Posted on: Wednesday, April 10, 2002

Army gathers views on Makua

By William Cole
Advertiser Military Writer

NANAKULI — The Army held a public "scoping" meeting last night in a one-third full cafeteria at Nanakuli High School as it prepares to conduct an environmental impact statement for live-fire training in Makua Valley.

Some 76 people had signed in and 28 sought to speak at the meeting, where traditional Hawaiian ties to the land, Hawaiian sovereignty and the cumulative environmental effects of more than a half-century of military use of the 4,198-acre valley were raised as issues.

"The land is our parent — something inseparable from who we are," said Momi Kamahele, who lives in Wai'anae Valley Homestead.

The Army said that the primary purpose of preparing an impact statement is to "identify all of the possible positive and negative impacts on the environment, and evaluate how the negative impacts can be avoided or reduced."

Wai'anae activist Frenchy DeSoto said the community "has been the victim of environmental terrorism for decades."

Landfills on the coast have asbestos, DeSoto said, and a sewage treatment plant is "smack in Wai'anae community."

Kyle Kajihiro, program director for the American Friends of Service Committee, said the organization supports the "long-standing demands of the community that the bombing stop and the land be returned to displaced families" and the stewardship of the community at large.

Not all of the speakers came out against continued training in the valley.

Albert Silva of Wai'anae said the Army has done a "wonderful" job in Makua. "They have identified all of the sacred places," he said.

Bud Ebel of Makaha, who was wearing a "Proud to Be American" button, called objections to training a "vicious extortion of the Army for the economic benefit of a few sovereignty proponents."

A second meeting to gather viewpoints from within the community is scheduled for Saturday in Wai'anae.