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Hallelujah! The DU resolution passed Hawai'i County Council with an incredible 8 to 1 vote.

How about a sister DU reso at the Honolulu City Council?

Also Hawai'i Public Radio ran an interview with Pang this morning. Check their website.

Dr Pang gave an awesome presentation. He said Cabrera, in the studies done for the Army, covered themselves by not speaking about insoluble form of DU--the dangerous kind. He described how DU acts inside the body. He described the type of air monitoring needed.Council members said they learned a lot, and asked some well-informed questions.

Army Col. Killian, Russell Takata of State Dept of Health, and Pang were all sitting at the testifier table together, so Council members could cross-check answers---a long overdue event!

About 15 community people testified, then stayed and stayed (8:30 AM to 4 PM!) till the vote.

Council members seemed to understand and support the correct type of air monitoring. It got confusing but I think the Army plans to comply with some of what we asked for air monitoring (we'll keep on 'em.)

The Council kept the clause of no live-fire and practice bombing till the DU is cleaned up. They even added a clause about the military searching records for DU at all military sites in Hawai'i and releasing pertinent info.

The Army said they are setting up a citizen advisory board for Pohakuloa Training Area. The Council wants Dr Pang on it, and the Army asked if I'd be on it.

Stryker, DU, Navy Range Complex, UARC, Growth & Force Realignment- -the military's pushing too far in Hawai'i and people are staring to push back.

RESOLUTION PASSED
REQUESTING ARMY
TO HALT LIVE
FIRING EXERCISES

BY JIM QUIRK
WEST HAWAII TODAY
jquirk@westhawaiito day.com

HILO — The largest
administration bond
request ever brought before
the Hawaii County Council
was approved on its second
bill reading Wednesday in
an 8-1 vote.
The council's action
allows the administration
to sell up to $114.59 million
worth of bonds, and the
proceeds will be used for
nearly 50 county projects,
including the West Hawaii
Civic Center.
The county will barely
make the deadline for
acting on a contract with
the low bid from a design
builder who responded to
a request for proposals to
build the civic center.
The county already has
more than $30 million in
bond funds for the project,
but another $18.2 million
needed for the project
is included in the $114.59
million bond float. The
contract with the project's
low bidder expires July 12.
In another matter,
the council approved a
resolution from Puna
Councilwoman Emily
Naeole that requests
the U.S. Army to halt B-
2 bombing missions and
live firing exercises until
it's determined whether
depleted uranium is
present at the Pohakuloa
Training Area.
Although the resolution
does not carry the power of
law, the council spent more
than six hours Wednesday
discussing it and listening
to testimony from numerous
residents in favor of it.
The council heard from
Dr. Lorrin Pang with the
state Department of Health
who, speaking as a resident,
painted a grim picture
regarding the lack of
information there is on DU
levels on the island and the
circumstantial evidence
that depleted uranium may
be responsible for a spike
in new cancer cases.
From 2000 through
2004, Pang said 444 new
cancer cases were reported
on the Big Island, which
is more than new cases
from the other Hawaiian
Islands.
A majority of the county's
new cancer cases were
from Kona, where dust
originating from PTA usually
ends up because of
wind, he said.
"It is prudent a survey
be done to put to rest our
uncertainty about (the
military's) record-keeping, "
Pang said. "Something's
cooking here on Big
Island."
Depleted uranium was
discovered at PTA in 2006,
which originated from
spotting rounds in Davy
Crockett weapons systems
tested in the 1960s.
The council approved
a few amendments to the
resolution, including one
from Ka'u Councilman Bob
Jacobson that states the
"U.S. military shall conduct
a search of all records
for firing of depleted uranium
at (PTA) and all
other Hawaii state military
sites and release pertinent
information to the public."
An amendment from
Council Chairman Pete
Hoffmann, Kohala, to
remove language in the
resolution that requests
the military to halt bombing
missions and live firing
exercises was defeated in
an 8-1 vote, with Hoffmann
the only one to cast a favorable
vote. Hoffmann, who
served in the military for
more than 28 years, said he
agrees the country should
not be in Iraq, but because
that is the case, the request
in question would lead to
inadequate training.
Other council members
said the Army should find
a different place to train
until it's determined if
depleted uranium is causing
problems for residents
and military personnel.
Hamakua Councilman
Dominic Yagong said the
council's favorable vote
puts the military on notice
"that you have to investigate. "
Army Col. Howard
Killian told the council the
military plans to have a
citizen monitoring committee
in place by the end
of the month. South Kona
Councilwoman Brenda
Ford plans to introduce a
resolution that requests
Pang is placed on the committee
as the council's representative.