DU Fact sheet and Questions for Military/State DU meetings
Malu `Aina Center For Non-violent
Education & Action
P.O. Box AB
Ola`a (Kurtistown), Hawai`i 96760
808-966-7622
ja@interpac.net
www.malu-aina.org
Panel Members: Representative Cindy Evans, Col. Howard Killian,
Deputy Director, Army Installation Management Command, and Mr. Russ
Takata, DOH, (Noise, Radiation, and Indoor Air Quality Branch)
To discuss the presence of depleted uranium at Pohakuloa Training
Area. Col. Killian will also do a 10 min. updated presentation on the
Stryker and Kawaihae Harbor.
________________________________________________________________
(NEW LOCATION) Friday, November 16, 2007 (Waikoloa Town Meeting) at the
Community Church, across from the elementary school, from 6:30-8:30 PM
Saturday, November 17, 2007 (Puako) at Hokuloa United Church of Christ;
69-1600 Puako Beach Road from 9:00-11:00 AM
Saturday, November 17, 2007 (Kona) at Kealakehe High School Cafeteria
from 1:00-3:00 PM
Sunday, November 18, 2007 (Kawaihae Local Resource Meeting) at the
Waimea Senior Center (next to Post Office) from 2:00-4:00 PM
Questions Contact: Rep Cindy Evans Office @ 974-4000 Ext# 68510
or (587-8510)
RADIATION MONITORING IN HAWAII!
On Monday, August 20, 2007 the U.S. Army confirmed the presence of depleted uranium (DU) at the
Pohakuloa Training Area (PTA) in the center of Hawaii Island.
See http://www.armytimes.com/news/2007/08/ap_hawaiiuranium_070821/ The DU confirmation came
after years of the military denying its presence. Citizen groups kept the pressure on the military and began
doing their own radiation monitoring.
Also see http://www.hawaiitribune-herald.com/articles/2007/08/26/local_news/local03.prt
http://www.hawaiitribune-herald.com/articles/2007/08/26/local_news/local04.prt
DU is primarily U-238, the isotope of uranium that remains after the fissionable isotope, U-235 has been
extracted from natural urarium ore. DU has a half-life of 4.5 billion years. The military has used DU in spotting rounds for the Davy Crockett nuclear weapon system and these spotting rounds have been fired at Schofield Barracks on Oahu and at PTA on Hawaii Island, perhaps other firing ranges in Hawaii and elsewhere too. Other DU spotting rounds may have been fired. Davy Crockett was just one of approximately 60 different kinds of U.S. nuclear weapons in the U.S. arsenal Training with a wide range of weapon systems has taken place at PTA and other live-fire areas throughout Hawaii. The Davy Crockett may just be the tip of a much larger radiation nightmare for Hawaii residents and visitors alike The military says it has no records on the issue. The U.S. used DU armor and bunker piercing weapons in Iraq, Afghanistan and Kosovo. For more on DU weapons and its hazards See http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article18242.htm
On Tuesday, May 29, 2007 a citizen radiation monitor recorded elevated radiation readings at Mauna Kea State Park adjacent to the military's Pohakuloa Training Area (PTA) in the center of Hawaii Island. The wind on 5/29 blew directly off the live-fire training areas at PTA and dust devils of suspended topsoil were visible in the air. The elevated radiation readings were as high as 75 counts per minute when normal background is 5-20 counts per minute. A number of private citizens are now doing radiation monitoring on Hawaii Island.
CITIZEN ACTION DEMANDS
1. Immediate halt to all live-fire and any activity that creates dust at Schofield Barracks, Pohakuloa and other military ranges in Hawaii until there is a complete assessment and clean up of the DU present. Further live-fire and other activities could result in the spread of airborne DU particles, which are particularly hazardous if inhaled.
2. Citizen monitors, including Dr. Lorrin Pang MD, former attorney, OHA trustee, and nuclear worker Clarence Ku Ching, and Jim Albertini or some other representative from the peace movement to be involved in the DU assessment and monitoring process to assure transparency and community confidence.
3. The establishment of permanent, continuous, high tech monitors (at the Army's expense) but independently operated around range impact area where the real-time data is available to the public
on line.
4. Independent testing (at Army expense) for DU exposure of PTA and other military personnel, and members of the civilian community who feel they may have been exposed to DU. (The U.S. is spending $2 billion a day on the military. There should be funds available to see if citizens are being contaminated by their own radioactive weapons.)
5. Ongoing public balanced informational and Q & A meetings involving the Army, State Dept. of Health, Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), the Center for Disease Control (CDC), Dr. Lorrin Pang, MD, and other community resource people.
Questions for Meetings on Depleted Uranium Nov. 2007
1. Why have you (State & military) refused balanced forums with presenters including Dr. Lorrin Pang, MD, Peace activist Jim Albertini and others?
2. You have downplayed the health hazards of DU. Isn't that misleading the public?
3. Where is the data to support your claims minimizing DU health risks?
4. Did any DU particles on-the-ground become airborne and blow off-base on Oct. 23, 2007 when several 2000-pound bombs were dropped on Pohakuloa (PTA) by B-2 bombers.
5. Disclose all live-fire weapons and number of rounds fired at PTA, and other training there since DU has been confirmed at PTA on Aug. 20, 2007.
6. Isn't it time we start operating on the precautionary principle. Stop all live-fire at PTA for the following reasons: 1. we have a reasonable suspicion of harm from the possible spread of DU particles; 2. there is uncertainty about the full extent and nature of the DU contamination at PTA; 3. we have a duty to take action to prevent harm to human health and the environment; 4 the cause and effect relationships are not fully known and established scientifically concerning DU.
7. Is Army Regulation 700-48 being violated? AR 700-48
2-4 Handling of RCE (radiologically contaminated equipment)
During peacetime or soon as operational risk permits, the Corps/JTF/Division Commander's RSP (Radiation Safety Officer) will identify, segregate, isolate, secure, and label all RCE. Procedures to minimize the spread of radioactivity will be implemented as soon as possible.
8. Is there any use of DU (past, present, and/or planned) and/ or other activities such as Stryker training at Pohakuloa that could result in the spread of aerosolized DU, and/or DU compounds?
9. Summarize the results of research past, present and/or planned on health risks from 1. live munitions exploding on top of DU left on the ground in Hawaii, during forty years of training; 2. vaporized and/or aerosolized DU; 3. DU nanotoxicity. Nanoparticles of a substance may have properties different from those of the original substance, such as becoming toxins or super-catalysts; 4. DU oxides which are insoluble and so are not excreted from the body.
10. Describe past, present, and/or planned use of radioactive substances at PTA.
11. Large areas of PTA and Makua are off-limits because of ICM )Improved Conventional Munitions) which are cluster bombs. Some type of cluster bombs such as ADAM (Area Denial Anti-personnel Mine) contain DU. Is there any use (past, present, and/or planned) at PTA and/or Makua of cluster bombs containing DU
12. The Davy Crockett spotting rounds containing DU used at PTA was one of approximately 60 different nuclear weapons in the U.S. nuclear arsenal during the 1960s and 70s. Have other spotting rounds involving other weapon systems been used at PTA that contain DU? News reports (7/4/07 Big Is. Weekly, p.5) said 714 Davy Crockett DU spotting rounds were shipped to Hawaii. How many remain unaccounted for? Where else have DU Davy Crockett spotting rounds been shipped around the U.S. and outside of the U.S? Identify the sites and the numbers shipped.
13. Is the military prepared to provide 24 hour urine tests for DU exposure for military and civilian personnel, and/or private contractors at PTA, Schofield, and civilians around such bases who believe they may have been exposed?
14. Have tree bark, animal droppings, and vehicle air filters been tested for DU presence at PTA?
15. Why did the Army deny the use of DU in Hawaii for years? Why did the Army fail to publicize the 2005 discovery of DU at Schofield until after citizen groups made the facts known?
16. If State incursion on Federal property is illegal how is it the State is involved in ongoing DU testing?
17. If the State, CDC, NRC and Army disagree on what should be told to the public, will one party be allowed to speak independently?
Military Clean-Up NOT Build Up!
Contact: Malu `Aina Center For Non-violent Education & Action P.O. Box AB Ola`a (Kurtistown),
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home