Hawaii County committee delays resolution urging military to halt Pohakuloa live-fire exercises

On July 22, the Hawaii County Policy Committee on Environmental and Natural Resource Management postponed action on Resolution 234-25, which urges the state to request that the U.S. military cease bombing and “desecration activities” at the Pohakuloa Training Area and to reject land swaps or lease renewals without certain stipulations. Council Member Rebecca Villegas, who introduced the resolution, moved to postpone the item to the committee meeting on Aug. 19 in Kona; Council Member Fresh Onishi seconded. The motion passed 7-0 with three members recorded as absent.

The measure grew out of broader community concern after the Hawaii Department of Land and Natural Resources rejected the Army’s final environmental impact statement for Pohakuloa on May 9; supporters said the rejection shows the Army’s environmental review was inadequate. “On May 9, the Department of Land and Natural Resources voted to reject the Army’s final EIS to retain its lease on state land for Pohakuloa Training Area,” said Council Member Rebecca Villegas, chair of the committee. Villegas told colleagues the resolution does not preclude emergency services, fire mitigation, reforestation or cleanup…