Kahoolawe given
to state after Navy
finishes cleanup
The state assumes full control of Kahoolawe today.
To ancient Hawaiians, Kahoolawe was a place of refuge. It later was a symbol of wrongs inflicted on the native people and the land. The island was repeatedly occupied to protest the bombing by the military.
For the military, the 11-mile-long island was a crucial bombing and target range following the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941 leading to the eventual victories in the Pacific.
The range, six miles southwest of Maui, closed in 1990 under political pressure. Title to the state was conveyed four years later, and in 1998 a $460 million cleanup project -- considered by the Navy as the largest ordnance mop-up -- was begun.
When it was completed in November, the Navy said about 84 percent of the 28,788 acres had been cleared -- much of what was untouched was its remote and treacherous ravines and gullies. Within this area, 2,650 acres, or 9 percent of the island, will have been cleared to a depth of 4 feet to allow for greater use and restoration activities.
When the Navy turns control of the island over to the Kahoolawe Island Reserve Commission today, it will leave behind a $4.9 million base camp, including six helicopter pads, a mess or galley operation and $4 million in equipment.
Although control of the island is now in state hands, the Navy is still responsible for any unexploded ordnance that might turn up in the future.
Burt Sakata, commission member, said: "Federal law specifically states that the United States is responsible and liable for the unexploded ordnance and environmental remediation on Kahoolawe."
If there as an immediate threat, a Navy ordnance team will be sent there as soon as the ordnance is found.