Posted on: Tuesday, February 25, 2003
EDITORIAL
Who's in charge of Kaho'olawe cleanup?
A decade after Congress appropriated $400 million for a cleanup of Kaho'olawe, vast areas of the 28,800-acre former Navy bombing target are riddled with unexploded ordnance.
We know that the Kaho'olawe Island Reserve Commission is set to take over management of the island Nov. 11 and that the Navy is set to "demobilize" from the island next March.
But we're unclear of the Navy or the state's endgame. For example, who's responsible for removing ordnance after the commission's November takeover? And can the Navy really divest itself of liability for this hazard?
We understand that negotiations between the state and the military are ongoing. But the public has a right to know whether Kaho'olawe will ever be safe.
Native Hawaiians and others want access to the island. As it stands, trips to Kaho'olawe are greatly restricted because of the danger involved. State Sen. Cal Kawamoto is concerned about the liability burden, and we can't say we blame him. The cleanup is far from completed.
Navy spokeswoman Lt. Cmdr. Jane Campbell calculates that $380 million has been spent to clear 17,036 acres of surface ordnance. However, the original plan called for a cleanup of the entire island's surface, as well as clearing to a depth of 4 feet nearly one-third of Kaho'olawe.
On an island with so little vegetation, it's easy for rains and other powerful weather forces to shift objects, including bombs. They can roll around and end up in gullies.
The state is supposed to hold the island in trust until a sovereign Native Hawaiian government is formed that would assume permanent control of Kaho'olawe. That's a pretty vague fate when one considers the odds of the Bush administration approving federal recognition for Native Hawaiians.
Meanwhile, the Kaho'olawe Island Reserve Commission has big plans: Once amenities, including an operations center, are built on the island, the commission hopes to use the remaining $25 million in the trust fund to finance a program of educational and cultural visits.
These plans presumably depend on a successful cleanup. At this point, we want some reassurance that Kaho'olawe will not remain indefinitely in an explosive limbo.
