(Media release) — After nine months of requests, Sierra Club does not have a report on depleted uranium (DU) from the Army, but does have two extra weeks to try obtaining it from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC.)
Image courtesy of BBC News. For "Depleted Uranium, Military Fact Files" coverage, click here.
DU spotting rounds, left from Army training in the 1960s, were discovered in Hawai’i in 2005. DU is radioactive and chemically toxic. It is not hazardous outside the body, but if DU compounds are inhaled or ingested, they can impact health.
NRC is in the process of granting the Army an after-the-fact license to possess the DU. Sierra Club says the report it seeks, the Archives Search Report (ASR), seems to provide a basis for assumptions about when, where and how DU spotting rounds were used at Pohakuloa Training Area and other Army sites in Hawai’i.Sierra Club filed a Freedom of Information Act Request for the ASR with the Army in December 2008, then followed up with Army officials from Hawai’i Island, Honolulu, and Washington D.C., to no avail.
When NRC posted documents on its website related to the Army license, and set a deadline of October 13 for request for hearing and petition to intervene, the ASR was not posted. Sierra Club asked NRC to obtain and post the ASR and to set a new deadline 60 days after posting.
NRC didn’t agree to post the report, but did extend the deadline for Sierra Club to October 27.
“Army Colonel Killian told Hawai’i County Council there might be about 2000 DU spotting rounds at Pohakuloa alone, and a Sierra Club consultant also estimated 2000, but some Army documents refer to the ASR to estimate only about 700 spotting rounds statewide,” said Cory Harden of Sierra Club’s Moku Loa group. “We appreciate the extension, but given these conflicting statements, and knowing the report provides a basis for some decisions about DU in Hawai’i, we feel the public should have a chance to see it.”
Sierra Club encourages people with comments on DU in Hawai’i to contact John Hayes, Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Two White Flint North, mail stop T8F5, 11545 Rockville Pike, Rockville, Maryland 20852-2738, telephone 301-415-5928, fax 301-415-5369, or email john.hayes@nrc.gov.
October 6th, 2009 at 6:25 pm
Thank you for posting this, Tiffany.
I am willing to bet a lot of money there are more than 2000 rounds, but even one is too many.
Please, readers of Big Island Chronicle, contact John Hayes at the email Tiffany posted. A phone call would be better. Just say you want testing for DU, a release of the Archives Search Report (ASR), and accountability to the community that must live with the depleted uranium.
October 6th, 2009 at 6:57 pm
Cory Hardin – Island Treasure. Mahalo for your amazing persistence!
October 7th, 2009 at 6:25 am
Cory went by Martha when she went to Hilo schools. Exceptionally talented writer! Everyone thought she would end up writing the great American novel. Hope she is still pursuing writing. She has a gift.
October 7th, 2009 at 7:57 am
The ASR, along with all the Army’s technical reports are posted at the following link: http://www.imcom.pac.army.mil/du/Reports.htm
This is a very large file
October 7th, 2009 at 9:59 pm
Nope. The ASR link goes to this:
“The page cannot be found
The page you are looking for might have been removed, had its name changed, or is temporarily unavailable.”
October 8th, 2009 at 10:59 pm
DU is anatural penetrator. Dust will be a problem when it is disturbed. So we are going to spend Billions to cause a health hazard. I agree pick up ad surface ordanance. However, digging up an encapsulated rounds, is like cleaning up lead without the correct Personal Protective Measures for the public. Can we stop all the DU dust we’ll create as we dig into it and pulverize more?