[CPEO-MEF] Army accused of hiding plans

[CPEO Moderator <cpeo@cpeo.org>]

Army accused of hiding plans 

By William Cole
Advertiser Military Writer

An attorney with the Earthjustice Legal Defense Fund charges that the 
25th Infantry Division (Light) has failed to provide required public 
information for a planned $693 million fast-strike brigade in Hawai'i.

Honolulu-based attorney David Henkin said the Army violated multiple 
provisions "of their brand new regulations on what information needs to 
go out to the public" when it recently held a series of "scoping" 
meetings on O'ahu to gather comment for an Environmental Impact 
Statement, or EIS. Similar meetings were held on the Big Island.

The Army strongly disagrees.

"I will tell you, the scoping meetings were legal, and done in 
compliance with the National Environmental Policy Act," said Col. 
William R. Puttmann Jr., garrison commander for U.S. Army Hawai'i. 
"We're fully committed to complying with NEPA and all the regulatory 
provisions that are required."

Henkin said the "transformation" plan presented by the 25th Division has 
been overly vague, failing to spell out proposed land buys, probable 
environmental impacts or proposed alternatives.

This article can be viewed in its entirety at:
http://the.honoluluadvertiser.com/article/2002/May/19/ln/ln08a.html

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