[asia-apec 1314] Makua Lawsuit Settled (fwd)

[Malia Robinson/Roger Furrer]

>Date: 	Tue, 28 Sep 1999 07:41:32 -1000
>From: Lynette Hiilani Cruz <lcruz at hawaii.edu>
>X-Sender: lcruz at uhunix2
>To: Undisclosed recipients:;
>Subject: Makua Lawsuit Settled (fwd)
>
>
>
>---------- Forwarded message ----------
>Date: Mon, 27 Sep 1999 19:31:29 -1000
>From: nancy aleck <NAleck at hawaii.rr.com>
>To: Lynette Cruz <lcruz at hawaii.edu>
>Subject: Makua Lawsuit Settled
>
>This is the text of a press release dated Monday, September 27, 1999
>from Earthjustice Legal Defense Fund (since I cannot do the kahako, I
>also left out the okina; any typos are mine):
>
>CITIZENS AND ARMY SETTLE LAWSUIT
>
>Today Malama Makua, represented by Earhjutice Legal Defense Fund, and
>the US Army settled a lawsuit filed in October 1998 to compel the Army's
>compliance with the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) for
>training and related activites at Makua Military Reservation (MMR) on
>Oahu.  NEPA requires federal agencies like the Army to take a hard look
>at potential environmental impacts before taking actions that might
>cause significant environmental harm.  Under today's settlement, the
>Army agreed that it will not conduct any training at MMR until it first
>completes a document that assesses comprehensively the environmental
>impacts of all training-related activities at MMR.
>
>"This settlement is a major victory for the Waianae community, which has
>said for years that the military's training at Makua Military
>Reservation has a significant impact on the people, the land, and the
>resources at Makua," said Sparky Rodrigues, president of Malama Makua.
>"We are encouraged that the Army is finally going to follow the low, but
>we will also be watching to make sure that the studies are adequate and
>that the community is actively involved."
>
>Under NEPA, federal agencies must prepare an environmental impact
>statement (EIS) for any major federal action significantly affecting the
>human environment.  An EIS is a detailed document that must discuss,
>among other things, the environmental impacts of the proposed federal
>action (including any acological, aesthetic, historic, cultural,
>economic, social and health effects, whether direct or indirect) and ny
>alternatives to the proposed action.  If an agency is unsure whether the
>effects of its actions will be "significant," it may first prepare an
>environmental assessment (EA) to help make that determination.
>
>"Given the biological and cultural riches that are threatened by Army
>training at Makua, an EIS is clearly in order and doing one off the bat
>would be the best use of taxpayer money," said David Henkin, staff
>attorney with Earthjustice Legal Defense Fund, who represents Malama
>Makua.  "If, nonetheless, the Army decides to begin the NEPA process
>with an EA, we will be vigilant to ensure that the Army takes a hard
>look at its activities at MMR and gives the community the information it
>deserves about all environmental, economic, and social impacts.
>
>No training has taken place at MMR since September 1998 when, in
>response to a letter from Malama Makua indiating its intent to sue, the
>Army resumed consultations with the Service under the federal Endagered
>Species Act.  The area affected by training at MMR provides habitat for
>over 30 endangered plants, the elepaio bird (a proposed endangered
>species), the endangered pupu kani oe (Oahu tree snail), and dozens of
>additional Hawaiian plants and animals.  Military training causes firs
>and introduces alien plants and animals that pose significant threats to
>native species and their habitat.
>
>"This settlement is the culmination of years of effort by the Waianae
>community to care for the land and resources at Makua," said Roger
>Furrer, Makaha farmer and member of Malama Makua.  "We look forward to
>working with the Army to help build respect for this very special
>place."
>
>Fires from training and controlled burns, unexploded ordinance, military
>transport along Farrigton Highway, smoke, and noise threaten public
>health, safety, and well-being.  Erosion from maneuvers and firs
>threaten cultural sites and nearshore water quality.  Heavy metals and
>other pollutants remain in the soil from decades of hazardous waste
>disposal and live-fire training.
>
>Malama Makua is a non-profit, unincorporated, community organization
>based on the Waianae Coast of Oahu.  Formed in 1992 to oppose the Army's
>open burn/open detonation permit application to the EPA, Malama Makua
>has continued to monitor military activities at MMR and has partiipated
>in a number of community initiatives to care for the land and resources
>at Makua.
>
>Earthjustice Legal Defense Fund (formerly Sierra Club Legal Defense
>Fund) is a non-profit, public-interest, environmental law firm.  The
>Mid-Pacific office, which opened in Honolulu in 1988, has represented
>dozens of environmental, native Hawaiian, and community organizations in
>litigation and administrative proceedings.
>
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