Judge considers injunction on training at Makua
By William Cole and Mike Gordon
Advertiser Staff Writers
Bearing ti leaves and a Hawaiian flag, opponents of the Army's plan to resume live-fire training in Makua Valley filled a federal courtroom yesterday in hopes that U.S. District Judge Susan Oki Mollway will halt the use of explosives until a lawsuit can be resolved.
Richard Ambo • The Honolulu Advertiser
The judge, who said she would make a decision on the request for a preliminary injunction "as quickly as possible," questioned what harm would be caused if the Army was prevented from training for another three to four months — the time it might take to decide the merits of the lawsuit.
Opponents of the Army's training exercises at Makua Valley gathered outside federal court before a hearing about the use of the valley. Those who oppose the live-fire exercises in Makua say the endangered species in the valley could be threatened.
"Nobody is arguing military readiness is an unimportant goal," Mollway said. "But here, we have had a suspension of training for close to three years."
Army attorney Col. David Howlett said the detriment is difficult to quantify, but as soldiers rotate through the service without getting the level of live-fire training they need, the impact is cumulative.
"It's going to get worse the longer it goes," Howlett said.
The Army has maintained for months that training in Makua is vital to save lives.
"That is crucial to the Army, to the success of these people," Howlett told Mollway.
Mollway said she would take at least until tomorrow to rule on the request for an injunction.
About 80 people turned out for yesterday's hearing, nearly all part of a group that had chanted on the courthouse steps to support the lawsuit brought against the Army by community group Malama Makua. Many carried ti leaves representing the 34 months Makua "has been at peace," said Dr. Fred Dodge, a member of the group.
Protesters outside the courthouse lofted placards reading, "Free Makua," and "Stop the bombing from Makua to Vieques."
William Aila Jr., whose family owned land in Makua before the military took over, said the Army "ducked and bobbed and weaved a lot" in making an argument yesterday that lacked substance.
"The Army attorney couldn't really argue there would be significant harm (if a preliminary injunction is granted)," Aila said.
But Gov. Ben Cayetano told reporters at his office yesterday he supports the military's use of Makua for training.
"Every meeting that I've had, all of the information that I've had from the Army and what I consider objective sources, indicates to me the Army, and in particular the federal government, has gone to great lengths to address the concerns of some of the people out there," he said.
"If we want to keep the Army in Hawai'i, then we need to continue to make Makua available to the Army."
Malama Makua previously reached an agreement with the Army that there would be no return to live-fire training in the valley until Mollway rules on the request for the preliminary injunction.
The Army halted training in the valley in September 1998 following a series of fires. The halt in training also allowed the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to evaluate the effects of live ammunition on endangered plants and animals. Malama Makua wants the Army to prepare an environmental impact statement, a more comprehensive study than the environmental assessment already performed by the Army, and one that requires greater public participation.
With a May 15 finding of "no significant impact" to training, the Army said it hoped to return to the Pilila'au Range Complex by this month or next, but more recently said it would conduct squad live-fire training exercises "as soon as practical after the court decision."
The Earthjustice Legal Defense Fund, which represents Malama Makua, said fires caused by training in the valley merit an environmental impact statement.
David Henkin, an attorney for Earthjustice, told Mollway the Army could annihilate the valley's 45 endangered species. Henkin said fires easily spread upslope from the training area to where rare species are found, and noted that the Army's own experts have said fires are inevitable and that the Army plan to prevent them is experimental.
Howlett said the Army "rationally" reached its finding of no significant impact to training, which included a Fish and Wildlife opinion that a return to training "is not likely to jeopardize the continued existence" of rare species.
It may take decades to increase populations of some of those species, Howlett said, but in the meantime, the Army is eliminating munitions such as tracers and anti-tank missiles that caused 61 percent of the fires in Makua.
The Army has said it can't afford a six- to 12-month delay in training until the merits of the case are weighed. Henkin, however, said Malama Makua could seek summary judgment within a "couple of months" of the filing of the administrative record in the case.
Advertiser staff writer Robbie Dingeman contributed to this report.
