Army plan to expand Big Island training site criticized

By Kevin Dayton
Advertiser Big Island Bureau

HILO, Hawai'i — Army plans to expand the Pohakuloa Training Area by about 23,000 acres to accommodate a proposed fast-attack Stryker Brigade met skepticism and suspicion yesterday at a forum sponsored by Global HOPE, the Hawai'i Organization for Peace and the Environment.

Some speakers among the audience of about 75 students and others at the University of Hawai'i-Hilo urged nonviolent protest, lawsuits and demonstrations to try to block the expansion.

The Army came in for criticism for proposing to increase its holdings in Hawai'i when it has not yet cleaned up unexploded shells and other ordnance from training sites that have been shut down.

Deborah J. Ward, a panelist and member of the Sierra Club's conservation committee, said the Big Island alone has more than 50 former military sites, not one of which has been fully cleaned up. She said the military had not done enough to protect plants and wildlife.

"It's time we cleaned up the old sites. There's no excuse for leaving them the way they are," she said. "It's time to get the funding to protect the environment."

Ron Borne, the Army's transformation manager in Hawai'i, said the Pohakuloa Training Area needs to be expanded because the eight-wheeled, 19-ton Stryker vehicles are not designed to travel on the rough lava that covers much of the training area. So the Army made tentative plans to use 23,000 acres at Ke'amuku, west of the training area, which have been used as pasture land by Parker Ranch.

The plan is to use the property for exercises lasting about a month and involving as many as 300 vehicles at a time, three or four times a year, he said.

The 23,000 acres would be used for maneuvers only, not live-fire training, which would require special authorization by the Secretary of Defense, Borne said.

He said he could not comment on cleanup efforts at closed military installations because that generally falls under the responsibility of the Army Corps of Engineers.

The Army plans to spend $293 million for construction and land purchases on the Big Island in connection with the Stryker conversion.

Reach Kevin Dayton at kdayton@honoluluadvertiser.com or (808) 935-3916.