Construction by Marines of an elaborate mock urban village for warfare training exercises at Bellows triggered this community protest amid tensions that some Waimānalo residents will only be settled when the state gets back military land. - Photo courtesy Terri Keko'olani

By Liza Simon / Ka Wai Ola Loa

Recent placement of signs next to the Waimānalo Health Center by the Marine Corps has added new fuel to a simmering debate over military presence along the windward coast of O'ahu, an area heavily populated by Native Hawaiians.

Some residents just want the signage explained, while others are calling this the latest flap in a long history of "unwanted military occupation of Waimānalo."

The Marine Corps Base Hawai'i at Kāne'ohe installed the "No trespassing/no dumping" signs days after a May 21 meeting where military and local government officials met with Waimānalo community members and supporters, who want a piece of Waimānalo property now under military control to remain open indefinitely for community use.

The non-profit health center, primarily on state land, maintains a clinic building and cultivates a garden on the parcel as part of its services to area residents.

"When we were at the table, all parties seemed to be committed to our center's plan to continue its work for healthful benefits," said Mabel Spencer, an employee with the Waimānalo Health Center, since it opened more than 20 years ago. Spencer said military officials at the meeting outlined steps the health center would have to take to secure use of 25 of 170 acres that the military in the 1990's designated as "excess land."

Military inspects for munitions at a portion of Bellows Beach, where some community members say more remedial action by the military is needed. - Photo courtesy Terri Keko'olani

"We have developed a long-range plan through our health center to use the land for diversified agriculture, perhaps to create jobs, to at least use it so we can eat what comes from the ground and increase our self-sufficiency," said Spencer.

"But seeing those signs really put us off," added Spencer who so far had organized three rallies against the signage, bringing out dozens of protesters along Kalaniana'ole Highway in Waimānalo.

MCBH spokesperson Major Alan Crouch acknowledged that the military signage might have taken some by surprise, but he said notification was sent last year to the health center and to all tenants along the southern edge of Bellows Beach Park, stating that the military planned to survey and eventually install a security fence around this portion of unused federal property. "Even if the property is not being used, it's still the military's responsibility to maintain it, but there are some who disrespect the boundary by dumping trash that then must be cleaned up," said Crouch.

However, in addition to prohibiting illegal dumping, the signs warn clinic uses to stay away, said May Akamine, a nurse at the Waimānalo Health Center. "This is bad enough. I am concerned that a security fence would make access impossible for patients," said Akamine.

Crouch said no funding has been made available for the fence, so a construction date has not been set yet, but he added that the fence was not intended to interfere with the health center.

Following the last protest demonstration on July 3, Akamine said she talked with Crouch by phone about the regulations for civilian use of military property, requiring compliance with federal standards for liability, commercial activity and type of land use.

"Ultimately, though, the community would like the title to the 170 acres returned to the state. Some believe all of Bellows Beach should be transferred (to the state). This is also ceded lands," she said.

Currently, Bellows beach includes Bellows Air Force Station and the Marine Corps training area on the same site; a portion of the beach is also designated for public recreational use on weekends under a special agreement with the City and County of Honolulu.

In the mid 1990s, the Air Force decided to release a 170-acre parcel of Bellows. Of the 170 acres, the military offered 25 acres of "excess land" to the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands. DHHL's then-chairman Ray Soon declined to accept it, citing the noise impacts of nearby military training exercises that could make it impossible to get proper zoning for residential buildings. The entire 170 acres was then divided up under various branches of the military.

Under the current administration, DHHL has expressed renewed interest in acquiring title to the land, Spencer said, adding that the health center would favor this. Spencer said that the health center launched its own effort to lock in the land when U.S. Senator Dan Inouye hosted informational hearings on the use of Bellows in 2002. "The community was supposed to get whatever the military didn't want, but that never happened," she said.

Hazardous waste clean-up at Bellows beach have been the cause of both collaboration and conflict between the military and local residents in Waimānalo. - Photo courtesy Terri Keko'olani

Meanwhile, Spencer said the military's recently announced plan to build a recreational facility comprised of 48 cabins along Bellows Beach has angered many area residents, who have filed a protest with the Waimānalo Neighborhood Board, set to take up the matter this month.

In an email sent to the board, local attorney Joe Ryan said the cabins serve no strategic military purpose and would violate a 1917 Congressional declaration which set up the Waimānalo Military Reservation, stipulating it be used only for national defense purposes.

The health center's Spencer said she is not happy that the military has so far completed only an environmental assessment for the planned recreational facility. She said a more thorough EIS will show that unexploded ordnance and other maneuvers associated with military live fire training exercises at Bellows has "wrecked much of the coastal area."

Maj. Crouch said the EA assessed the proposed project for possible impacts and found it to be "in compliance with the very stringent requirements of (the National Environmental Policy Act). Once the EA goes out for public comment, the Marines do everything possible to coordinate their actions with both cultural and environmental requirements."

Meanwhile, Spencer questions whether both the sign posting and the recent shutdown of Bellows Beach campground were intended to intimidate or silence community critics of the cabins project.

The Kāne'ohe Marine Corps Base command closed the campground to the public during June, following reports of an unruly Memorial Day weekend, alleged to include car break-ins and fights. The campground re-opened July 3 with stricter rules in evidence and a noticeable presence of military and Honolulu Police.

"We believe the reports of vandalism and damage were exaggerated. The community has lobbied hard for a clean and safe Bellows, and we have gone through long periods of success and good neighbor relations (with the military), but there has been a marked change in the type of training since 2007," said Spencer, referring to the construction of a $3.5 million mock city at Bellows Air Force Station used by the Marines for urban warfare training.

Large-scale biannual RIMPAC military exercises are slated for Bellows again in August 2010.

"It's so loud that it's unbelievable. I was talking to a parent next to the health center. He said his kids huddle under the table during the exercises. There's also constant danger of fire with so much dry bush around. We don't know where all this is going, but, at this point, we oppose any more military expansion in Waimānalo. We want to know, why does it have to happen in our community?"

Crouch said the Marine command prides itself "on working closely with all communities that surround our bases. Here in Hawai'i, I have noticed a high level of interaction and cooperation with the community."

Crouch said any request received from the community has for new land-use or transfer would be submitted to his commander and "reviewed from the legal and practical standpoint."