Sides argue risk of Makua exercise

By David Waite
Advertiser Courts Writer

The federal government and the Marine Corps can't guarantee that a live-fire training exercise planned for next week in Makua Valley on the Wai'anae Coast won't harm plants or animals that are in danger of becoming extinct, the lawyer for a group of activists trying to prevent the exercise said yesterday.

But a panel of attorneys representing various federal agencies told U.S. District Judge Susan Mollway that a written agreement in 2001 between the military and the activists allows the use of mortars and shoulder-fired rockets proposed for the exercise, which will involve fewer than 30 troops.

Mollway said she will rule on the matter before the exercise is set to begin Monday, but did not say specifically when she intends to rule.

Earthjustice attorney David Henkin, who represents the activist group Malama Makua in its bid to block the training exercise, told Mollway that while the number of Marines the exercise calls for is smaller than other groups that are allowed to train in the valley, they are supposed to fire off 110 60-mm mortar rounds, nearly three times the number of live munitions used in previous exercises.

Henkin said plans for the proposed exercise show that the mortars will be set off from areas other than those used for past exercises and that "human error" could lead to some of the mortar shells landing beyond "fire break" roads in the valley, setting off brushfires that could be devastating to endangered species and cultural sites in the valley.

The government attorneys argued, however, that the exercise will take place at a time when conditions in the valley are moist because of a recent series of heavy rains, minimizing the fire risk. They said the Marines who are scheduled to take part in the training exercise are part of a "rapid deployment group" that has a small "window of opportunity" to undergo the training before being sent to Okinawa.

Twenty-one training exercises during the past three years went off "without a hitch," the government attorneys said.

The valley is home to 45 endangered plants and animals and 100 archaeological features.

A controlled burn undertaken by the Army last year got out of control, scorching 2,500 acres.

The last time the Marines trained in Makua, in September 1998, a misfired mortar shell started a brushfire that consumed about 800 acres.

Reach David Waite at 525-8030 or dwaite@honoluluadvertiser.com.