The U.S. Army will clean up thousands of weapons dumped offshore of Waianae, following KHON2's series “Buried at Sea.”

Tens of thousands of chemical and other weapons were dumped offshore decades ago. The conventional munitions strewn as shallow as 40 feet off Waianae's coast have their own landmark name -- Ordnance Reef.

"We've identified approximately 2,000 conventional munitions that are out there in the water in the Ordnance Reef area,” said Tad Davis, assistant secretary of the Army on island to present the Army’s plan tonight in Waianae. “And it's everything from very small arms -- 50 caliber machine gun -- to larger size bombs."

KHON2’s “Buried at Sea” series revealed the extent of the dumping here and elsewhere offshore. Hawaii's congressional delegation ordered the Army to launch a study. Now the Army says they'll clean up Ordnance Reef.

"What we're going to attempt to do is look at those munitions in the water that have the greatest potential for harm for people and the environment and to go after those first," Davis said.
It's a plan the community welcomes.

"This pilot project is a demonstration of that 180-degree flip in attitude," said Waianae resident William Aila. “That's a good thing for the environment. It's a good thing for the people on the Waianae coast health wise."

But residents still have other concerns.

“It’s just a tip of the iceberg because there are munitions at Mokapu, there are munitions off of Molokai, there are munitions off of Waikoloa," Aila said.

At Ordnance Reef, about a half-dozen new technologies could be used, making this Hawaii project a testbed for worldwide ocean cleanup. It's possible a small portion will be left behind.

"If you have a munition that's encrusted in coral or embedded in a reef, you've got to make a very deliberate decision on whether you want to remove it and risk harm to the reef or to the aquatic life," Davis said.

The Army and University of Hawaii are delving much deeper about 5 miles south of Pearl Harbor, studying a massive chemical dump site later this year. Will there be enough money to fund both that and Ordnance Reef? Those in charge say yes.

"What we try to do is to manage both of these efforts in a way that we can provide adequate resources to both of them," Davis said. “If it doesn't we'll be looking into the fiscal year 2009 for what funding might be needed."

Environmental advocates also want a database of where UH has found weapons at sea beyond the known dumpsites, and they want the army to research whether nuclear waste could be among them.
The Army will present its plan to the community tonight at 7:30 p.m. at Waianae District Park.