HAWAII environmentalists and a native Hawaiian group are opposing an Army move to amend their agreement that prohibits live-fire training in Makua Valley.

Attorneys for the 25th Infantry Division filed a motion in federal court yesterday to amend a 2001 settlement so that soldiers can resume live-fire training. The motion is scheduled to be heard Jan. 9.
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David Henkin, attorney for the environmental group Earthjustice, wants the court to dismiss the motion, saying the Army could use sites on the mainland that are vacant in part because so many soldiers are in Iraq.
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The Army wants to hold at least 30 separate training sessions next year to prepare its soldiers for a combat rotation in Iraq next summer.

Under the 2001 settlement with Earthjustice and native Hawaiian group Malama Makua, no weapons can be fired at the 4,190-acre Leeward Oahu valley until the Army completes a comprehensive environmental impact statement. The final EIS document was supposed to have been done in October 2004.

Despite being more than a year late on a court-ordered environmental study, the Army is asking a federal judge to allow it to resume live-fire training in Makua Valley in preparation for an upcoming deployment to Iraq.
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The Army last trained in Makua 14 months ago under a 2001 settlement agreement with environmental and community groups. Yesterday's motion seeks to amend the settlement.
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Earthjustice attorney David Henkin yesterday said an Army request for a return to training was rejected through talks between the parties, and that the court motion also will be opposed.

I predict that the Army motion will be approved and the training will go forward. It's as if the Army is winning by means of procedural motions most of what was "compromised" in that 2001 settlement. This is not how legal settlements are supposed to function, is it?

Killian said a requirement of the settlement agreement between the Army and Malama Makua that calls for more archeological surveys has been one of the reasons for the delay. Malama Makua considers the valley to be sacred.

So, what changed? Is the valley no longer considered sacred? Hardly.

Well, at least the Army has not stooped to questioning the patriotism of Malama Makua and Earthjustice—although I now fully expect to see letters to the editors on that theme. If they are going to face that kind of smear then the two groups might as well discard the settlement and go to trial.