A U.S. Department of Defense agency is seeking public comment on a final draft plan to dispose of radioactive material that fell on Johnston Island after two failed rocket launches over the island in 1962. The Defense Threat Reduction Agency
A U.S. Department of Defense agency is seeking public comment on a final draft plan to dispose of radioactive material that fell on Johnston Island after two failed rocket launches over the island in 1962.
The Defense Threat Reduction Agency plan has a bearing on Hawai’i because the reefs around Johnston Atoll, located 700 miles southwest of the Big Island, serve as a biological stepping stone between the Hawaiian Islands and other Pacific island groups.
The agency has scheduled a public hearing at the Lihu’e Public Library from 5 to 6 p.m. on Wednesday, March 13.
Three other meetings will be scheduled on Maui, Hawai’i and the Big Island from March 15-20. DTRA will receive public comments from March 1 to April 19.
DTRA has said options include sending radioactive plutonium, contaminated coral and debris to a facility in Nevada used by the U.S. Department of Energy for underground weapons testing.
Another option calls for sending the materials to a radioactive waste facility in Utah.
The 625-acre Johnston Island is the largest of four islands making up Johnston Atoll. The cleanup is focused on 24 acres on Johnston Island known as the “radiological control area.” The debris was generated in 1962 when two aborted missile launches dumped radioactive materials in the atoll, triggering a cleanup project that has resulted in the removal of most of the contaminants.
All that remains is what is found within the 24-acre site, DTRA officials have said.
The atoll is a federal wildlife refuge jointly managed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the U.S. Department of Defense.
The atoll has been occupied by the United States since the mid-1930s. About 1,100 military personnel and civilian currently work on Johnston Island, but their lives are not in any danger because of the extent of the ongoing cleanup, DTRA officials have said.
DTRA, based in Alexandria, Va., safeguards the United States and its allies from environmental impacts of weapons of mass destruction.
