Military Quality of Life and Veterans Affairs Appropriations Act, 2006
MILITARY QUALITY OF LIFE AND VETERANS AFFAIRS APPROPRIATIONS ACT, 2006 -- (House of Representatives - May 26, 2005)
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Mr. CASE. Mr. Chairman, on June 22, 2004, I came to the floor of this house in support of the gentleman from Oregon's (Mr. BLUMENAUER) amendment to the Fiscal Year 2005 Defense Appropriations bill relative to unexploded ordnance (UXO). I rise again today in support of my colleague's UXO amendment.
My home state of Hawaii is the perfect example of how and why funds for the cleanup of UXO are very much needed. Several years ago, the Department of Defense (DOD) identified over fifty DOD-registered locations in my state that have not been cleaned up. These sites continue to present significant and ongoing public safety risks.
One of these locations is the Waikoloa/Waimea Formerly Used Defense Site (FUDS) on my Island of Hawaii. The site includes over 137,000 acres and all or parts of the communities of Waikoloa and Waimea (Kamuela). The U.S. Navy acquired the area in 1943 through licensing agreements for use as a military training camp and artillery range. U.S. Marine Corps maneuvers and intensive live-fire training included hand grenades, 4.2-inch mortar, and 37 millimeter (mm), 75mm, 105mm, and 155mm high explosive shells.
The first ordnance cleanup activity occurred in 1946. In 1954, military ordnance disposal units began to identify and dispose of thousands of munitions. The United States Army Corps of Engineers determined the site was eligible for the Defense Environmental Restoration Program Formerly Used Defense Site in 1992.
An engineering evaluation/cost analysis, completed in January 2002, designated the entire property as a potential ordnance health and safety risk. Eleven areas within property (48,000 acres) were determined to have the highest risk, including all of the Waikoloa Village and the developing urban area from Kawaihae to Waimea. In that analysis, the United States Army Corps of Engineers estimated that the cost to complete the cleanup for the entire site is $653 million.
Mr. Chairman, our military plays a vital role in our society and throughout the world. My state of Hawaii is the location for the regional headquarters of each of the service branches as well as the Pacific Command. Hawaii proudly continues to play a vital role in America's military, commercial, and diplomatic relations with countries in the Pacific Rim and beyond.
However, I strongly believe that the military must also follow practices espoused by parents, teachers, and camp counselors alike: Leave any place you have visited cleaner than when you arrived. Along these lines, the United States Army Corps of Engineers is ready and willing to be better engaged in the cleanup process. Congress must now take the first step of appropriating sufficient funds for this important action.
I again wish to commend the gentleman from Oregon (Mr. BLUMENAUER) for his continued diligent work on this important issue. I look forward to working with him in the future and urge my colleagues to support this important, vital amendment for communities throughout our country.
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