One groundskeeper has been released but another remained hospitalized after unexploded ordnance apparently detonated and injured the men as they cut grass at the Army’s Makua Military Reservation on Monday, officials said.
The two men work as ground maintenance contractors for NuGate Group LLC. The incident occurred about two-thirds of a mile inside the south side of the valley when one of the men, using a hand-held grass cutter, contacted unexploded ordnance, the Honolulu Fire Department and Army said.
"We had two employees that were injured. One has been released. He was released — I don’t know if it was the same day that the incident happened. If it wasn’t the same day, it was the very next day," NuGate owner Jamila Stanford said Thursday.
Stanford said she couldn’t speak about the injuries, but she did say they are "not life-threatening, which is a great thing, and one (man has) been released." Stanford said she hadn’t received any indication that the still-hospitalized man’s medical needs will require an extensive stay.
The workers were conducting routine grass cutting at Makua as part of the Army’s environmental requirements.
When the incident occurred, Army personnel provided aid until crews with the Honolulu Fire Department arrived on scene, the Army said. An Army-contracted medevac helicopter transported the injured men to the Queen’s Medical Center.
The Army said it has stopped all grass-cutting and soldier training at Makua pending the completion of an investigation. U.S. Army Garrison-Hawaii is working with the Army Combat Readiness/Safety Center to examine what happened.
"One was operating a grass trimmer when he made contact with the unexploded ordnance. Of course, the person closer had more injury, and the (other person) was a little bit farther away and his injuries were less," Honolulu Fire Department spokesman Capt. David Jenkins said Monday.
Unexploded shells, mortar rounds and bombs remain in 4,190-acre Makua Valley from military training that dates back to the 1920s.
The Army removed a 100-pound bomb from the valley in 2011. In late 2007 a World War II 250-pound bomb discovered beneath an interior access road was detonated, along with an 81 mm mortar round and 106 mm antitank round that had been found.
Past munitions used in Makua Valley also included cluster bombs, rockets, mortars and rifle grenades.
Army training at Makua includes bivouac, maneuver, combat service support, aviation and the use of unmanned aerial vehicles, said spokeswoman Stefanie Gardin. The Army has been prohibited from conducting live-fire training at Makua since 2004 as part of an ongoing environmental lawsuit.
"We will determine whether this accident has any impact on future training after we receive the results of the investigation," Gardin said in an email.
She said the accident occurred in a place that’s accessible to soldiers, but there is no single "usual area" where soldiers train in the valley, as the locations used are based on training needs.
