The United States Navy Not So Neighborly Some Pearl City
Residents Claim
Pearl City, Oahu, Hawaii….
Residents
living near the Pearl City Peninsula reported to The Carroll Cox Show, that on November 9, 2008, approximately 8:30 PM, they
witnessed flames higher than tree tops with an orange glow, smoke
and a large explosion coming from the
Victoria Wharf area on the Pearl City Peninsula Naval Complex in Pearl City. They also told The Carroll Cox Show that they witnessed at least 12 Federal and Honolulu Fire Department trucks,
ambulances, police and numerous other emergency and support vehicles responding
to the fire. They were quite concerned
with the possibility of contaminants and other dangerous or hazardous conditions
the fire may pose, and they were nervously awaiting an all clear announcement
from the United States Navy that has yet to come.
Attempts
made by The Carroll Cox Show to get an official statement from the United
States Navy were met with rude security guards and arrogant Navy officials who refused
to give any comment, return telephone calls or apprise the public of the
situation. One resident stated “when the Navy wanted something from the
community it was all smiles and lots aloha, but when the public wanted to know
about this and similar incidents, the Navy clams up and turn a deaf ear to the
community’s request for info”. After
trying for a couple of hours to get an official comment from the Navy we
finally spoke with Ms. Agnes T. Tauyan, Director, Public Affairs Navy Region Hawai'i /Naval Surface
Group MIDPAC, who gave a limited verbal
confirmation of the incident, followed up by a limited written statement advising “At
approximately 8:30 p.m. Sunday night, 7 trucks and 25 firefighters from the
Federal Fire Department (FFD) responded to a report of fire and explosions at
SEAL Delivery Team ONE (SDVT-ONE) Bldg 995 in Waipio Peninsula. No injuries
were reported and there is no known threat to the public. The fire is
contained and FFD is still on scene. The cause of the fire and
extent of the damage is not known at this time”. The statement did not speak to the community’s
concerns that the fire may pose a risk to the people living in the surrounding houses. Nor did it provide information regarding the
incident’s impact on the surrounding marine and other natural resources in the
area.
The Navy is purposely keeping
the public in the dark on this fire. Here
is what The Carroll Cox Show dug up
while waiting for the Navy to pull the wool over the public’s eyes and keep
them in the dark. Its as if the Navy
decided to strip the public’s right to know if the safety of their families and
property is being threatened by this fire.
Forest City, the agency
managing the residential area on the peninsula, told us that the fire and
explosion caused the entire peninsula to lose electrical power. The power was restored to half of the peninsula
by mid-day and the remainder would be back on at the end of the day. The fire started at the Victoria Wharf area
where the Navy Seals train.
An unidentified source
was overheard telling the security guards at the checkpoint that he was trying
to enter the naval facility to check on his two friends that worked in the
building that housed the lithium batteries that were used in a research project
associated with mini submarines, and that one of the batteries blew up. This project was being run by Northrop
Grumman who had a contract to develop this project. He also told the security guards that a similar
incident involving lithium batteries occurred approximately six weeks ago. He further described the batteries as being
the largest lithium batteries in the world and that there could be catastrophic
results due to fire.
Other sources
provided the following to The Carroll Cox
Show, which is consistent with earlier comments made by the unknown source.
”New Battery Technology for Mini-Submarines”
Northrop Grumman has been awarded a $4 million contract by the U.S. Naval Sea
Systems Command (NAVSEA) for the development and integration of lithium-ion
battery technology for the U.S. Special Operations Force's new Advanced SEAL
Delivery System (ASDS). The ASDS is designed and built by Northrop Grumman's
Oceanic & Naval Systems business unit. It is a mini-submarine intended to
clandestinely carry Navy SEAL teams and their combat gear to and from hostile
shores. This first-of-its-kind system is transported to a mission area atop an
attack-class nuclear submarine, or it can be airlifted for deployment to
littoral theaters worldwide.
Work on the ASDS battery system is being developed in conjunction with Alliant
Techsystems.
Photo: Defense Systems Daily "The emerging lithium-ion battery technology
promises a 20- to 40-times improvement in life cycle and reduced operational
cost when compared with traditional battery technologies," said Bruce Ballantyne,
director of Special Defense and Submersible Programs for Northrop Grumman.
"This technology enables the Navy to expand the types of missions the ASDS
can perform." Northrop Grumman's Oceanic and Naval Systems, a business
unit of the company's Electronic Systems sector, designs, produces, tests and
supports some of the world's most sophisticated undersea systems.
Fourteen hours later, prompted by The
Carroll Cox Show and other media sources, the Navy released the following;
Fire at SEAL Delivery Vehicle Team One
SAN DIEGO, CA – The Advanced SEAL Delivery System (ASDS) “submersible” experienced a battery fire during routine maintenance in its shore-based facility on the Waipio Peninsula in Pearl City, Hawaii Sunday evening. No injuries occurred.
The incident took place at approximately 8:30 P.M. Honolulu Standard Time while watch standers were monitoring the battery recharging process from an external Host Monitoring Panel when they noticed sparks and flames coming from the vicinity of some of the battery compartments.
The watch standers evacuated the building and immediately called the Federal Fire Department who put out the fire and continued to douse the ASDS with water to cool any remaining hot spots. The FFD continued to cool the ASDS until it was determined safe to secure their hoses at 2:30 A.M. local time. A HAZMAT team monitored the area for hazardous gases and materials with thermal imaging equipment. No hazardous materials were detected.
The Naval Special Warfare Command has initiated a comprehensive investigation supported by subject matter experts from Naval Sea Systems Command and the Navy Safety Center. The Navy has not yet determined the cause of the fire or the extent of damage.
The battery-powered ASDS is a combat submersible and is designed to clandestinely transport special operations forces from submarines. It is equipped with onboard communication and navigational equipment including a Global Positioning System and Inertial Navigation System. Unlike previous SEAL Delivery Vehicles, the ASDS provides a dry environment and has greater speed, range and payload capacity.
ASDS preliminary design studies began in 1992. ASDS-1 was delivered to the U.S. Naval Special Warfare Command in 2001 and put into service in 2003. SDV Team One is a subordinate command of Naval Special Warfare Command.
Note the absence of informationon the power blackout on the peninsula in the above story. This is yet another example of incomplete
reporting and the Navy's desire to downplay and conceal information related to
this matter.
It is unfortunate that the United States Navy prescribes
to a policy that lends itself to disrespecting the rights of the public. The
Carroll Cox Show will continue to follow up on this matter and will report new
information as it becomes available. Navy officials seem to love their service to
the Navy’s mission more than its true mission to protect the American people. It
should be noted that the Star Bulletin (link:(http://www.starbulletin.com/news/20081111_Navy_to_start_probe_of_sub_fire.html and KITV covered this story only after being alerted by The Carroll Cox Show. The Navy did not initiate the release of information
until The Carroll Cox Show shared its
information with other media sources.
The
Carroll Cox Show sought permission to visit the sight or be provided
with photographs of the site. Both
requests were denied. Is the Navy
trying to cover up contaminants at the site or concealing the real damages? Surely it can’t claim secrecy because anyone
can easily find the vessels and detailed information plastered all over the
internet. We have found the following
links:
http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/systems/ship/asds.htm
http://www.es.northropgrumman.com/solutions/asds/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SEAL_Delivery_Vehicle
http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/systems/ship/sdv.htm
http://www.strategypage.com/military_photos/military_photos_20056261.aspx
