Proposal to expand mine warfare training around Hawaii sparks concerns
HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) - The Navy wants to renew its operating permit for training at sea around Hawaii and California with more mine warfare training around the islands.
In the Navy’s Hawaii-California Training and Testing Draft environmental impact statement, there are renderings of dummy mines for training.
It can include bottom targets or those tethered to anchors on the seafloor.
“Placement is done using precision GPS for positioning away from sensitive bottom resources” like coral and shipwrecks, said Alex Stone, project manager for HCTT.
“Navy training and testing includes the use of active use of sonar and explosives to prepare sailors to successfully prepare sailors to counter hostile threats,” according to a video for the Navy’s draft EIS.
“I have concerns about any type of explosives, sonar that’s going on in our ocean. I have concerns about any activity that the U.S. military is doing on our land and in our oceans,” said Healani Sonoda-Pale of Ka Lāhui Hawaiʻi.
A U.S. Navy video shows what a sea mine explosion looks like while video from the Royal Canadian Navy shows both mine warfare training and explosive ordnance disposal as part of defense of the Indo-Pacific region.
The proposed areas for the U.S. Navy’s mine warfare training include Pailolo Channel between Molokai and Maui, Kalohi Channel between Molokai and Lanai, Alalakeiki Channel between Maui and Kaho’olawe, waters around Kaho’olawe and Kauai’s Pacific Missile Range Facility and Waiapua’a Bay and Beach.
The proposed training areas off Oahu are Barber’s Point, the Marine Corps Base, Ewa Beach and Kaneohe Bay.
“They want us to be okay with them increasing more military training activities. How much training do they need and for what,” said Sonoda-Pale.
The Navy says it has protective measures to reduce potential impact to marine species and military leaders have warned of increasing threats from China to the Indo-Pacific region, but critics believe the immediate threat to Hawaii is climate change and the housing crisis.
The Navy’s first open house will be on Jan. 15, from 4 to 7 p.m., at the Keehi Lagoon Memorial. There’s also a Kauai meeting next day and other virtual meetings.
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