Environmental-impact statements are required by the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969. The Navy said 44 people attended the Puhi meeting, and not all were concerned citizens or conservationists. The Navy held six public-scoping meetings to inform the public and
Environmental-impact statements are required by the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969. The Navy said 44 people attended the Puhi meeting, and not all were concerned citizens or conservationists. The Navy held six public-scoping meetings to inform the public and solicit input on what that document should cover, which is the first part of public-participation requirements for an EIS. A draft will be prepared over the next year and then circulated for public comment. Availability of that draft and public hearings are scheduled for the spring of 2012.
Editor’s note: The following article is based on a press release from Diana LaBedz, who attended the public-scoping meeting for the Hawaii-Southern California Training and Testing Environmental Impact Statement Tuesday evening at Kaua‘i Community College, and should have indicated The Garden Island did not cover the meeting. The article did not make clear that it was based on a press release from LaBedz. There was no attempt to contact the Navy to provide information for the article.
Environmental-impact statements are required by the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969. The Navy said 44 people attended the Puhi meeting, and not all were concerned citizens or conservationists. The Navy held six public-scoping meetings to inform the public and solicit input on what that document should cover, which is the first part of public-participation requirements for an EIS. A draft will be prepared over the next year and then circulated for public comment. Availability of that draft and public hearings are scheduled for the spring of 2012.
LIHU‘E — Tuesday afternoon, dozens of concerned Kaua‘i citizens and conservationists attended the U.S. Navy’s public-scoping meeting on the Navy’s California and Hawai‘i training and testing plans, a news release states.
The Navy is preparing an environmental impact statement to comply with the National Environmental Protection Act. NEPA was signed by President Richard Nixon in the early 1970s, and it states that any time a federal project is large enough to significantly impact the environment, an EIS must outline all the project’s environmental impacts and suggest actions (mitigations) that will minimize harmful consequences.
Most people who attended the hearing were skeptical of the Navy’s intentions and questioned the need for large-scale Navy training when it seemed irrelevant to today’s defense needs, the release states.
Navy spokesmen were adamant that national preparedness and defense mandates that the Navy be prepared for every eventuality, including attacks from Chinese or North Korean ships, the release says.
Whale advocates from the newly formed Kaua‘i group Kohola Mana ‘Ohana were most concerned about the impacts of sonar and loud underwater noises on marine mammals and other sea life. Representatives of the Kaua‘i chapter of the Surfrider Foundation asked the Navy to examine everything they do, from smoke-stack pollution, trash and sewage dumping into the ocean, the effects on sea turtles from practice beach assaults as well and light and noise pollution, the release states.
Kekaha resident Diana LaBedz spoke to each representative of the Navy, challenging them to become stewards of the ocean rather than ocean polluters and destroyers.
“The oceans of our planet are dying and are in need of protection from the navies of the world,” she said in the release.
The Navy will write the draft of the EIS, to be published this spring. The public will be able to comment on the outcome. The final EIS will be certified by the Navy and will be free to do the trainings and testings that are outlined in the document. Hearings have also taken place in California, and are set for O‘ahu, Big Island and Maui. For more information or to comment, visit www.HSTTEIS.com by Sept. 14.
