First we tried to tip over Guam, now we’re going to blow up Hawaii

In an article titled “Bombs In Paradise: Missiles and Munitions Headed To Ewa Beach, Hawaii” a writer for the website World Beyond War speaks to the sturm und drang of the US military’s plan to put an ammo dump on one of the Hawaiian islands. One would assume this is to pre-position supplies needed for any conflict with China, North Korea, or Iran, which with the foreign policy savvy and expertise at the helm now, we’ll probably need pretty soon.

If you’re wondering just what “World Beyond War” is all about, check out their “Who we are” page here. Not a looker in the bunch as my old man would say. They believe “War is immoral”, “War endangers us”, “War erodes liberties”, “War promotes bigotry”, “War wastes resources”, “War threatens our environment”, “War impoverishes us”, “Alternatives Exist.” In short, they’re latter day Neville Chamberlains and Woodrow Wilsons. They sit in the security provided by the men and women who are willing to fight wars to preserve the way of life that allows them to pontificate on how war is evil.

From the article;

The United States Army plans to build an enormous weapons facility storing stockpiles of conventional warheads and explosives right next to the residential housing communities of Ewa Beach, Ewa Villages, West Loch Estates, and Ewa Gentry, as well as beside the Pearl Harbor National Wildlife Refuge in Hawaii. This Pacific island paradise already has the largest concentration of United States military bases and compounds in the country, making it one of the most militarized places on earth. Were it to secede from the Union, Hawaii would be a major military power on a global scale. And now, more weapons are on the way. A lot more.

The size, scope, and expense of this massive construction project must be considered, as well as the immediate danger placed on the residents of the surrounding communities. Equally important is whether the pre-positioning of such massive amounts of live warheads and munitions is in the interest and safety of the American public. Pre-positioning means ready to use. Locked and loaded. We’re off to war. This decreases the time for diplomacy and increases the likelihood of the weapons’ use. Do we really want to stockpile yet more weapons on this over-militarized island in preparation for the next big war? Is this a prudent strategy, or rash and perilous behavior?

In a 164 page report written by the Department of the Navy for the Army, titled “Finding Of No Significant Impact (FONSI) For The U.S. Army West Loch Ordnance Facilities At Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickman (JBPHH), Oahu, Hawaii,” the Navy states this project will include 27 new box type “D” magazines, eight modular storage magazines, administrative and operational facilities, accessory roads and concrete pads, utility service and distribution, site drainage, security features, and fire lines. For the record, a box type “D” magazine has an estimated footprint of 8,000 square feet. Again, there will be 27 of these. An 86,000 square-foot vehicle holding yard, a 50,000 square-foot vehicle inspection area, and a 20,000 square-foot residue storage warehouse are among the other larger items to be built.

Despite this massive construction project, the Navy asserts no significant direct, indirect, or cumulative environmental impact to the area. The Navy then doubles-down on the absurdity, stating the proposed facility would actually result in beneficial impacts to public health and safety, an interesting argument for the storage of millions of pounds of explosive materials not more than a half mile from a housing development.

The report continues in the same vein using language meant to be innocuous and reasonable, but which is deadly serious, by arguing the massive weapons complex will cause no impact to cultural resources, biological resources, socioeconomic conditions, and minimal impact to land use. The Department of the Interior even signed off on the environmental impact argument, thereby proving the obvious, that all branches of the government work for the Pentagon.

The pearl clutching continues if you want to read more of it. Let’s take a moment and put things into perspective on this “massive construction project” and see just what scale the “enormous weapons facility” is.

First, the author also seems to take considerable issue with this place being within a half-mile of housing. This isn’t unusual. It’s not even that dangerous if proper revetments are in place. Any explosion is directed up instead of out, which is the bog standard for how to build any ammo dump. Let’s take a brief look at a munitions factory and the area immediately surrounding it on Google Maps.

Federal Cartridge factory and nearby future corpse huts

This is the Federal Cartridge facility in Anoka, MN. As you can see, the scale of the map in the bottom corner, shows that there are numerous houses, businesses, and major highways running well within 1/4 mile of the facility. Is having large quantities of ammunition (and the components of such) without danger? Of course not, but it’s not the specter of impending doom our author leads one to believe. Ammo dumps rarely ever blow up. In fact, grain silos blow up far more frequently.

The 27 ammo storage units are said to be 8,000/sq ft. That’s about twice the size of your average McDonald’s. A typical supermarket is about 40,000-45,000/sq ft. That puts the other structures into perspective. In sum, this project will have the footprint of a mall. That’s it.

Thanks to Poe for sending this one our way.

Category: Army, Guest Link, I hate hippies, Navy