to occur and progress without disclosing it and subjecting other human beings to this potential danger,” Cox told Hawaii News Now.

The CH 53D is equip with an In-Flight Blade Inspection System (IBIS). A device is attached to each rotor to warn the crew of problems with the blade while in-flight. Each device contains a small amount Strontium 90, a radioactive isotope.

“We don’t know if they recovered all six (IBIS devices) or what quantity they recovered or what was the proper disposal,” Cox said.

The Marine Corps spokesperson Maj. Alan Crouch confirmed there “was some contamination” from the inspection system, but said the radiation was “contained,” and there was “none at the site once the aircraft was removed.”

Cox is not so sure. He faults the military and civilians on base for not disclosing the leak and is asking the Marine Corps, the Department of Health, and the DLNR to investigate.

“I’m inclined to believe that there is still radiation out there, period. And until they give me a clear bill of health that they have gone out with a third party, then I would accept that,” Cox said.

Crouch said the leak was not made public because it was “not at a level to require notification.”

Both the Department of Health and the Department of Land and Natural Resources said Thursday they did not know about the radiation leak until receiving letters from Cox this week.

Copyright 2011 Hawaii News Now. All rights reserved.

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Bringing war to your neighborhood

Bruce Gagnon alerted us to an article in the Jamaica Plan Gazette about secret training activities conducted by U.S. Special Operations Command (USSOCOM) in a Boston neighborhood:

U.S. military commandos practiced raids in the shuttered Agassiz Elementary School last month, including a nighttime helicopter landing on the school’s roof, the Gazette has learned.

The elite special forces training was done without notice to nearby residents. No live ammo or explosives were involved and safety measures were taken, according to military spokesperson Kim Tiscione.

A vaguely worded July 25 press release from the Mayor’s Office announced citywide “military training exercises,” including helicopters, through Aug. 5. In fact, the exercises were top-secret training for the U.S. Special Operations Command (USSOCOM), whose commandos recently killed terrorist Osama bin Laden, Tiscione told the Gazette.

The training was a secret:

USSOCOM did not notify local residents about the training because of its secret nature, Tiscione said. Indeed, she would not even identify what branch of the military she was speaking for until pressed by the Gazette.

“We’re from Special Operations,” Tiscione acknowledged, referring to the umbrella organization of all four military branches’ special forces. “I’m kind of being vague on purpose. It’s more of a challenge for us when people know who we are.”

She said that USSOCOM does not want people recording the training, which is even more of a danger with the special forces’ popularity in the wake of the Bin Laden killing.

Local residents were shocked and frightened:

“It was really scary,” said resident Sara Wermiel, whose house is just feet from the 12 Child St. school and was bombarded by a “sandstorm” kicked up by the chopper.

“It just seems nuts to me,” said Wermiel. “Don’t they have a site where they could do this where they wouldn’t be alarming people and creating a sandstorm?”

According to the article, Boston Mayor’s Office spokesperson Christopher Loh said that “secrecy helps ensure safety by reducing the number of people out watching an operation.”

“I would caution you to make a judgment about safety,” Loh said. “Obviously, this is one of the world’s great fighting forces. They know what they’re doing.”

But the reporter found evidence to the contrary:

Gazette review of international news articles found that, since 2010, there have been at least seven non-combat crashes of U.S. military helicopters. A total of seven troops died in those accidents, at least three of which involved training flights. That includes a training crash just this week in Georgia that killed two special forces aviators.

And in the famous May 1 killing of Bin Laden in Pakistan, one of two helicopters carrying the USSOCOM commandos made a minor crash-landing while entire the raid site, forcing them to abandon the chopper.

A military helicopter was shot down last week in Afghanistan, killing 22 Navy SEAL commandos.

Recent crashes in Hawai’i include the 2009 helicopter crash at Wheeler Army Airfield that killed two pilots and the March 2011 crash of a Marine Corps helicopter in Kane’ohe Bay that killed one Marine and injured three.

But the danger goes beyond the possibility of accidents.  Bruce Gagnon discusses the future threat of these creeping  military operations eventually being used against domestic populations:

Yes, that is it – we’re from “Special Ops”. We can do whatever we want. The message to the American people is – get used to it.

Now, was this military exercise done in the white wealthy section of Boston? No, it was held at 9:00 pm on a summer night when the nearby basketball court was full of young, likely mostly unemployed men, while others were out on the street or sitting on their door steps. This was a warning to poor and working class people. You know it was a poor and working class neighborhood because of the shuttered school. Rich white neighborhoods don’t have closed schools.

This is evidence that USSOCOM is preparing for the coming revolution in America as the economy collapses. They are practicing their “special ops” tactics to land in urban neighborhoods so they can “control” uprisings. But these “exercises” also serve as warnings to the public – they have a chilling effect on those who might ever even think about standing up against the corporate machine.

They acknowledge that USSOCOM is not only holding these “ops” in Boston. They are doing them all across the nation – sending the same warning with each chilling raid in the dark of night. It’s evident that the corporate dominated government sees the people of America as the enemy.

As usual Mr. Big uses the “terrorism thing” to justify their own offensive program of terror that is all about preparing to round up the hostiles to put us on the reservations.

This kind of stuff needs to be identified and denounced while we still can. It’s fascism plain and simple.

This is not far fetched, especially here in Hawai’i.   In the past, the military in Hawai’i conducted training exercises simulating terrorist attacks by Hawaiian sovereignty activists.

Another way war is brought to our neighborhoods is by recreating the war zone.  Several years ago, Afghan Americans were brought from California to Waimanalo to play villagers in a training exercise.

Photo by Cpl. Reece Lodder

This is not Kandahar.  It is a Military Operations in Urban Terrain (MOUT) facility in Lihu’e (Schofield). The caption from the photograph reads:

Marines and a corpsman with Weapons Company, 3rd Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment, balance tending to a mock casualty and responding to the concerns of Afghan role-players during counterinsurgency training at Schofield Barracks, Hawaii, Aug. 2, 2011. Over two weeks, 3/3’s line companies rotated from classes to two-day training evolutions at Schofield’s military operations in urban terrain facility, working through scenarios by practicing patrolling, working vehicle control points and interacting with the role-players. Moving further into their pre-deployment training program, the battalion is preparing for the Mojave Viper exercise at Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center Twentynine Palms, Calif., at the end of August. The month long training event will be their final evaluation before deploying to Afghanistan’s Helmand province in support of Operation Enduring Freedom this fall.
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Stop the helicopter training on Mauna Kea

The Honolulu Star Advertiser article  “Delay in copter-training permit will cost $8 million, Army says” talks about the environmental assessment for army High-Altitude Mountainous Environment Training. (HAMET) for helicopters.  But why is it assumed that the army should naturally be allowed to encroach into ecologically and culturally sensitive areas on Mauna Kea and Mauna Loa to train for an illegal war in Afghanistan?   As Bianka Isaki commented on Facebook, the headline should be “Army stupidly insists on wasting $8m of taxpayer contributions on a project that cannot comply with natural resource use regulations”. Others have pointed out that the Colorado high altitude training area is the proper place to conduct such training.  But the army complains about the cost of having to train in Colorado while completing a state environmental review of the project:

The Army wants to use landing zones on Mauna Kea and Mauna Loa for high-altitude helicopter pilot training. A Black Hawk medevac helicopter from Wheeler Army Airfield was used in April as the Army conducted noise and ground-effects testing on Hawaii island.

The Army, which is completing a third environmental review for high-altitude helicopter training on Hawaii island, said it will have to spend $8 million to conduct most of the training in Colorado because it is running out of time to practice in Hawaii before a January deployment to Afghanistan.

[…]

The Army hopes to get state Land Board approval in September to be able to conduct high-altitude training on six landing zones on Mauna Kea and Mauna Loa in October before it has to ship its nearly 100 helicopters to Afghanistan in November, officials said.

Ninety pilots out of 260 would be trained in Hawaii if the state grants a “right of entry” permit for the conservation district land, according to the Army.

[…]

Opponents say the helicopter training will interfere with critical habitat for endangered species and is an affront to the sacredness of Mauna Kea and Mauna Loa.

The latest draft environmental assessment for the Hawaii island training, released on July 23 and intended to cover both federal and state requirements, has a 30-day public comment period ending Aug. 23.

As expected, the army spokesperson cited the helicopter shot down by Taliban fighters as the need for the training:

Col. Mike Donnelly, a spokesman for U.S. Army Pacific, said the deaths of 30 Americans in a Chinook helicopter crash Saturday in Afghanistan “is a stark reminder of how important training is and the inherent risks of flying a helicopter in a combat zone.”

These troops would not have died, and this training would not be needed if the U.S. were not occupying Afghanistan.

Native Hawaiians are not happy about the military occupying and desecrating Hawaiian sacred sites:

But Hanalei Fergerstrom, a Big Island resident who opposes the Mauna Kea and Mauna Loa training, said that, as a Hawaiian religious practitioner, “I’m not happy with the Army telling me they are going to fly helicopters in my temple.”

The army already controls more than 120,000 acres at Pohakuloa.  Although the army is not acquiring new land, it is effectively extending its activities over a vast areas beyond their existing lands.  Military activities are encroaching on protected areas.  The state correctly required the army to conduct a more thorough state environmental review:

The latest problem faced by the Army in securing a permit stemmed from a state Attorney General opinion — detailed in a June 20 letter from Gov. Neil Abercrombie to Lt. Gen. Francis Wiercinski, head of the Army in the Pacific — that the Army needed to complete a state environmental assessment for the training in addition to the federal studies it already conducted.

Wiercinski said recently that the state Department of Land and Natural Resources couldn’t continue to provide individual special-use permits to the Army as it did in years past. “I understand that, because people will always take you to court on a waiver, and then everything stops,” Wiercinski said. “If you don’t do it right, it just keeps getting messed up.”

The Army now wants flights from Bradshaw Army Airfield at Pohakuloa Training Area to six existing Mauna Kea and Mauna Loa landing zones.

[…]

The Sierra Club’s Moku Loa Group said helicopters will fly over the only designated critical habitant for the endangered palila bird, a finch-billed Hawaiian honeycreeper.

The Army said in its latest report that a 2,000-foot altitude has been established to protect the palila and its habitat from planned operations.

Cory Harden, a Hawaii island Sierra Club board member, said she is sympathetic to the greater cost and time away from families with high-altitude training in Colorado, “but I’m also concerned about the impacts (on Mauna Kea and Mauna Loa).”

“I share the concerns about the endangered species and the impacts to cultural practitioners and hikers,” she said. “That’s a beautiful peaceful place up there, and you have more helicopters going in and out. It destroys it.”

Given the past history of violations of conservation zones by the army, mitigation measures will be meaningless without effective oversight and enforcement.

The army seeks a permit for a Right of Entry via Hawai’i Department of Land and Natural Resources, Division of Forestry and Wildlife Special Use Permit.  Comments are due on August 21, 2011.   See KAHEA posts  here and here for more information.  Send comments to:

United States Army Garrison, Hawai’i (USAG-HI), 851 Wright Avenue, Wheeler Army Airfield, Schofield Barracks, Hawai’i 96857-5000. Contact: Mr. William Rogers (808) 656- 3075

AND

Portage, 1075 S. Utah Ave., Suite 200, Idaho Falls, ID 83402. (208) 419-4176

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Pilot error caused copter crash

An army investigation of a 2009 helicopter crash at Wheeler Army Airfield that killed two pilots concluded that pilot error was the cause.  The Honolulu Star Advertiser reports:

The trouble started within two seconds of the helicopter’s engine drive being disengaged from the rotors — the equivalent of putting a car transmission in neutral — in a test of the chopper’s ability to “autorotate.”

Pilots are trained to use the spinning momentum of the rotor and upward airflow to keep flying.

Instead, the Army OH-58D Kiowa Warrior quickly lost airspeed and plummeted from an altitude of 250 feet, according to an Army investigation. The two-seat chopper crashed at Wheeler Army Airfield, killing the pilots, Stanley Blane Hepfner, 29, and Jonathan Bryce Millward, 28, both chief warrant officers.

The accident investigation, obtained by the Star-Advertiser through the Freedom of Information Act, cites pilot error as the cause. The report says a drop in airspeed, a failure to abort the autorotation and a belated attempt to power back up sent the aircraft into a descent greater than 300 feet per minute into its own downwash.

“The pilots did not correct airspeed to stay within acceptable safety parameters,” the report said.

The Army is currently conducting an environmental assessment for a proposal to conduct helicopter training on Mauna Kea and Mauna Loa.   Comments are due August 21, 2011.  The Hawai’i State Department of Land and Natural Resources is the agency responsible for making the decision about granting a permit for the military training in a protected natural area.

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Helicopter training on Mauna Kea and Mauna Loa, Army-Native Hawaiian convenant and more military housing

The Army wants to conduct helicopter training exercises on Mauna Kea and Mauna Loa.   Jim Albertini of Malu ‘Aina issued the following call to oppose the Army’s High Altitude Mountainous Environment Training (HAMET) on the slopes of the sacred Mauna Kea and Mauna Loa.  The Army had conducted these helicopter training exercises in the past under temporary permits from the state.  Now they are seeking a regular and permanent right of access which would also affect the endangered Palila bird .  Recently, the Army had to move its helicopter training to Colorado, an existing high altitude training area, because the state required the Army to follow the law and complete an environmental review for its proposed actions which did not fit the Army’s schedule.  The Army has previously violated permits and laws by recklessly landing in the protected Mauna Kea Ice Age Reserve and in other locations where it was not allowed to train. The draft environmental assessment is now out and public comments are being accepted until August 21st:

More military training on Hawaii Island for wars of aggression: Speak OUT!

“…no significant direct, indirect, or cumulative impacts on natural resources…” !!! WHO SAYS? The people, plants, animals, the aina, air, water, etc. are all interconnected.  What effects one effects all. The impacts are not just physical, but cultural, psychological, and spiritual. The training proposed is all part of U.S. occupation and what the Nuremberg trials following WWII called the Supreme War crime –waging a war of aggression. We want to stop all these illegal wars.  We do 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).  Justice demands an end to U.S. occupation and the restoration of the Hawaii nation.   And all of this being done on the slopes of the Sacred Mountains.  Akua weeps.

Jim Albertini

> From Hawaii’s OEQC July 23, 2011 “The Envornmental Notice”
> http://oeqc.doh.hawaii.gov/Shared%20Documents/Environmental_Notice/current_issue.pdf
> High Altitude Mountainous Environment Training Draft EA

> Permits:
> Right of Entry via Hawai’i Department of Land and Natural Resources, Division of Forestry and Wildlife Special Use Permit
> Proposing Agency:
> United States Army Garrison, Hawai’i (USAG-HI), 851 Wright Avenue, Wheeler Army Airfield, Schofield Barracks, Hawai’i 96857-5000. Contact: Mr. William Rogers (808) 656- 3075
> Approving Agency:
> Department of Land and Natural Resources Kalanimoku Building, 1151 Punchbowl Street, Honolulu, Hawai’i 96813. Contact: William J. Aila, Jr., (808) 587-0400
> Consultant:
> Portage, 1075 S. Utah Ave., Suite 200, Idaho Falls, ID 83402. (208) 419-4176
> Status: Anticipated Finding of No Significant Impact.
> 30-day comment period begins; comments are due on August 21, 2011.
> Send comments to the Proposing Agency and the Consultant
> The proposed action is to provide 90 helicopter pilots and crew 180 hours of high altitude training in October 2011 in preparation for deployment to Afghanistan to satisfy mandatory annual training requirements. The Army’s preferred alternative consists of flying to, hovering, and touch and go landings at three (3) landing zones (LZs) located on the slopes of Mauna Kea and three (3) LZs located on the slopes of Mauna Loa. Aircraft landing in the LZs would not be picking up or dropping off troops or supplies. Aircraft will be spending a minimal amount of time in the LZ areas, and ground time should not exceed 10 minutes per landing.
>
> Familiarity with this specialized high altitude environment is critical to save the lives of our 25th Combat Aviation Brigade aircrews and the Soldiers they transport when operating in support of Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan.
Based on careful review of the analysis and conservation measures set forth in the EA and consideration of public comments received to date, implementing the Preferred Alternative would result in no significant direct, indirect, or cumulative impacts on natural resources, cultural resources, water resources, recreational resources and other resources assessed in the EA. Implementing the Preferred Alternative is not a major federal or state action that would significantly impact the quality of the environment.

Meanwhile, the Army seems to be digging in for a longer stay.  In a press release “Native Hawaiian Covenant promotes partnerships”, the Army describes how it is spending a lot of money to cultivate a stable of Native Hawaiian “leaders” to support the military mission in Hawai’i and counter the opponents of military activities.   The Native Hawaiian liaison office functions as a cross between glorified hospitality program and counter insurgency asset:

Through the covenant, Army civilians and Soldiers new to the islands now receive an informative briefing on the Native Hawaiian people, history and culture. This critical information gives Army individuals an opportunity to learn the culture of the community around them and be sensitive to its customs.

In addition, Native Hawaiian cultural practitioners lead free Hawaiian workshops for those interested in learning about the different aspects of Hawaiian culture. Featured workshops include hula, ukulele, lei-making, Hawaiian legends, Hawaiian language, Hawaiian healing plants and coconut weaving.

“Positive responses from Soldiers and their families have been received through these briefings and workshops we offer,” said Annelle Amaral, Native Hawaiian liaison, USAG-HI. “We have found that it not only teaches the culture, but it provides an opportunity to spend time with their families and meet new friends. To be a part of this has been truly rewarding.”

A monthly “Ho olauna” bulletin is a resource for interested Army individuals, containing Hawaiian history, a featured Hawaiian word, upcoming Hawaiian events, happenings around town, a featured dining spot and volunteer opportunities. This resource keeps readers informed and offers opportunities for them to experience life outside the Army bases.

The program is also actively constructing its own list of “approved” Native Hawaiians that can be consulted to meet various federal requirements:

Through the covenant, the Army’s cultural and natural resources representatives are leading tours of the Kahuku Training Area and Makua Military Reservation for surrounding community members.

The program is even appropriating Kanaka Maoli concepts and mining the wisdom and reputation of elders to lend support to the military’s mission:

“Right now, we’re working on a ‘hanai’ concept, where we bring our young Army families and our elderly Hawaiian aunties and uncles together for a ‘talk-story’ session. This will fill the gap for one group (of people) who miss their families, and the other group (of people) who miss the opportunity to share life-lessons they’ve learned.” 

Apparently, military personnel stationed in Hawai’i are not getting the message about malama ‘aina.   Recently, fishermen and cultural practitioners at Ka’ena Point documented drunken and destructive military offroading.    As previously reported on this site, this is a recurring problem.   We recently did an ‘Olelo television program on the problem of military off-roading and the efforts to protect Ka’ena.

Military construction is also booming.  Lend Lease company recently won an extension of its contract to construct, refurbish and manage thousands of homes for military personnel.

Lend Lease has secured approval from the US Department of the Army for a US$168m (£103m) change to the scope of its Island Palm Communities project in Hawaii.

Lend Lease will now build more larger homes than previously planned, reflecting the changing needs of military service members and their families.

Island Palm Communities, a partnership between Lend Lease and the Army, is the largest residential privatisation project ever awarded by the US Army. The partnership will develop, design and construct 5,241 new homes, renovate 2,515 existing homes, and provide property and maintenance management services through to 2054.

Lend Lease group chief executive officer and managing director Steve McCann said that the increased work scope reflected Lend Lease’s collaborative working relationship with the US Army. “We continue to work very closely with our long term partner to bring quality homes to US Army service members and their families,” he said.

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Raptor wings clipped after Alaska crash

Here is another military expansion project in Hawai’i.   Senator Inouye’s strategy has been to pack as much construction and long-term capital improvements into the military budget for Hawai’i as a way to prolong the military’s presence and his influence over the shape of Hawai’i’s future long after he is gone. It’s about his legacy.  The Honolulu Star Advertiser reports:

The F-22 Raptor, the Air Force’s most advanced weapons system, is the only fighter capable of “simultaneously conducting air-to-air and air-to-ground combat missions with near impunity,” maker Lockheed Martin says on its website.

Now, if they could only get off the ground.

The Hawaii Air National Guard and active-duty Air Force showcased the stealth aircraft Friday at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, where a groundbreaking was held for a $37.1 million maintenance hangar and squadron operations facility for the F-22s.

[…]

But an investigation into “hypoxia-like” symptoms — meaning not getting enough oxygen — experienced by some pilots elsewhere has left all Raptors in the Air Force inventory on stand-down since early May with no end to the grounding in sight.

[…]

F-22 improvement projects at Hickam totaling $156 million are expected to be completed through the next four to five years, officials said.

[…]

An Alaska F-22 pilot died in November when he lost control of his jet during training. The jet crashed about 100 miles north of Anchorage.

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