As a 200-acre brush fire continues to burn at Pohakuloa Training Area, concern is rising about whether depleted uranium from spotting rounds used as part of the Davy Crockett program in the 1960s is being released into the atmosphere. ADVERTISING
As a 200-acre brush fire continues to burn at Pohakuloa Training Area, concern is rising about whether depleted uranium from spotting rounds used as part of the Davy Crockett program in the 1960s is being released into the atmosphere.
The fire, located about 10 miles inside PTA on the Mauna Loa side of Daniel K. Inouye Highway, has burned since March 24, said PTA Fire Chief Eric Moller. It started during live-fire training within an impact area, but away from areas where the Army in 2006 confirmed depleted uranium (DU) remains from spotting rounds used as part of the Davy Crockett program.
“This fire is well over 2 miles from where that weapons arc is,” Moller said, pointing north and adding the arc, for the most part, is within a lava flow with little to no vegetation.
To get there, the fire would have to be fanned from the south, which Moller said is unlikely given Mauna Loa towers behind and prevailing east-west winds. The flames also would have to get over a barren half-mile-wide a‘a lava flow.
Despite assurance from Army officials, questions and concerns are being raised by individuals about the fire and its proximity to areas where the spotting rounds that contained DU, a dense, weakly radioactive metal alloy left over from the uranium enrichment process, were fired amid the Cold War.
“It’s not the threat of the PTA fire spreading off the base that is an issue,” reads a letter signed by Jim Albertini, president of Malu Aina Center for Non-violent Education and Action; Clarence Ku Ching; Isaac “Paka” Harp, Cory Harden; Maj. Doug Rokke, former director for the U.S. Army DU project; and Dr. Carol Murry, doctor of public health. “It’s what’s blowing in the smoke and wind from that fire that’s been burning for 10 days. Pohakuloa has been bombed for 70 years with a wide variety of weapons. There is depleted uranium (DU) and other military toxins in the Pohakuloa impact area, the amount never adequately studied despite repeated requests.”
According to the World Health Organization, people can be exposed to DU through inhalation, ingestion and contact. DU has chemical and radiological toxicity known to affect the kidneys and the lungs. Health consequences are determined by the physical and chemical nature of the depleted uranium, as well as the level and duration of exposure.
Albertini and others say the military, Nuclear Regulatory Commission and the state Department of Health do not know where or how much DU lies within Pohakuloa.
“The people (Army) are saying there’s not enough DU up there to cause a concern, but the fact is they don’t know how much DU is up there because they’ve never done the comprehensive testing — it’s all speculation,” Albertini said Monday. “The burden is on them to allow for this independent testing because we can’t trust you.”
Albertini and others want to see air quality monitoring at the Army installation to ensure DU and other “military toxins” are not being aerosolized and dispersed by winds.
Reiterating the fire is far from areas where DU was identified, the Army also noted DU only aerosolizes at very high temperatures, much higher than those produced by brush or range fires.
According to Moller, a “cold fire,” such as what is occurring at PTA, burns at about 900 degrees while a heavy metal, such as depleted uranium which is twice as dense as lead, requires much more heat to aerosolize —well more than 1,000 degrees higher than that produced by a “cold fire.”
“We appreciate the community’s interest, and we want to assure the community — especially those of us who live and work in the immediate area — that we take everyone’s safety seriously,” said Lt. Col. Jake Peterson, commander of U.S. Army Garrison-Pohakuloa. “If people do have questions about DU, we encourage them to check out our website and get the facts.”
Though the blaze continues to produce smoke, it is contained thanks to the a‘a flow and a pahoehoe flow providing natural fire breaks, Moller said. The smoke is being generated by the fire crawling underground through duff (a layer of decaying vegetation found growing vegetation) and igniting material above ground, leaving sporadic circular burn areas separated by untouched land.
“There’s zero chance of escape,” Moller said during a tour within the burn area.
The closest vegetation is more than a mile away.
He expects the fire will smolder for the next several days as firefighters cannot actively douse the flames because of the threat of unexploded ordnance within the impact area.
“We don’t go in, we don’t fight it because it’s just too dangerous,” Moller said.
Firefighters are instead focusing efforts on a 100-yard stretch of roadway to keep the fire from crossing, spreading into protected areas. No endangered species, range facilities or critical habitat are threatened.
Email Chelsea Jensen at cjensen@westhawaiitoday.com.
