Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 22, Number 2, 1 February 2005 — Kahoʻolawe concerns [ARTICLE]

Kahoʻolawe concerns

The November front page article of KWO entitled "Return to Kaho'olawe" began with the following opening statement: "Keiki bodysurfed the shore break and parents prepared the fish they just caught." Both of these activities frighten me. It is published that the military cleaned up only 70 percent of the surface area and 9 percent of the subsurface. A reality eheek is that the three decades of artillery bombardment ean never be cleaned up! How could anyone elean up dirt and dust on any island? The following is a quote from Military Toxics Project 2002: "Small arms ammunition contaminated thousands of ranges across the country with lead. UXO poses an immediate safety danger and also corrodes, leaching hazardous munitions constituents into soil and ground water" (emphasis added). Their website is www.miltoxproj.org.

Information on the dangers of lead toxicity in children is well documented. If children, who do not have a fully developed skull and blood-brain barrier, ingest or inhale just tiny amounts of lead, it causes permanent brain damage, lower IQ and other health problems. The degree of retardation directly corresponds to the amount of exposure. No child visiting Kaho'olawe should have to take such a life-long risk. The toxic metal leaching of munitions should make anyone wary of eating any fish caught in the area. What kind of toxins are in the reef where the fish nibble for their food? Adults are at less risk because we have an intact blood-brain barrier. I am writing this to alert the kūpuna in charge of Kaho'olawe of this hazard. A prudent precaution is to implement testing for toxic metals on and around the sacred island and prohibit children from going there until we are sure they are at zero health risk. Lindafaye Knoll Puna