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Army extends public comment on Strykers

HONOLULU — The Army on Thursday said it would extend a deadline for the public to comment about the basing of a Stryker Brigade in Hawaii.

The Army had earlier said it would accept public comments on a draft environmental impact statement through Sept. 4 but it will now accept them through Oct. 30.

The report analyzes basing options for the brigade, including leaving it in the islands or moving it to Alaska or Colorado.

The move will provide the public more time to review the report, the Army said in a news release.

Robert DiMichele, an Army Environmental Command spokesman, said he wasn’t aware of anyone complaining the comment period was too short.

The report, issued last month, said keeping the unit in the islands will significantly impact threatened and endangered species. But it also said the Army has developed measures to limit the brigade’s effect.

Native Hawaiian groups have objected to basing the brigade in the islands, saying the unit’s 4,000 soldiers and its 320 armored Stryker vehicles would hurt the islands’ environment and desecrate cultural sites.

The Army also plans to reschedule community meetings to discuss the report. The meetings were planned for August but they will now be held in October.

The Army has already taken steps to base a brigade in Hawaii by bringing Stryker vehicles and soldiers here.

But a federal appeals court in October ordered the Army to suspend its plans, saying the service violated the law by failing to thoroughly consider alternatives to basing the brigade in Hawaii.

The Army completed the current report to comply with the ruling.

The court allowed some training to go forward so soldiers could prepare for a planned deployment to Iraq, but the Army must still fully study whether the brigade belongs in Hawaii or at other locations in Alaska and Colorado.

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Location of the Stryker Brigade