DU Unsafe in Hawaii Afterall

SUBHEAD: Visitors to Hawaii military training sites speak up about having to sign a safety waiver. Image above: Army practices with 155mm Howitzer at Pohakuloa Training Area for RIMPAC 2002. The gun fires a varietu of prjeectiles, including Depleted Uranium rounds. From (http://forum.apan-info.net/Fall02/8_18/18.html).

By Alan D. McNarie on 11 August 2010 in Big Island Weekly -

(http://www.bigislandweekly.com/articles/2010/08/11/read/news/news02.txt)

U. S. Army sources have often contended that the depleted uranium left by spent shells on its firing ranges at O'ahu's Schofield Barracks and Hawai'i Island's Pohakuloa Training Area pose no danger to the public. In 2008, Army officials told the Hawaii County Council that DU did not pose a health risk to the public, even though the Saddle Road passes through Pohakuloa Training Area, where DU shell fragments had been found. In a recent letter to Rep. Mazie Hirono, Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Army Addison Davis, IV, wrote that "Many independent scientific studies of uranium in the environment show that DU presents no significant 'environmental health or safety hazard,' especially at soil concentration of the DU on Hawaii's ranges." "Based on data gathered and careful analysis of the current situation, there is no immediate or imminent health risk to people who work at Schofield Barracks or Pohakuloa Training Area (PTA) or live in communities adjacent to these military facilities from the DU present in the impact areas... Studies conducted by numerous non-military agencies, including the World Health Organization and the Department of Health and Human Services, have not found credible evidence linking DU to radiation-induced illnesses Studies conducted by numerous non-military agencies, including the World Health Organization and the Department of Health and Human Services, have not found credible evidence linking DU to radiation-induced illnesses," claims the Army's DU information website, http://www.imcom.pac.army.mil/du. But the Army took a different position when representatives from several Native Hawaiian groups requested access to the West Range at Schofield Barracks on O'ahu on May 27. Before being allowed into Schofield, all were asked to sign a waiver of responsibility acknowledging, among other things, that they knew DU was potentially hazardous to their health." ...continued. Use link below to see whole article. (http://www.bigislandweekly.com/articles/2010/08/11/read/news/news02.txt) [Editor's note: We've been asked by the Big Island Weekly publisher not to reproduce their articles in full. Our policy is usually to print article whole, but we thought you needed to know about this story.] See also: Ea O Ka Aina: DU Will Remain on Big Island 7/2/10 Ea O Ka Aina: Hawaii DU Plan Useless 4/29/10 Ea O Ka Aina: Big Islanders speak on militarism 3/2/10 Bi Island Hui: Residents Petition NRC on DU 2/24/10 Island Breath: Army Confirms DU at Pohakuloa 8/21/07 Island Breath: DU detected at Big Island Gun Range 5/1/07 Island Breath: Superferry, Stryker Brigade & DU 11/1/06 .