Army to resume training at Makua Valley

By Mike Gordon
Advertiser Staff Writer

With the nation preparing for war, the Army yesterday reached an unexpected out-of-court settlement with Leeward Coast environmentalists that will allow Schofield Barracks soldiers to resume live-fire training in Makua Valley sometime within the next few weeks.

The Army has not used the valley since September 1998, when it voluntarily suspended training after several fires were started by munitions. The valley is home to endangered species of flora and fauna. Bruce Asato • The Honolulu Advertiser

In exchange for the detailed study, which is something the community has long sought, the Army will be allowed to conduct 37 live-fire training exercises over the same period.

Community representatives will be able to observe the training, inspect the valley afterward for damage to cultural sites and have access every month to those sites.

The Army also agreed to provide a $50,000 fund that area residents can use to hire independent environmental experts to analyze data included in the impact statement. If the Army does not finish the study in time, training will cease until it is completed.

'Great victory'

Both sides hailed the agreement as a good compromise, although members of Malama Makua and their attorneys with the Earthjustice Legal Defense Fund said they still preferred that training cease altogether.

It was clear that the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks on the United States were a contributing factor for everyone involved.

Maj. Gen. James Dubik, commander of the 25th Infantry Division (Light), said, "Our need to train in Makua Valley is urgent and immediate." Earthjustice attorney David Henkin, right, said, "We have decided, in this time of crisis, not to stand in the way of the Army." Bruce Asato • The Honolulu Advertiser

President Bush's recent call for military readiness came as officers at Schofield Barracks repeated complaints that their troops were not prepared for combat because they had not been able to use Makua Valley for three years. Those fears were echoed yesterday as the Army announced the settlement at Schofield Barracks.

"Our president gave the U.S. military a two-word order: 'Be ready,''' said Maj. Gen. James Dubik, commander of the 25th Infantry Division (Light) and U.S. Army, Hawai'i. "Our need to train in Makua Valley is urgent and immediate."

Seven of the nine rifle companies in the division's 2nd Brigade Combat Team — the brigade in his division that would be the first to deploy for a war against terrorism — have been unable to conduct live-fire training, he said. These are troops whose bags are already packed and who are ready to leave "at a moment's notice," he said.

"This agreement represents a balance between our moral obligation to America's soldiers to be combat ready by conducting tough, realistic training and our obligation to conduct that training in a way that protects the environment and cultural heritage of the state that is our home," Dubik said.

Fires threaten species

Military commanders have used the 4,190-acre valley since World War II. It has been bombed by air, shelled from the sea and attacked by ground troops moving through its dry, rolling terrain.

But the Army has not used the valley since September 1998, when it voluntarily suspended training after several fires were started by munitions that fell outside earmarked areas. In the previous 10 years, exercises had started 270 fires in the valley, wreaking havoc on endangered plants and animals.

The U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service evaluated the effects of training in the valley and training was to resume in November 1999.

But that was pre-empted by a federal court settlement on an earlier lawsuit filed on behalf of Malama Makua by Earthjustice. In that settlement, all parties agreed that training would not resume until the valley had been studied, but there was no agreement on what kind of study would be done.

The Army chose to conduct a less extensive environmental assessment, concluding last December that training would not significantly impact the valley.

That conclusion angered the community and prompted Earthjustice to file the federal lawsuit it settled yesterday in the hopes it could legally force the Army to conduct a more detailed environmental impact statement.

Sparky Rodrigues, a board member of Malama Makua, said the community has always wanted to play a role in shaping the questions and studies that would examine possible environmental harm being done to the valley through the use of live ammunition.

"The goal was to get information," he said yesterday outside the gates of the valley training range. "From the beginning, the goal wasn't to get the military out. It was to get the community information."

William Aila Jr., whose family has historical ties to the valley, said he was pleased with the agreement.

"At the end of this period we will be able to say if the water is fit or not to drink and if the land is safe to stay on or not," he said.

Official approval

The settlement must still formally be signed by U.S. District Judge Susan Oki Mollway, said Henkin, the Earthjustice attorney. He said the settlement was approved by commanders at the Pentagon and the U.S. Justice Department.

He said the settlement gives the community several things a court victory would not. The Army must conduct air, soil and groundwater studies to detect pollution and whether it is somehow migrating away from Makua Valley. The Army must also clear unexploded ordnance for 3,300 feet mauka of Farrington Highway.

And in preparations for training exercises, the Army must now transport by air, whenever possible, all explosives, grenades, mines, artillery rounds and mortar rounds.

"This is an amazing concession from them and we appreciate it," Henkin said. "If these things blew up, they would send fragments in a quarter-mile radius from any vehicle."

Reach Mike Gordon at mgordon@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8012.