Navy base going inland?

LIHU‘E — A proposal to relocate either all of the Navy’s Pacific Missile Range Facility, or parts of it, mauka to an area at the base of the Mana Mountain Range, was unveiled during a Kaua‘i County Council committee meeting yesterday.

Once military buildings are relocated and the coastal areas where they once sat are returned to their natural state, those areas could become part of a state park, said Juan Wilson, an architect from Hanapepe who proposed the relocation plan.

At the same meeting held at the historic County Building here, a handful of residents railed against a Navy proposal to preserve nearly 6,000 acres by the base for agricultural use, and to lease from the state 415 acres adjacent to the base.

Capt. Jeff Connelly, base commander, said the proposed base-relocation plan took him by surprise.

“I can tell you the Navy has no plan to move the base. In fact, moving the base into the Mana Plain is what I have briefed here today, which is we don’t intend to impose on the agricultural areas and (intend to) stay within the current confines of the base.”

Wilson initially proposed relocating all military facilities of the base to an area set against the south-facing cliffs of Mana which would extend about halfway across the Mana Plain towards the ocean.

The new military area would be buffered by existing agricultural lands, according to a plan Wilson said he submitted to officials with the state Department of Land and Natural Resources.

The agency has jurisdiction over the land where the new base, or parts of it, Wilson proposes to be put.

“This PMRF relocation would be accomplished over several phases through land-use trades,” Wilson said in the plan.

During the meeting, he modified his plans by recommending the relocation of base golf-course ranges, cottages and recreational buildings to the proposed military site at the base of the Mana Mountain Range.

Eventually, the ocean-front lands left vacant by the removal of the structures could become part of a state park, Wilson said.

Councilman Mel Rapozo said it was important for the island community to know whether the Navy was planning to relocate the Navy base or parts of it to the 6,000 acres designated for agricultural use.

Connelly said he received a copy of the plan just “three minutes” before the start of the meeting of the council’s Finance/Intergovernmental Relations Committee, and, therefore, could not comment on it knowledgeably because he had yet to analyze it.

But Connelly, who is a pilot, said it would not be prudent to put an airfield near the base of the mountain range for safety reasons.

“Moving the airfield next to the big, big hills that have rocks harder than the aluminum in a typical airplane…It makes it very difficult to operate,” Connelly said.

In the 1980s, a Navy plane used during a base-related training exercise crashed into the Koke‘e area. That episode could occur again if a base airfield were put by the base of the mountain range, Connelly said.

Navy officials are currently proposing the preservation of 6,000 acres of state land around the base for agricultural uses as a way to preserve current base uses and improve future ones, including improvement of training and use of equipment.

Navy leaders are also seeking to lease 415 acres from DLNR officials to allow federal workers to repair and maintain drainage pumps and ditches that keep the Mana Plain from returning to the Mana swamp, Connelly said.

The lease also would allow for improved operations at the base, Connelly said.

Some residents lodged these concerns about the Navy’s two proposed land-use plans:

• Rayne Regush said Navy officials should be held accountable to all the conditions of its current government lease for the base site before any additional lands are negotiated. The base is a part of a natural flood plain, and “Can we really believe that Congress would set aside money to maintain and repair these pumps unless the current lease is extended by 415 acres?” Regush asked;
• Ray Chuan said Navy or other federal officials are “asking for pre-emptive decision on the part of the state agencies. In other words, ‘We (navy officials) don’t know what we are going to do, we don’t have a particular project, but we are going to ask for some kind of permit,'” Chuan said.

Connelly and community liaison Glenn Miyashiro said the details of the proposed land-use plans have yet to be worked out.

Council Chairman Kaipo Asing said he supports the idea of preserving agriculture in West Kaua‘i, but stressed he could not support the land-use proposals until more details are available and he has had a chance to study them.

Wilson said the 415 acres Navy officials want to lease are too big of a buffer area, and that the Navy should not be in charge of operating gates protecting areas where runoff from genetically modified crops could occur.

Seth Moody, a commercial diver who served in the Army, said he hasn’t been convinced Navy leaders have been a “good steward” of the land.

He said military operations have littered the reef with debris, including rocket motors that pollute and parachutes which marine animals can get stuck in.

Connelly said, “on a daily basis, we are recovering materials,” including training torpedoes fired during submarine drills. Boats pick up the fuel-spent torpedoes for the most part, although some torpedoes are not recoverable, he said.

The Navy’s proposal to preserve 6,000 acres for agricultural purposes drew support from the 3,000-member International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers office on O‘ahu.

James “J.R.” Rothschild, assistant business manager for the organization, said it would be “sufficient to support the initiative to preserve the agricultural use of the area and save the district from development. However, as a labor leader, my main concern is long-term jobs.

“Only continuing employment will enable the base workers to care for themselves and their families,” Rothschild said.

Connelly said he is open to public comments on the Navy’s land-use proposals, and would work with residents, farmers, farm groups, the Kaua‘i County Council and DLNR officials to resolve issues related to the land-use proposals.

Staff Writer Lester Chang may be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 225) or mailto:lchang@pulitzer.net.