Soldiers of a Stryker Combat Brigade underwent training recently at Fort Lewis, Wash.
Isle Stryker impact
report is readyThe Army says the study will
address concerns about dust and noise
A final report on the environmental impact of a new Stryker Combat Brigade based at Schofield Barracks addresses concerns about dust and noise problems that may created by the unit, the Army said yesterday.
The report, expected to be published in the Federal Register as early as today, is one of the final hurdles in three years of planning to convert the 25th Infantry Division's 2nd Brigade into the highly mobile Stryker unit.
Read the report
The Army's final environmental impact statement on the Stryker Brigade is available at:
Big Island
>> Hilo Library, 300 Waianuenue Ave.
>> Kailua-Kona Library, 75-138 Hualalai Road, Kailua-Kona.
>> Thelma Parker Library, 96767-1209 Mamalahoa Highway, Kamuela.
Oahu
>> Kahuku School Library, 56-490 Kamehameha Highway.
>> Mililani Library, 95-450 Makaimoimo St.
>> Hawaii State Library, 478 S. King St.
>> Wahiawa Library, 820 California Ave.
>> Waianae Library, 85-625 Farrington Highway.
>> Waialua Library, 67-068 Kealohanui St.
>> University of Hawaii Environmental Center, Krauss Annex 19, 2500 Dole Road.
"There will be a 30-day wait period" before the Army can officially begin converting to the Stryker unit, U.S. Army Hawaii garrison commander Col. David Anderson said.
David Henkin, attorney for the environmental group Earthjustice, said: "30 days is an inadequate time for the public to comment on a document on the scope of the project that is so immense. ... We're not talking about a new firing range or housing, but a fundamental change in our fighting forces."
Several environmental groups, including Earthjustice, have protested the plan to base a Stryker brigade here, arguing that the teams are incompatible with the islands' limited land area, sensitive environment and concentration of cultural sites.
Anderson said the Army doesn't plan to hold any public hearings on the report but it will continue to work with local communities and their concerns. Copies of the five-volume environmental impact statement, containing 2,000 pages, will be available on the Internet at www.sbcteis.com and at some public libraries.
The 70-page executive summary of the report states: "If the 2nd Brigade does not transform in Hawaii, the Army might not be able to respond rapidly enough in all areas of the world for operations requiring military action. The strategic significance of land forces continues to lie in their ability not only to fight and win the nation's wars but also to provide options that shape the global environment to benefit the United States and its allies."
Henkin said he also is waiting to see if the Army has considered alternatives other than Schofield for the Stryker brigade.
He said a draft environmental report released last year contained "an inadequate range of alternatives" and didn't address "different ways to achieve its goal, which is how best to protect this nation."
"It didn't consider whether Hawaii was the best place for a Stryker brigade," Henkin said. "It was disappointing that it dismissed in just a few paragraphs a broader range of alternatives."
The final report said mainland alternatives were not analyzed because they did not reflect the needs of the Army.
Ron Borne, Schofield Barracks' transformation manager, said the Army has addressed concerns such as dust problems created by the 20-ton, eight-wheeled Stryker vehicle.
Anderson said the Army will establish buffer zones, use alternate convoy routes, monitor weather conditions and use construction materials that bond dust and gravel on roads used by the vehicles.
On Oahu, the problem of noise was raised at public hearings last fall after the Army decided to add six 155-millimeter howitzers to the 2nd Brigade's three artillery batteries.
"Originally, there were four cannons assigned to the three batteries," Anderson said. "Now there will be six assigned to each battery."
He said the Army will minimize the noise created when these cannons are fired at Schofield by carefully monitoring the weather conditions. The cannons' sound travels further under certain conditions.
Although it was originally announced that the 2nd Brigade would be equipped with new Comanche helicopters, Borne said the Army later eliminated the program.
To reduce traffic congestion on the Big Island's Saddle Road caused by more soldiers and vehicles, the Army will build a 30-mile private road from Kawaihae to the Pohakuloa Training Area, by purchasing 109 acres and replacing an existing tank trail.
On Oahu, Drum Road, a 23-mile unpaved road that connects Schofield to the Army's Kahuku training facilities, will be upgraded at a cost of $70 million so soldiers can avoid using Kamehameha Highway. Another 15-mile private road will be built from Schofield to Dillingham Air Field.
In addition, the Army wants to acquire 1,402 acres adjacent to the 27,000 acres it occupies at Schofield to build new facilities, including three rifle ranges.
A total of $693 million in road and facility upgrades are planned, Borne said. So far, the Army has committed $439 million.
Schofield will spend $29 million this year to move the Stryker project, along with another $310 million contained in the latest military construction bill now pending in Congress.
A total of 28 military construction projects are planned for Oahu and the Big Island to prepare the 2nd Brigade for the 300 Strykers, 100 other vehicles and trailers and 810 more soldiers. Fully loaded, a Stryker will weigh more than 37 tons and can reach a top speed of 60 mph.
The 2nd Brigade's additional soldiers will begin arriving next year after the unit returns from Iraq, and the first Stryker vehicles could be at Schofield by 2006. The 2nd brigade will be just under 4,000 soldiers, once the transformation process has been completed.
The Army wants to be able to deploy the unit from anywhere in the world in 96 hours.
The Schofield's 2nd Brigade will be the fifth of six Stryker units. The first Strykers are now in Iraq.
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Little impact expected
on Big Isle
HILO >> Big Island residents will see little difference in military maneuvers if the 2nd Brigade of the 25th Infantry Division adopts the Stryker military vehicle, according to plans laid out yesterday by U.S. Army representatives.
CORRECTION
Saturday, May 22, 2004John Williams is a lieutenant colonel in the Army. A story on the impact of the Stryker military vehicle on the Big Island yesterday on Page A13 incorrectly listed him as a colonel.
The Honolulu Star-Bulletin strives to make its news report fair and accurate. If you have a question or comment about news coverage, call Editor Frank Bridgewater at 529-4791 or email him at corrections@starbulletin.com.
The Army's 108,800-acre Pohakuloa Training Area between Hilo and West Hawaii serves as a temporary training facility for up to 20,000 Army and Marine Corps personnel a year, said facility commander Lt. Col. Fred Clarke.
The final environmental impact statement for the "transformation" to Strykers includes an analysis of how the changes would affect Pohakuloa.
Residents had complained that 400 Strykers would stir up a lot of dust. The full brigade with all the Strykers would come to Pohakuloa twice a year, said Ron Borne, the civilian in charge of the transformation.
The Army report says that a variety of biodegradable or nontoxic chemicals will be sprayed on unpaved roads, forming a crust that lasts for several months.
Little military traffic would run on civilian roads, said Col. John Williams. Most would run on a gravel and partially paved trail between Kawaihae Harbor and Pohakuloa.
The alignment of the trail, much of it across Parker Ranch, can't be determined until the impact statement is approved in a few months, Borne said.
The Army still wants to buy 23,000 acres from Parker at Keamuku as an area to practice multi-vehicle maneuvers, but negotiations for that, too, have to wait for impact-statement approval. No ammunition would be fired in the maneuver area, which has long been used by Parker for cattle grazing.
Besides the Strykers, the 2nd Brigade will get six more 155-millimeter howitzer artillery pieces for a total of 18, Borne said. Coming to Pohakuloa twice a year, that means only slightly more noise from them.
Clarke said the nearest civilian residents at Waikii, about seven miles from the Pohakuloa boundary, can hear artillery firing but don't complain.
"It's not a significant annoyance for them," he said.
The Army plans to spend $234 million on the Big Island, most of it for facilities inside Pohakuloa on existing sites.
