The Army has avoided a fine for possessing toxic depleted uranium (DU), without the proper licenses, on its American military bases, including at least two in Hawaii.

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) found that the Army had violated federal regulations, but waived the $3,500 civil fine “to encourage prompt and comprehensive correction of violations.” The Aug. 1 notice of violation came some 18 months after Big Island resident Isaac Harp petitioned the NRC to take enforcement action against the Army. Harp argued the Army had no license to possess the radioactive material, which was contained in weapons used for training in Hawaii in the 1960s.

During a May 10 conference call with the NRC and Army officials, Harp termed the agency’s investigation “a farce.”

Although the Army has long denied using DU in Hawaii, the Earthjustice law firm inadvertently came across emails with contrary information in 2006. DU has been confirmed at both Schofield Barracks and the Big Island’s Pohakuloa Training Area (PTA), located between Mauna Loa, Mauna Kea and the Hualalai volcanic mountains, and is also suspected on the Makua Military Reservation.

The Army is now in the process of securing an after-the-fact license to possess a maximum of 17,600 pounds of DU on its US bases. It’s unknown just how much of, or exactly where, the radioactive heavy metal is present in Hawaii. The Army acknowledges in its application that rough terrain and hazards presented by unexploded ordinances made it impossible to conduct a thorough survey at PTA and Schofield.

Island residents have been pressing the NRC to require the Army to conduct more careful searches for the material because DU is believed to be particularly hazardous when it becomes airborne after it’s ignited on live fire ranges like PTA.

“We cannot just let it go out and contaminate more of the ‘aina, the taro down there; and who eats kalo more than us?” Harp asked during the conference call. “Allowing the Army to continue releasing and storing hazardous materials is a deliberate act of genocide.”

During the NRC’s investigation it was further revealed that the Army conducted an unauthorized cleanup of soil contaminated by DU at Schofield in 2008. Some of the material has already been transported out of the state and some remains stored in Hawaii awaiting shipment. Meanwhile, plans to construct a Stryker Brigade training area at Schofield have been stalled while the Army’s application for a license is being processed.

The NRC considers the Army’s violation “significant” because a license is intended to “provide reasonable assurance that control of radioactive material will be adequate to prevent unauthorized removal or access, and to ensure that any exposure to workers, members of the public and the environment do not exceed NRC dose limits,” Roy Zimmerman, director of enforcement for the NRC, wrote in an Aug. 1 letter to Lt. Gen. Rick Lynch of the Commanding General Department of the Army.

The agency opted to waive a fine and instead gave the Army credit for its “corrective actions,” including applying for an after-the-fact license and adopting measures to control access to areas suspected to contain DU.

“However,” Zimmerman’s letter warned, “significant violations in the future could result in a civil penalty. In addition, issuance of this Severity Level III violation constitutes escalated enforcement action that may subject the Army to increased inspection efforts.”

---