Earthjustice today made good on its promise to take the Army back to court over what it sees as flagrant violations of the Army's 2001 agreement to allow Native Hawaiian groups cultural access to numerous sacred sites in the Makua Military Reservation, located on O'ahu's Wai'anae Coast.

The ecology-minded law firm, which represents Malama Makua among other cultural groups, filed a motion to enforce compliance in U.S. District Court, asking the court to require the Army to fulfill the terms of its 7-year-old settlement agreement. That agreement followed a lawsuit challenging the Army's failure to complete a required environmental impact statement for training at Makua Valley.

An attorney for Earthjustice said today that instead of opening up access to the valley, the Army has, since 2005, severely restricted cultural access, citing safety concerns as the reason. Earthjustice contends the safety restrictions have been concocted to get around the settlement decree in order to eliminate nearly all cultural access.

The Army has previously said it provides access to the valley that is consistent with the 2001 agreement as well as federal laws and safety concerns. An Army spokesperson said today that the military is aware of the latest Earthjustice action and is taking it under advisement.