A new state working group is awaiting the results of two separate studies on environmental and health impacts from the U.S. Marine Corps Puʻuloa Range Training Facility in Leeward Oʻahu.
The group is made up of stakeholders from the state Legislature, Honolulu City Council, Marine Corps and members of the science community.
The Marine Corps collected 2,400 samples along the shoreline of the facility in February. Maj. Jordan Fox explained that they are putting together a report of the results.
“ Those results were sent off to an on-island, EPA-certified lab for analysis and then once all the data comes back, our focus is on being as thorough, complete, accurate and precise as possible,” he said.
“So while it has been a couple months, we certainly appreciate your patience and understanding as we work through this. Again, the focus is getting it right. Once the assessment report or multiple reports are complete, those will be made available to the public in full form.”
He did not want to speculate when the report would be released and was not aware of any considerations to move the facility.
This comes after the Surfrider Foundation found elevated levels of lead in soil samples near the facility in 2022.
Kuleana Coral Restoration will also begin testing fish and limu along the facilityʻs shoreline for levels of 16 different heavy metals — some of which are dangerous to humans.
The project will begin in August and will also give people in the area the opportunity to participate by providing fish and limu samples for testing.
