Depleted Uranium Contamination by Strykers in Hawaii
Cathy Garger 28 Sep 2007 13:44 GMTThe US Military has been using its vast array and assortment of weapons - some of which include bombs, missiles, DU, white phosphorous, nerve gas, and other toxic and radiological contaminants on almost all of the Hawaiian Islands. Here is how to stop the Stryker Brigade's further destruction of Hawaiian Paradise.
Buchanan sunk for fun by 5 Nations' Navies off Kuai Island, Hawaii
I am a writer, public speaker and activist focused on the issue of Uranium munitions use inside the United States. I request wide distribution of this article and the important links below it in order that Americans - and the rest of the world - can finally learn about the rampant poisoning of the Hawaiian people, their wildlife, and their environment. The US Military's impact upon Hawaiians' public health, culture, basic subsistence, and way of life has been destructive beyond measure.
Who ever knew that the US has been using its vast array and assortment of weapons - some of which include bombs, missiles, DU, white phosphorous, nerve gas, and other toxic and radiological contaminants on almost all of the Hawaiian Islands?
The US military first set up camp in Hawaii as far back as 1898. What most Americans probably do not know (a convenient little tidbit that the US public school system conveniently leaves out) is that Hawaii was a monarchy until 1893, when Queen Lili`uokalani was forced by the US Military to surrender her Hawaiian
kingdom in order to avoid the bloodshed of her people. The US "annexed" Hawaii in 1900 and soon after in 1902 started dredging the reef in order to build Pearl Harbor.
Do the 7 million tourists who visit Hawaii annually know about any of this? And what about all the rest of us who dream of one day vacationing in tropical Hawaiian Paradise? The militarization and contamination of the Hawaiian Islands and surrounding Pacific Ocean has been most successfully hidden from public awareness by the complicit US mainstream media. Isn't it high time that the world learns of this? Who is going to tell them if we do not?
Please see information below this article to learn more about the DU-firing Stryker Brigade, the contamination of the Hawaiian Islands, and how to submit your public comment prior to October 30.
Mahalo! I appreciate your forwarding this onward!
Cathy Garger
www.mytown.ca/garger
Stryker Brigade meeting
Depleted uranium, cultural sites top resident concerns
by Erin Miller
West Hawaii Today 
emiller@westhawaiitoday.com
Thursday, September 27, 2007 8:46 AM HST
Dennis Spain, of Waimea, addresses the audience during a public meeting to discuss the EIS for the permanent stationing of the 2/25th Stryker Brigade Combat Team in Hawaii. - Bill Adams | special to West Hawaii Today
The dangers of depleted uranium, infringement on culturally significant sites and environmental worries topped the concerns about the possibility of permanently stationing the U.S. Army's 2/25th Stryker Brigade Combat Team in Hawaii.
"What is it about the word 'no' that you do not understand?" Kona resident Barbara Moore asked military officials Wednesday night, adding that residents have previously spoken out against stationing the brigade in the state. "I understand that numerous passionate people have eloquently implored you to stop using Strykers here or anywhere. What did you hear when these people spoke? We see no need for the Strykers at all anywhere."
About 30 community members attended the meeting at Waimea Community Center to discuss the draft environmental impact statement for the permanent stationing of the Stryker Brigade. In addition to Hawaii, Army officials are considering Alaska and Colorado as possible locations, after whittling down the list during an earlier round of public meetings.
If Hawaii is selected, soldiers assigned to the Stryker Brigade will be stationed on Oahu, and they and the Stryker tanks will come to the Pohakuloa Training Area on the Big Island for training.
Many attendees accused the Army and the team that put together the EIS of ignoring citizens' concerns and purposely withholding information about the use of weapons containing depleted uranium.
"There's a quality to the truth that you can sense," Kapaau resident Krisztina Samu said. "It's like silk versus polyester. Fancy slides (about the draft EIS) don't turn polyester into silk."
Shannon Rudolph, who has been active in measuring radiation levels in West Hawaii and has frequently voiced concerns about the use of weapons with depleted uranium, said the use of Stryker tanks in the Pohakuloa Training Area on Mauna Kea would stir up dust possibly carrying depleted uranium particles.
"That wind, it picks it up on the wind and travels," Rudolph said. "There haven't been that many studies done about DU because no one wants to know. We know that radiation is bad."
The Army confirmed recently that at least one weapons system containing depleted uranium was used during training at Pohakuloa.
Several speakers recounted Hawaii's history, talking about Hawaiian sovereignty and challenging the authority of the United States to be in the state and station the brigade here.
"The tyranny, oppression and the genocide has long proceeded what is here with us today," Waimea resident Liliuokalani Ross said. "But you still carry it with you, the Stryker force, the United States is here to quash the life of the living spirit of the Hawaii Kingdom."
Ralph Roland, of Ocean View, submitted written testimony about the cultural significance of Mauna Kea to Hawaiians.
"It is only through ignorance or total disregard that anyone would propose violating the holy of holies of another culture's beliefs," Roland said.
Bringing the brigade to Hawaii Island will have a significant impact, Waimea resident Angela Longo said.
"If we put the Stryker Brigade here, we attract war," she said. "We don't want that here. Why would you put it amidst a peaceful environment. None of us want it, so what's the question?"
Comments made at the public meetings will be included and addressed in the final EIS, which is expected to be complete by the end of December. Once that statement is issued, Army officials are expected to announce their selection for the brigade's permanent home a few months after that, possibly in February.
The 2/25th brigade faces a possible deployment sometime yet this year and would need its permanent situation resolved by the end of 2008.
Army officials have three more public meetings planned in Hawaii, all on Oahu. The public comment period remains open through Oct. 30. Additional comments may be made by calling (410) 436-2556, by faxing written comments to (410) 436-1693 or by e-mailing to PublicComments@aec.apgea.army.mil. 
http://www.westhawaiitoday.com/articles/2007/09/27/local/local01.txt
To submit your comment about the Stryker Brigade:
To request more information or send written comments, contact Public Affairs Office, US Army Environmental Command, Building E4460, 5179 Hoadley Road, Attention: IMAE-PA, Aberdeen Proving Ground, MD 21010-5401, telephone: (410) 436-2556, facsimile: (410) 436-1693, e-mail: PublicComments@aec.apgea.army.mil
To learn more about the US military's desired permanent placement of the 2/25th Stryker Brigade Combat Team and the continued further destruction of Hawaii: http://www.sbct-seis.org/
Map that shows the locations where the US military has contaminated the Hawaiian Islands: http://www.nohohewa.com/map/
To learn more about militarization, the Stryker Brigade, and the radiological contamination of Hawaii:
http://www.dmzhawaii.org/
and http://www.protecthawaii.ws/
and http://islandbreath.blogspot.com/search/label/MILITARY
and
"Thanks but no tanks -- Stryker draft EIS ready for comment"
www.bigislandweekly.com/articles/2007/09/19/read/news/news03.txt
U.S. Army Contaminates Hawaii Island with Depleted Uranium!
Lindafaye Kroll RN BSN 28.Sep.2007 17:18
The Stryker Brigade SEIS www.sbct-seis.org/ published July 2007 chapter 3 page 7 states: “Forty-five separate locations showed Gamma (radiation) levels higher than background (radiation)”. This military admission proves Schofield Barracks is contaminated with uranium products. I seriously doubt that these 45 contaminated areas were caused by DU spotting rounds and that in fact they are caused because U.S Army is using uranium products in live-fire training in Hawaii.
One uranium product fired as a weapon becomes trillions of tiny ballistic uranium particles and emits alpha, beta and gamma radiation. Gamma radiation can penetrate anything outside the body. Alpha radiation outside the body does not pose much of a public health risk. However alpha radiation inside the body has devastating health effects and the military knows it. Every military uranium product gives off a little gamma radiation and Schofield Barracks has 45 different sites of elevated gamma radiation contamination above background radiation. The U.S. Army admitted in August 2007 that Pohakuloa is also contaminated with radioactive depleted uranium. And the U.S. military wants to increase that contamination by locating the Stryker Brigade here?
Military actions prove you are in violation of your own regulations. All elevated radioactivity above background radiation on the artillery ranges is because the military put the radioactive material there! A “prescribed burn” was used to discover these 45 different elevated gamma radiation sites. The U.S. military violates Army Regulation 700-48, section 2-4, point 2 and 3 requires that: “Procedures to minimize the spread of radioactivity will be implemented as soon as possible and radioactive material and waste will not be locally disposed of through burial, submersion, incineration, destruction in place, or abandonment".
The U.S. military now has no choice except to relocate the Stryker Brigade away from Hawaii; close all military live-fire training ranges because of radioactive material contamination, begin comprehensive clean-up and remediate our sacred islands.
I charge U.S. military officers in Hawai’i with “dereliction of duty”. Remember the sworn oath to protect us! Who is going to protect us from the U.S. military! People are that’s who. Please help us protect Hawai’i by writing to the U.S. Army before October 30, 2007 (at the email address sited in the title) No Stryker Brigade in Hawai’i!
Lindafaye Kroll RN BSN
Kea’au, Hawai’i
Protect Hawai’i and Kahu O Kahiko
www.protecthawaii.ws
U.S. Army Lies about Contaminating Paradise!
Shannon Rudolph 28.Sep.2007 17:52
Public comment to U.S. Army SEIS deadline Oct. 30, 2007
Email to:
Living downwind from Pohakuloa Training Area have my community and myself very worried about airborne depleted uranium being stirred up by Strykers, other vehicles, and training activities on our mountain. As you know, Army testing is going on now to find out the extent of this deadly contamination here and at Schofield Barracks.
I am very angry that the Army repeatedly lied to state officials and the people of Hawaii, telling us they never used depleted uranium here. Once residents were able to obtain radiation monitors and began recording unusually high "spikes" the Army knew they wouldn't be able to keep this deadly contamination a secret from the public any longer.
I was present at Pohakuloa when residents had radiation monitors turned on; counts per minute remained at or below normal background levels for an hour and a half... until a big gust of wind came up off of the training range. I witnessed the large amount of dust blow over the monitors which made them zoom up to 75cpm, well above background levels. I was very alarmed for all of the 300 people present that day and continue to be.
Because of previous false testimony by the Army, Hawaii residents are fearful they are not getting the full story on depleted uranium contamination of our land and that the Army has gone into damage control mode. I am very worried for troops, workers on the new highway, state park workers, and others who frequent this contaminated area and for those living downwind.
According to Hawaii Public Health cancer maps, the entire Kona Coast, to Naalehu, has the highest cancer rate in the state. We have no polluting industry here that would account for this. Kona Hospital nurses say there has been an alarming increase in cancers, thyroid problems, and diabetes downwind of Pohakuloa; residents are angry and afraid.
Local hunters have reported finding most sheep and goats with tumors that have never been seen before, also a large amount of intact, dead birds near the perimeters of Pohakuloa. The Honolulu Advertiser reports an epidemic of sick, feral cats with leukemia and auto immune system diseases on the west side of our mountain, close to the training range. All are markers for radiation poisoning.
The sane and prudent thing to do is for the Army to be absolutely straight with the public and cease ALL activity at any Hawaiian training range contaminated with depleted uranium, and this should apply to any U.S. training range, anywhere. The Army should start following Army regulations regarding clean up and medical care of the people harmed, here and abroad. (AR 700-48) Some scientists say there is no way to clean up depleted uranium so I don't know what you intend to do about that; hopefully you don't ignore it and just hope it will just go away.
In 2005, the Army reported 828 contaminated sites in Hawaii; adding the 46 new DU sites brings the "reported" total to 874. This total is two years behind and does not include contamination from the Navy. The military is the number one polluter in our state. Hawaii residents are outraged that you treat our land and residents so thoughtlessly. If you were a guest in my home I would have to have you removed, made to pay for the damage you have done, and not be invited again.
It greatly saddens me to know that the very people we pay to protect us have become our greatest nightmare. Shut down all contaminated training ranges now; do your duty to protect the land and people you have harmed, and clean up this toxic mess you have made. This mode of "business as usual" for our military must end; it is not sustainable for the people or the planet and you have to live here, too. Please do your job and save us all; be a hero, clean up your act.
Please help us protect Hawai’i by writing to the U.S. Army before October 30, 2007 (at the email address sited in the title) No Stryker Brigade in Hawai’i!
Reprinted here with permission from Ms. Rudolph
Shannon Rudolph
Holualoa, Hawai’i
Solidarity with
www.protecthawaii.ws
Hawaii Residents say NO to Stryker Invasion!
Barbara Moore 28.Sep.2007 17:57
Public comments may be submitted to U.S. Army by Oct 30, 2007
Email to:
May I ask you what it is about the word NO that you do not understand?
When you asked for our input about Strikers years ago, we told you "NO"--we do not want Strikers on the Hawaiian Islands. Now, as if we did not tell you clearly, you ask us again for our input. Last night in Hilo, I understand that numerous, passionate people, some of who are Hawaiians begging you to not destroy their temples or desecrate their sacred aina, have eloquently implored you to stop using Strikers-here or anywhere.
What did you hear when these Big Island people spoke? The newspaper reported that you understand that you need to "wash” the Strikers carefully when importing them from island to island on your "non-identified military carrier"-the Superferry. You really don't seem to understand that if you listen to what we are saying, there would be no need to wash your Strikers because we see no need for Strikers at all.
As the military gears up to spend enormous amounts of pork-barrel tax payer's dollars on more unwanted Strikers and more trained soldiers to operate these unwanted Strikers to prepare for an ill-conceived, unwarranted, unjust and illegal battle, have you ever stopped to think that this kind of combat is jeopardizing our safety? Gearing up for war, in whatever country our military/industrial complex deems "the enemy of choice” so they can personally continue to line their overstuffed pockets with dollars, despite the cost of human lives, is simply hazardous to our personal health and national security. Reports of military studies show that after “fighting terrorism" in the way our "Commander and Chief" has insisted upon doing since 9/11, Americans are now less safe in the world.
Attacking has done nothing but ruin our reputation in the world and created more enemies! Can you imagine what just a small percentage of those trillions of dollars wasted on this obscene war could have done to promote peace and understanding in the world?
Is it not time, as individuals with brains, for all American citizens to stand up and question our out-of-control, war-bent, alcoholic president? Hawaii hero, Lt. Ehren Watada, was right when he said he could "not follow illegal orders". Every serviceman is required to follow legal orders, protecting us from enemies within and without, and to use common sense to distinguish whether or not an order is right or wrong. We know now, beyond a shadow of a doubt, President Bush lied to all of us regarding our need to go to war against Iraq. Does this fact not bother you and lead you to question the poor judgment of your commander, as well as his sanity and the continued direction of the illegal, un-winnable war he is promoting. Does it not give you pause to think that Bush is now talking seriously of escalating the war, attacking more innocent people (90% of whom are civilians without weapons) in yet another country which also has done nothing to deserve to be indiscriminately destroyed by the hundreds of thousands? I see this as criminal terrorism at its very worst. Strikers and those who brainwashed individual who operate Strikers are simply little pawns in this horrific game of war our President is playing with your lives.
Using Weapons of Mass Destruction is definitely wrong. Strikers use Depleted Uranium, known as DU-a weapon of mass destruction (defined as a weapon that "kills indiscriminately"). Do you not realize that you are jeopardizing your health, the health of your unborn children as well our health and the health of the planet when you play "war games" with WMD? Have you no awareness of the Gulf War Syndrome plaguing your colleagues? Using WMD is against international laws created to protect all of us. Even the United States created laws protecting soldiers from depleted uranium. These laws have been grievously ignored-much to the detriment of soldiers who were instructed to use these weapons-and did so without question.
Every serviceman in the United States military needs to question what is happening with this war that is not supported by 85% of Americans. Just like the Viet Nam war that Secretary of Defense McNamara in recent years admitted was a big mistake, the war with Iraq is wrong and must be stopped--in the same way the war in Viet Nam was stopped-by our soldiers in Iraq, and here in this room tonight, using their conscience to determine that the war is wrong --and individually and collectively deciding to refuse to continue fighting.
Aborting the action before us now, the escalation of Strykers in Hawaii, is one of the ways that we can work together as concerned citizens and aware soldiers, to say NO to this insane and unjust war. Instead, we need to give birth to a new era, where all aggression is dissolved.
Please use your energy to clean-up the DU mess that you finally admitted to having created at Pohakuloa. Do not bring Strykers to our beautiful island, stirring up the DU that is already contaminating our sacred aina, allowing the wind to move it to where we live, downwind.
I implore you to wake up and be men and women of conscience, doing the right thing: eliminate Strikers not only from Hawaii-but from this planet that must become peaceful because war is not a sane alternative that we can tolerate any longer.
I pray that you will search your hearts and souls, using your brains, your integrity, and common sense, knowing that, in order to defend America from terrorism, creating understanding and harmony in our world is the only reasonable action to take.
As Kyle Kajihiro, of American Friends Service said, "Live fire in the Aloha State is inappropriate."
Hawaii, the Aloha State, is the perfect place for this revolution of peace to begin. For your sake as well as ours, PLEASE HEAR US LOUD AND CLEAR when we say NO to Strykers in our paradise.
Please help us protect Hawai’i by writing to the U.S. Army before October 30, 2007 (at the email address sited in the top of the page) No Stryker Brigade in Hawai’i!
reprinted here with Ms. Moore's permission.
Barbara Ann “Kenonilani” Moore
Honaunau-Kona, Hawai’i
www.dragonflyranch.com
In solidarity with
www.protecthawaii.ws