[CPEO-MEF] MUNITIONS: "The Army Is Quietly Walking Away from Oʻahu to Gain Leverage over the Pōhakuloa Training Area," HI

[Lenny Siegel <Lsiegel@cpeo.org>]

The Army Is Quietly Walking Away from Oʻahu to Gain Leverage over the Pōhakuloa Training Area
An analysis of the state’s rejection of the Army’s Final Environmental Impact Statement, focusing on issues related to toxic contamination

By Pat Elder 
Military Poisons
January 12, 2026

While public attention has focused on the Hawaiʻi Board of Land and Natural Resources’ rejection of the Army’s Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS)  for the Pōhakuloa Training Area, an equally consequential decision has unfolded largely out of public view. Under its own Record of Decision, the U.S. Army is preparing to vacate thousands of acres of state-leased land on Oʻahu—a move that reshapes the broader negotiations over military land use across the state.

On August 4, 2025, the Army signed its Record of Decision (ROD) for the Environmental Impact Statement governing its Oʻahu training leases. Buried in its conclusions is a stunning outcome: the Army has chosen the No Action Alternative for both Kawailoa-Poamoho Training Area and Mākua Military Reservation, meaning the leases will expire in 2029 and military use will cease.  

At Kahuku Training Area, the Army selected Alternative 2, retaining only a portion of the land. Extracted from the vague language, the decision means the Army will give up all 4,390 acres at Poamoho, all 782 acres at Mākua, and approximately 700 acres at Kahuku. Approximately 5,872 acres of land will return to the state. At Kahuku, the Army will retain 450 of the 1,150 acres it currently leases.

…

For the entire article, see
https://www.militarypoisons.org/latest-news/the-army-is-quietly-walking-away-from-oahu-to-gain-leverage-over-the-phakuloa-training-area

—

Lenny Siegel
Executive Director
Center for Public Environmental Oversight
A project of the Pacific Studies Center
LSiegel@cpeo.org
P.O. Box 998, Mountain View, CA 94042
Voice/Fax: 650-961-8918
http://www.cpeo.org
Author: DISTURBING THE WAR: The Inside Story of the Movement to Get Stanford University out of Southeast Asia - 1965–1975 (See http://a3mreunion.org)




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