Depleted uranium confirmed

Citizens say their efforts led to radioactive material discovery

by Erin Miller
West Hawaii Today
emiller@westhawaiitoday.com
Wednesday, August 22, 2007 9:01 AM HST

Concerned citizens who persistently asked the Army to test for possible depleted uranium at Pohakuloa Training Area say their efforts are behind the confirmation of the presence of the radioactive material, but the Army says the discovery of the substance on Oahu prompted further investigation on the Big Island. "I knew it was there," resident Shannon Rudolph said Tuesday morning. "If it was on other training ranges, it had to be here."

The Army on Monday announced that a government contractor had confirmed the use of a formerly classified weapons system, the Davy Crockett recoilless gun, and the presence of depleted uranium at the training area.

Rudolph credited county residents who purchased monitors to measure radiation levels, and who repeatedly questioned Army and state officials about the likelihood of depleted uranium having been used on the PTA firing range.

"If people wouldn't have howled, they never would have tested," she said. "It shows that a few people can make a difference."

She said she'd like to see the Army test Big Island residents for possible side effects from the depleted uranium.

Stefanie Gardin, spokeswoman for the U.S. Army Garrison in Hawaii, said the 2006 discovery of depleted uranium at Schofield Barracks on Oahu led to the Aug. 16 to 18 aerial survey of Pohakuloa Training Area. In response to a question about testing for members of the public concerned about the discovery, she said it was unlikely the general public would come into contact with the depleted uranium.

So far, the Department of Health doesn't consider the Army's announcement a reason to declare any emergency or health hazard, Noise, Radiation and Noise Air Quality Branch Program Manager Russell Takata said.

"There is no immediate hazard to the public," Takata said Tuesday afternoon. "As far as we're concerned, the background levels are within the normal limits."

Takata said air samples taken around Pohakuloa show readings of three to nine micro roentgens per hour; the Nuclear Regulatory Commission's acceptable background reading is a range of three to 12 micro roentgens per hour. He will review each step the Army and its contractor, Cabrera Services, take to determine how much depleted uranium is at Pohakuloa.

"The soil studies and air studies will tell us if any depleted uranium has become airborne," he said.

He anticipated those answers by the end of this year.

Big Island peace activist Jim Albertini disagreed with the Health Department and Army assessments that the evidence of depleted uranium doesn't yet constitute a health threat for residents. Albertini also called on the Army to stop all live fire testing at the site until tests show just how much depleted uranium is in the soil at Pohakuloa. Additional rounds hitting the ground, even if those rounds do not contain depleted uranium, blows depleted uranium particles into the air, which are the then blown into populated areas, he said.

Albertini, who co-authored a book in the early 1980s about the military's presence in Hawaii, questioned the Army's record-keeping practices, which required the use of an outside contractor to determine that Davy Crockett spotter rounds were used at the Army's own facility.

"What I found then (doing the research for his book), there were roughly 60 different kinds of nuclear weapons in the U.S. arsenal," Albertini said. "My question is, if they used depleted uranium in the Davy Crockett rounds, they may have used depleted uranium in other spotter rounds."

He accused military officials of lying to Hawaii residents for decades and of gaining use of state land under false pretenses. He called for independent oversight of the Army as the testing and investigation continued.

Gardin said the Army wasn't intentionally withholding information about the use of depleted uranium. Training the with Davy Crockett system ended in 1968, and the classified nature of tests meant that a "minimal" number of people knew the system was being used in Hawaii. The Army is no longer authorized to fire systems that use depleted uranium, she said.

Just how much depleted uranium is at Pohakuloa is unknown, Gardin said, adding that the survey done Aug. 16 to 18 was to identify the presence of spotter rounds that contained the depleted uranium. Island residents shouldn't be affected by the presence of depleted uranium, she said.

"The impact area where the depleted uranium was found is a remote area that is not open to public access," she said. "It is highly unlikely that any members of the general population would come into contact with depleted uranium there."