Depleted Uranium use in Hawaii?

[madfloridian]

Run time: 02:33 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L94IUSw54pQ   Posted on YouTube: May 17, 2007 By YouTube Member: Views on YouTube: 0   Posted on DU: June 15, 2007 By DU Member: madfloridian Views on DU: 933

 
Is the US Army using DU on practice ranges and contaminating Hawaii? A report from KITV (ABC affiliate) in Honolulu.

More about Depleted Uranium research.

Three takes on Depleted Uranium

There are several views presented, and lots of opinions in the comments.

I worry about what they are doing at the "new Vieques", since our military shut down their bombing range in Vieques, Puerto Rico. They moved it to Central Florida to Avon Park, and they are admittedly using live ammo.

http://washdateline.mgnetwork.com/index.cfm?SiteID=wsh&PackageID=46&fuseaction=article.main&ArticleID=6920&GroupID=214

[durrrty libby]

1. K for later.................... Avon Park??

[madfloridian]

4. Three articles about Avon Park...2000 bombs, cruise missiles, more.

I would not be surprised if it is going on here in Florida as well. Nothing surprises me.

More than 250 troops will practice techniques they will put to use in Iraq.

After the loss of Vieques, the Navy planned to increase annual bombing runs at the Avon Park range from 6,974 to 9,998. But use of the base has increased in many other ways since the War on Terror began.

In addition to bombing runs by Navy and Air Force fighters and bombers, ground military training and special operations practice occur on a regular basis at the bombing range, the largest in the United States east of the Mississippi River.

U.S. Rep. Adam Putnam, R-Bartow, has pushed for increased military use of the range and was instrumental in attracting the Navy's additional bombing range use and adding money for a new operations center. Putnam says it is essential to return electronic warfare systems that were removed when the range was downsized in 1993.

More:

Avon Park Bombing Likely to Go Up

Navy officials contend the missions are vital to training in the Atlantic Fleet to guarantee Navy personnel are prepared to respond when needed around the world.

The increased bombing is scheduled to begin next spring.

The Navy plans to increase flights at this base southeast of Frostproof by 43 percent, from nearly 7,000 to about 10,000.

The fighter-bombers would drop more than 13,000 practice bombs, up from nearly 8,400, and more than 1,500 high explosive bombs. Military aircraft would fire as many as 27 Hellfire missles at targets on the ground and helicopter flights would increase from nearly 1,100 to more than 1,400. The Navy considered six plans, and while the chosen one is not the least disruptive of the alternatives, it is close to it.

And more.

Navy to Sharpen Its Aim In Polk

In addition to bombing runs by Navy and Air Force fighters and bombers, ground military training and special operations practice are also occurring on a regular basis at the bombing range.

...."The Navy wants to use the range for high-explosive bombing practice three to six times a year in blocks of 20 days each."

The range will receive a onetime-only windfall of between $417,600 and $1.8 million when the Navy clear-cuts for the 300-foot buffer needed for the impact zones for the high explosives.

The Navy plans to practice attacks from Atlantic and Gulf-based carriers using its top-of-the-line Boeing F/A-18E Super Hornet strike fighter, which crews have nicknamed "the Rhino" because of its nose configuration.

From a high of 6,000 Army Air Corps members during World War II, the range now has about 60 civilian employees. Of those, 33 are Air Force civil service workers and 27 are employees of a contractor performing services for the range.

[whistle]

2. Wherever the U.S. military has firing and bombing ranges in the country

...there will have been depleted uranium used in the ammunition and bombs. That is a fact and the military will deny that because they know they are poisoning the resident populations around these ranges. The high command just does not give a rat's ass about accountability

[ShortnFiery]

3. Yes, good old Pohakuloa Training Area (PTA) on the Big Island of Hawaii.

:wow:

I was only there for two weeks during the 1980 conducting training maneuvers with a tactical M.I. unit. It's disconcerting to consider DU presence, because we breathed in enough Lava Dust to coat our lungs and make us wheeze. It was so bad that we had to tie scarves around our faces before we got into our jeeps. It was like a bizarro version of Rat Patrol, i.e., the dust was brown and black. Now, I must wonder about the DU. Thanks. :eyes:

Any whooo, on a brighter note: I do hope they fixed the water systems in the showers of the Quonset huts we were pampered with sleeping within for in a few nights. The water had two settings, COLD and ICE.

Yes, the nickname "The Armpit of the Universe" for PTA is apt. ;)

[madfloridian]

5. I hope I am wrong.

Let's pretend I am wrong. I want to not believe it about Avon Park. But they were using everything at Vieques, and it sounds like they just moved it here to Florida.

[ShortnFiery]

6. I hope that you are in error also.

As much as I still admire the military as my family has a long history of service in the Army, ENOUGH is ENOUGH! :(

I thank God that I served right after Vietnam when the warmongering talk was not to be found. Right after Vietnam (late 70s into mid 80s) people, both republicans and democrats, had no desire to get entangled in "all out" war fighting.

To say that we need to DISCIPLINE the Pentagon and cut back on our Military Hardware is an understatement.

This is glib but - how much practice do they need to Blow Sh*t Up? There should be limits. ;)

[JohnyCanuck]

7. The Army says it does not use depleted uranium in Hawaii.

And it's not like the US Army would lie to you, right?

[madfloridian]

12. They would never do that.

Would they? :think:

[yurbud]

8. geeze. Now they want to piss on everyone's vacation too? next week we'll find out they tested

ebola on Santa Claus.

[PDJane]

9. Bloody hell.

The High Command wants to kill everyone on the planet? Does anyone think that they are immune to this stuff?

There are tonnes of the stuff in Afghanistan and Iraq. Birth defect and childhood cancers have increased so much that when a mother gives birth, the first question is not "is it a boy or a girl," but, "Is it allright?"

Global warming, ocean acidification, nuclear weapons........and the US military is the biggest single polluter on the damn planet.

The rest of us can't reign in your military, people--and you're going to take the entire planet with you.

[madfloridian]

14. I understand your feeling.

It appears no one can rein in our military...or our so-called president. He just declared himself a dictator, and he issues his signing statements to put him above the law.

But it is coming down to a court crisis here over the constitution.

[LeftyMcDemocrat]

10. yeesh...

[madfloridian]

11. Another post with 2 videos about views on depleted uranium.

Since they have been using Avon Park for a bombing range for decades, I wonder what is going on there. Our Florida media is not very curious, though...doubt we will find out from them.

US in denial about danger of depleted uranium

Be sure to watch the video from CNN which is linked from there.

Ok, I followed the link to the CNN video from Raw Story and found the URL.

http://veredictum.smartvideochannel.com/media/PlayVideo.aspx?cid=26788E264983422C8AFADF756D726E18

It is enough to make you weep.

[ellisonz]

13. There are no Americans in Laos or Cambodia.

:sarcasm:

[opihimoimoi]

15. There is no danger in AGENT ORANGE..."ya could bathe in it"