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.

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.

It should be noted that Hawaii Island already has a dubious distinction of the nuclear age. According to the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission, of 65 randomly selected worldwide soil samples tested for accumulation of long-lasting plutonium radiation contamination from atmospheric nuclear weapon testing, our Big Island soil ranked NUMBER ONE! Plutonium is one of the most potent carcinogenic substances known. Less than one-millionth of a gram is capable of producing cancer after close exposure. Plutonium has a half-life of 24,000 years, which means it is potentially toxic to humans for at least a half million years. As plutonium is concentrated in the ecological food chain, people can absorb significant quantities. It is preferentially stored in the liver and bone marrow and can cross the placenta into the unborn fetus. (To read the above AEC report see Nature Magazine, Vol. 241, February 16, 1973.)

It should also be noted that the Navy acknowledges discharging millions of gallons of radioactive liquid waste into Pearl Harbor on Oahu and dumping over two thousand 55-gallon steel drums of radioactive solid waste on the ocean floor off Hawaii's shores. What effects such pollution may have on marine life and, in turn, the health and safety of Hawaii's people is simply not clear. But it is commonly accepted that there is no safe level of radiation. (See the book "The Dark Side of Paradise" by Albertini, et. all page 18.)

Military Clean-Up NOT Build-Up!

CITIZEN ACTION DEMANDS

1. Immediate halt to all live-fire 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 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 counts per minute

(cpm) 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. 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

its 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 and other

community resource people.

Military Clean-Up NOT Build Up!

Residents and visitors alike: Call Hawaii's elected officials to express your support for the Citizens Action Demands. Hawaii County Mayor, Harry Kim 961-8211, Gov. Linda Lingle 974-6262, PTA Headquarters 969-2400. Mahalo.

Contact: Malu `Aina Center for Non-violent Education & Action P.O. Box AB `Ola`a (Kurtistown), Hawai`i 96760. Phone (808) 966-7622. Email ja@interpac.net http://www.malu-aina.org

Malu Aina, Jim Albertini, President