JOHNSTON ATOLL >> Near the center of the Pacific lies Johnston Atoll -- one of the oldest and most remote and at one time, one of the most pristine places in the world. Official wants atoll
to lose all trace of manPreservation director wants
By Gregg K. Kakesako
all structures removed
from Johnston Atoll
Star-BulletinIt's a distinction that at least one federal official would like to see Johnston Atoll reclaim after nearly seven decades of military control.
Formed more than 70 million years ago, Johnston Atoll is an expansive shallow platform about 50 miles square with four small islands -- Johnston, Sand, North and East -- in a lagoon.
An oasis for reef and bird life, Johnston Atoll is home to 32 species of coral, 300 species of fish, the threatened and endangered green sea turtle and Hawaiian monk seal, and 20 species of migratory birds -- all living under the protective umbrella of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and strangely co-existing with the most lethal weapons of the 20th century.
If Rob Shallenberger, deputy project leader of the Hawaii and Pacific Island National Wildlife Refugee Complex, has his way there will be virtually no man-made structures on any part of Johnston Island once the military leaves in three years.
The end of military control will mean the atoll will probably revert back to the U.S. Interior Department and ultimately to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Shallenberger said, which has been custodian of the remote piece of the Pacific since 1926.
"We hope to operate only a small field station here similar to the one we have on Tern Island," Shallenberger said.
And the Interior Department doesn't plan to open it up for recreational use like was done on Midway Island.
"Midway already satisfies that purpose," Shallenberger said. "We don't think Johnston would have the same appeal as Midway."
Shallenberger said it is still unknown what will be done with the runway which dominates Johnston's landscape.
"We don't have the resources to maintain it," he said.
But he acknowledges that it may have to be kept as a Mid-Pacific emergency landing field.
His main concern is that the various contaminants, ranging from Agent Orange to jet fuel, PCB and plutonium that have leaked into soil over the years, be disposed of and the environment restored. All of those areas have been fenced off awaiting future remedial action.
"Those pose risk to both the sea birds and the marine life," Shallenberger said. "I would like to see all those buildings destroyed and the atoll returned to what it was before."
But Gary McCloskey, Johnston Atoll Chemical Agent Disposal System (JACADS) site manager, said no decision has been made as to how many of several hundred buildings will remain.
The Army will clean up the buildings that they control and then turn them over to the Air Force, which is the landlord of the tiny atoll, McCloskey said.
At one time Johnston Atoll, located 825 miles southwest of Hawaii, held 6.6 percent of U.S. chemical weapons.
That ended on Nov. 29 when JACADS completed the destruction of more than 400,000 rockets, projectiles, bombs, mortars, containers and mines, McCloskey said.
Last to be destroyed were landmines, manufactured in the late 1950s and early 1960s, and stored on the 625-acre Johnston Island.
Yesterday marked another milestone for the Army when the U.S. Army Chemical Activity Pacific ended its mission of ensuring the safety of chemical weapons stored here.
Lt. Col. John Esce, the Chemical Activity's executive officer, said his unit performed its mission without a single serious incident since chemical weapons were first moved to Johnston from Okinawa in 1971 under Operation Red Hat. More weapons were moved from West Germany in 1990 and from the Solomon Islands in 1991.
By September all of the unit's 230 soldiers will have left Johnston since there are no longer chemical weapons to protect and the only task that remains is the cleanup. The Johnston Atoll chemical weapons storage site was the only one where U.S. soldiers were responsible for the protection, storage and transport of chemical munitions. All other sites on the mainland are run by private contractors and civilians hired by the Defense Department.
McCloskey said that $412 million has been set aside for the Army to clean up the JACADS site, but the 54 concrete bunkers will remain.
Since 1926 Johnston has been a national bird refuge and host to various military missions -- the latest being the chemical weapons disposal plant.
It was actually shelled by the Japanese after the 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor. During World War II, Johnston became a crucial mid-Pacific refueling and supply point for U.S. aircraft and submarines. Airlift operations were run out of Johnston during the Korean War.
In the late 1950s and 1960s, Johnston was the launch site for the military's atmospheric nuclear tests. One of the tests in 1962 turned into a mini-disaster when a Thor missile exploded, polluting a small portion of the island with plutonium oxide.
The JACADS incinerators were built in 1985 for the sole purpose of destroying chemical weapons. Since then more than 2,000 tons of chemical agents in the form of nerve agent (GB, also known as sarin and VX) and blister agent (HD) have been destroyed.
Lt. Paul Kern, deputy to the assistant secretary of the Army for acquisition, logistics and technology, said that as of last year, 22 percent of 30,000 tons of chemical agents the U.S. has stockpiled at Johnston and seven other mainland sites have been destroyed.
Only Johnston Island, which is two miles long and a quarter-mile wide, is inhabited. Originally, it was only 46 acres, but the Navy dredged and filled the island to fit its use beginning in 1936 and by 1964, Johnston had grown to 625 acres.