Honolulu
Star-Advertiser Column:
Public deserves to be
heard on West Loch ordnance facility
I urge at least a one-month extension (from
Sept. 8 until Oct. 8) for public comments on the draft environmental assessment
(EA) for the U.S. Army West Loch Ordnance Facilities at Joint Base Pearl
Harbor-Hickam. Given COVID-19 restrictions and the fact there have been no
public hearings or meetings to discuss this matter, there needs to be more time
for the community to respond to this potentially dangerous munitions proposal.
For background: I trust many are unaware
that in the late 1970s the Navy was planning to build a major nuclear weapons
storage and maintenance facility at West Loch, and similar to today, was NOT
planning to do a full environmental impact statement (EIS). Only an EA — and of
course, the Navy “would neither confirm nor deny” the presence of nuclear
weapons.
The Navy was planning to close the Waikele
nuclear weapons storage depot in Central Oahu’s Kipapa Gulch due to encroaching
urban development. I and others did a lot of research about security
requirements for nuclear weapons storage areas — specific signage, double
fencing, lighting, etc. We even photographed (from public accessible areas)
nuclear weapons being transported via helicopter from Waikele to West Loch —
the specific containers distinctive for nuclear weapons.
A lot of this info is in the book, “The
Dark Side of Paradise — Hawaii in a Nuclear World,” I co-authored and is in
Hawaii libraries. Long story short: Catholic Action of Hawaii, which I
coordinated, filed a federal lawsuit to require an EIS. The case was dismissed
at the federal court level, but we won at the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals. The
court ruled the military could do a hypothetical EIS about the possibilities of
accidents, sabotage, terrorist attacks, air crashes into the storage site,
etc., to get around the “neither confirm nor deny” policy. The military
appealed, and the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in 1983 that military national security
nuclear weapons secrecy trumps all. No need to do even a hypothetical EIS about
the dangers of nuclear weapons being stored in Hawaii.
The result: 48 nuclear weapons storage
bunkers plus nuclear weapon maintenance buildings were built at West Loch.
Have times changed or remained the same? Do
people have a right to know about the dangers of military weapons stored in our
backyards?
We all need to be reminded of the second
Pearl Harbor event, at West Loch in May of 1944 — Hawaii’s second-greatest
disaster. An accidental explosion of munitions killed and wounded more than 500
at West Loch. Today the area around West Loch has seen major civilian growth
and population build-up — Pearl City, Waipahu, Ewa, Ewa Beach, Kapolei, etc.
The munitions depot at West Loch has gone
through multiple expansions since WWII. The power of the munitions has also
increased tremendously. Today both the Army and Navy are planning munition
depot expansion there: The Army is planning 35 storage magazines and a range of
support structures covering over 50 acres; the Navy is planning 24 new box
magazines for storage. Both say “no significant impact.” It’s one expansion
after another, each with “no significant impact.”
I thought in a democracy that ultimate
power rests with the people. A government of, by and for the people. Yet if
citizens are kept in the dark about matters for their own defense, who is
really wielding ultimate power? Are we really being defended or endangered by
these weapons of war in our backyards? Don’t we have a right to be better
informed on these matters, ask questions in public hearings, and have a voice
in the decision making process? Shouldn’t a comprehensive EIS be done on all
the West Loch munitions and how this might impact the lives of people who live in
the surrounding area?
Jim Albertini is founder of the
Malu ‘Aina Center for Nonviolent Education & Action in Kurtistown (www.malu-aina.org).
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Jim Albertini Malu 'Aina Center For Non-violent Education & Action P.O. Box
489 Ola'a (Kurtistown) Hawai'i 96760 Phone 808-966-7622 Email ja@malu-aina.org Visit us on the web
at www.malu-aina.org
