A project to scan for and remove unexploded military ordnance around Waimea is wrapping up, but perhaps too slowly for some residents.
For more than 20 years, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has been removing unexploded military hardware left in the former Waikoloa Maneuver Area, a 185,000-acre region of the island that was once used for live-fire exercises during World War II.
In 2022, the search moved to areas in and around Waimea, and was expected to end in the spring of 2023. But at a public meeting last week, the Corps’ Restoration Advisory Board announced that the search for ordnance in a roughly 3,500-acre area surrounding Waimea town and Kawaihae Road will continue.
“The difficulty that we’ve found, and that the Corps has found … that the technology has improved to such a degree that there’s a hell of a lot more stuff being identified now than were initially identified in 2002,” said board member Pete Hoffman. “While I can’t defend slow-footing, if you will, it’s important to remember that the Corps and all the people out there working cannot be responsible for what they’re discovering now because of different technologies.”
David Griffin, Waikoloa Maneuver Area program manager, said all field work in a 220-acre subsection of the Waimea area — referred to as the Lalamilo parcel — has been completed, adding that the Corps has 100% confidence that all munitions have been removed from that area. But the greater 3,500-acre area — referred to as Areas B, O, Q and J, or BOQJ — is still in need of more investigation.
Throughout last year, Corps teams used portable scanning equipment to detect military debris buried underground, a time-consuming process that requires securing rights-of-entry from property owners. Even last year, residents were frustrated that the Corps has checked and rechecked areas multiple times, but Griffin said there might need to be further scans to confirm the area’s safety.
“Lalamilo previously had this remedial action done, but there were certain questions about the work that was done previously, so in the case of Lalamilo, we just decided to go back and reclear the entire area,” Griffin said. “In the case of the larger BOQJ, we’re doing a remedial design to try to identify areas where they may have to go back or whether the previous work done is acceptable.”
One attendee, a resident of the BOQJ area, said she has had to sign three right-of-entry consent forms for teams scanning for ordnance over the past 19 years.
Field work in BOQJ now is anticipated to end by winter, with a final report to be submitted in 2024.
Griffin said that 11 pieces of unexploded ordnance — mostly grenades — have been discovered and retrieved in Waimea town, and another half-dozen in the greater BOQJ area.
Members of the volunteer board also were frustrated with the Corps’ progress regarding “Sector 15,” a roughly 11,000-acre area just east of Waimea encompassing the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands’ Puukapu Homesteads.
Griffin said the Corps is “doing everything we can” to expedite the process, but added that the final step for Sector 15 — the publication of a report declaring that “no further action” is needed — should be completed by the end of the year.
“I just want to go on record and say that the proposed timeline is too generous,” said board member Niniau Kawaihae, arguing that Native Hawaiians are unable to move into the homesteads until work is completed.
Email Michael Brestovansky at mbrestovansky@hawaiitribune-herald.com.
