Army News, opinions, editorials, news from Iraq, photos, reports - Army Times

Army: Strykers harmful to Hawaii environs

HONOLULU — A draft environmental impact statement by the Army on the basing of a Stryker Brigade in Hawaii says keeping the unit in the islands would significantly impact threatened and endangered species.

The Army prepared the document released Friday to comply with a federal appeals court order from October. The judges said the Army violated environmental law by deciding to base the Stryker brigade in Hawaii without first adequately considering a variety of alternatives.

The study examines the effect the 4,000-soldier Stryker brigade and its 320 armored Stryker vehicles would have on Hawaii and two other possible locations: Alaska and Colorado.

A summary and chart in the document indicate leaving the brigade in the islands would have a “significant” cumulative impact on threatened and endangered species. The chart shows a similar effect for wildfire management, cultural resources and land use in the islands.

“Construction and training activities would increase the potential to introduce or spread noxious weeds and increase the possibility of accidental ignition of a wildfire,” the report said.

The report said the Army, after consulting with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, had developed measures to limit the brigade’s impact on endangered species in Hawaii, including 23 plant types and the elepaio bird.

Those mitigation steps include expanding monitoring programs and fencing off sensitive plants to prevent humans from disturbing the species.

The more than 500-page study said the brigade would have no impact on wetlands, and no serious impact on general wildlife or vegetation.

A minor increase in noise levels at Schofield Barracks would occur with the use of ordinance, the report said, noting that current noise levels are already significant.

Phone calls to the Army Environmental Command and U.S. Army Pacific seeking farther explanation of the significance of the report released late in the day Friday were not immediately returned.

The Army has said it wanted to base one of the new, modern Stryker brigades in Hawaii because it needs soldiers at locations close to potential Asian hot spots.

But Native Hawaiian groups sued, alleging the 4,000-soldier brigade and its 320 armored Stryker vehicles would hurt the islands’ environment and desecrate cultural sites.

Federal judges allowed the Army to keep the brigade in Hawaii temporarily but ordered the military to conduct a full environmental impact statement examining other locations for permanent basing.

The U.S. Army Environmental Command said in a news release the public would have until Sept. 4 to comment on the draft statement. It also plans to host public meetings on the document next month in Hawaii, Alaska and Colorado.

The command said the Army will use the report to pick a location that accommodates training and quality-of-life requirements while meeting strategic and national security needs.

The draft, citing comments gathered from the public earlier this year, says some Hawaii residents don’t believe the state has enough land, water, housing and other resources to support a Stryker Brigade.

Islanders also worry the brigade would disrupt cultural sites, according to the report.

Colorado residents said they were worried how the brigade would affect the state’s soil and grassland and about the impact it would have on the historic Santa Fe Trail.

The draft can be found at: http://www.sbct-seis.org/.