Posted at 3:45 p.m., Monday, July 16, 2001

Court bars live-fire training in Makua

By William Cole
Advertiser Staff Writer

A federal judge today granted a preliminary injunction barring the Army from returning to Makua Valley for live-fire training before Oct. 29.

Community group Malama Makua brought suit in December seeking a full environmental impact analysis of the Army's training in the Wai'anae Coast valley after the Army preliminarily said its exercises had no "significant impact."

Following another round of community meetings, the Army finalized the decision on May 15 and announced training would resume this month or next. There has been no training in the 4,190-acre valley since September 1998 after a series of fires led the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service to evaluate the effects of live ammunition on endangered plants and animals.

"Because Malama Makua raises serious questions going to the merits of this case, and because the balance of hardships tips decidedly in favor of Malama Makua, the court enjoins the Army from conducting live-fire training at (Makua Military Reservation)," said U.S. District Judge Susan Oki Mollway in her order today.

Mollway said the court "will hear motions that may resolve the entire case, one way or the other, on Oct. 29."

An attorney with the Earthjustice Legal Defense Fund representing Malama Makua said at a July 9 hearing that the community group could seek summary judgment on the case within a few months.