HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) – Hawaiʻi’s congressional delegation is demanding answers from the secretary of the Navy about why the military wants to increase its bombing of a tiny island off Niʻihau.
The bombs are 500-pound dummies and the military’s past exercises there have been shrouded in mystery.
Sens. Brian Schatz and Mazie Hirono, and Reps. Ed Case and Jill Tokuda want the Navy to complete a full environmental impact statement that could shed light on a lot of unanswered questions.
The crescent-shaped island called Kaʻula, 23 miles southwest of Niʻihau, is so remote it’s mostly known by fishermen and cultural practitioners.
The Navy wants to increase inert bombings there with 500-pound ordnance that doesn’t explode from 12 per year to 31 on the island’s southern end.
“We just want answers. If they’re going to bomb a Hawaiian island, even if it’s several miles off the coast of Niʻihau, anything in the Hawaiian Island chain is the business of the people of Hawaiʻi,” said Schatz.
Schatz told Hawaii News Now he doesn’t know when the inert bombing happened in the past.
“Those are some of the answers that we’re trying to pursue,” he said.
“I think one of the lessons from the Red Hill experience is to not just accept that if they say national security, we stop asking questions. We have a lot of questions and we are not satisfied that this is necessary for national security,” he added.
Practitioners and conservations say they welcome the Hawaiʻi congressional delegation’s demand for an environmental impact statement.
Mike Nakachi of Moana ʻOhana and his son have traveled by boat off shore of Kaʻula island. They haven’t seen any damage, but say there are stories of bombings within the past 30 years.
“I have heard stories from other fishermen in the past that were on the island or fishing close to the island and engaged in just diving operations, holoholo operations, when all of a sudden, I guess a bomb hit the island,” said Nakachi.
The island is a year-round nursery for nesting seabirds.
“They’re babies. They can’t fly away and remember, this is an island the size of Ala Moana Beach Park, so dropping 500-pound inert bombs is going to be felt no matter where you are on this island,” said Hob Osterlund, Kauai Albatross Network.
In its draft environmental assessment, the Navy said the training was vital to military readiness, no cultural resources were identified, and impacts to wildlife would be less than significant
Osterlund of the Kauaʻi Albatross Network says one unanswered question is if the state handed over the land to the Navy or any other entity.
Hawaiʻi’s attorney general told HNN it and the Department of Land and Natural Resources is looking into the matter.
HNN contacted the secretary of the Navy for comment.
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