From: | CPEO Moderator <cpeo@cpeo.org> |
Date: | 21 May 2001 21:00:49 -0000 |
Reply: | cpeo-military |
Subject: | [CPEO-MEF] Call for National Dialogue on Readiness and Environment |
[The following letter was recently sent to a member of Congress asking Congress to direct DoD to establish a FFERDC-type dialogue on the topic of military readines and environment. --Aimee] International Institute for Indigenous Resource Management 444 South Emerson Street Denver, CO 80209-2216 Phone: 303-733-0481; FAX: 303-744-9808 E-mail: mervtano@iiirm.org VIA FAX 10 May 2001 Honorable Neil Abercrombie United States House of Representatives Washington, DC 20515 Dear Representative Abercrombie: This is a short note on a readiness issue I was hoping to discuss with you or your staff last week. I was a member of the Federal Facilities Environmental Restoration Dialogue Committee (“FFERDC”), an advisory committee of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. The recommendations of the Committee, memorialized in what has come to be known as the “FFERDC Report” or “Keystone Report” were endorsed by federal agencies, tribal, state and local governments, as well as a host of other stakeholders. The FFERDC Report became the blueprint for restoration advisory boards, site-specific advisory boards and other citizen committees charged with advising federal facility managers on a wide range of cleanup activities. My sense is that the success of the FFERDC was due in major part by: first, acknowledgement by all parties that Department of Energy, Department of Defense and other federal facilities were contaminated by all manner of hazardous, chemical and radioactive materials; second, acknowledgement by federal officials that the cleanup of these facilities could not proceed without the support of tribal, state, and local governments and other stakeholders; and third, the participation of representatives of all these stakeholders on the FFERDC. I think the solutions to the issues of readiness I discussed last week with Senator Akaka, i.e., the tension between training on one hand and environmental protection, cultural resource management, endangered species protection, and similar concerns on the other hand could be advanced by a process similar to the FFERDC. My sense is that there are many folks out there who, like me, believe in the necessity of a strong national defense; who believe that a strong national defense requires training; but who also believe that training can and should be conducted in an environmentally sound manner without destroying the quality of life of neighboring communities. I think it would be useful if the Congress would direct the Department of Defense to form a FFERDC-like committee to examine these issues and to recommend a national framework which describes where, when, and how readiness training should proceed. Otherwise we will have to proceed on a case by case basis, relying on the vigilance of affected communities and the goodwill of the military services and individual base commanders. Mahalo nui. And please let me know if I can be of any assistance. Sincerely, Mervyn L. Tano ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ | |
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