The Army last month closed several training ranges on Oʻahu and could return them to the state before their leases expire in three years.
But clearing the lands after decades of use could take longer. That's particularly true of Mākua, which is littered with unexploded ordnance after decades of live-fire training. Some community members want to be involved to prevent a repeat of Kahoʻolawe, an island the Navy returned to the state but failed to finish cleaning up.
"We think that the community, with a sufficient amount of funds and an endowment, can play an important role in the removal of unexploded ordnance and making the valley safe once again," said William Aila, a member of Hui Mālama o Mākua, an organization that guards the area's cultural essence.
Col. Rick Luce, the commander of U.S. Army Garrison Hawaii, said returning the lands early "is a great step and a really good measure of faith from the Army towards the state of Hawaiʻi and the Hawaiian community."
Luce said the Army has allocated $500 million just for the Mākua cleanup.
"That's gonna be a decades-long process to do our fiscal and our fiduciary responsibility to clean it up," Luce said.
He said his command, which oversees Army installations in Hawaiʻi, was working with Army Environmental Command on the job.
"That's something that's very, very important to us," Luce said.
Group says work clearing munitions could help area youth
The military took control of Mākua in 1943 when Hawaiʻi was under martial law during World War II. Authorities forced residents to leave, and the military began using the valley for bombing practice. Explosions damaged homes, a church and a cemetery.
In the 1960s, the Army signed a lease for 782 acres of state lands in the valley, which is due to expire in 2029. It separately controls 3,406 acres of federally owned lands mauka of the state lands.
Aila said how long the Mākua lease closeout process takes will depend on what level of cleanup is done. A subsurface clearing of munitions would take longer and be more expensive.
"We are watching with keen eyes on how the state now responds to the Army in terms of what's the criteria for cleanup that is being proposed," said Aila, whose uncle was among those ousted from Mākua during the war.
Hui Mālama o Mākua has set up a nonprofit trust to take over the valley. Aila said it could use robots and artificial intelligence to help remove unexploded ordnance.
"As long as we get the endowment, we're confident that we could actually develop technologies that will drive and become an industrial base for some of our youth in the valley," Aila said.
Army says clearing munitions is beyond most civilian capability
Luce says it's important for the Army to consult the community. But moving a 500-pound bomb or other tasks involved with clearing unexploded ordnance, or UXO, is beyond the capabilities of most civilian organizations, he said.
"That is a specialized task that requires expertise," Luce said, adding the Army wants to make sure people can access the valley safely.
Aila is wary of Army promises to clean Mākua itself because of the military's failure to clear ordnance from other training ranges, like Kahoʻolawe.
The federal government allotted $400 million to remove ordnance and clean up the island after the Navy stopped using it for target practice in 1990. The Navy transferred Kahoʻolawe to the state in 2003. It stopped clearing ordnance a year later with about 25% of the island still uncleared.
" Native Hawaiians' experiences with Kahoʻolawe, and with base closures in Waiāhole Waikane, have been extremely incomplete," Aila said.
Andrew Laurence, a spokesperson for the state Department of Land and Natural Resources, said the department will need to work with the Army to ensure the land is returned in accordance with its lease. He said this includes "obligations relating to the condition of the lands upon surrender."
