The Impacts of U.S. Militarization on Water and Indigenous Peoples

Dear Friends & Relatives,

As you may know, at the Water Protector Legal Collective we have underway several Critical Research projects that are done with an eye towards improving the information available to Indigenous Peoples, allies, and frontline communities so we can educate ourselves and then find active ways to organize to bring about change.

One of our key projects studies the impact of U.S. Militarization on Water and Indigenous Peoples. These research efforts are led by recent Yale law grad, Kyra Blas, Robert L. Bernstein Fellow of International Human Rights, along with our Executive Director and Senior Attorney, Natali Segovia. As a way of sharing the extensive research we are undertaking on how U.S. militarization intersects with the Water, Indigenous rights, and environmental justice, we have begun a social media educational campaign and will be sharing posts as the year goes on.

During World Water Month, we included a post examining the links between Militarization and Water. In case you missed it, we are sharing it again here! 

For centuries, militarization has been linked to the exploitation, desecration, and destruction of Indigenous lands, waters, and ways of life worldwide. Here in the United States, the repercussions of militarization on water are far-reaching and deeply concerning.

Militarization and Water

Clean, safe, and accessible water is fundamental to our collective well-being and survival. However, the impacts of militarization on water often go unnoticed. While militarization is typically associated with national security, its hidden consequences have led to the contamination and depletion of ancestral lands and waters across Turtle Island, the U.S. colonies, and occupied Hawai‘i. The harms associated with the U.S. military’s adverse impacts on waters span multiple generations, military branches, and vast geographical distances from Maryland, Wisconsin, and New Mexico to Guåhan, Hawai‘i, Puerto Rico, and the Marshall Islands. These are the waters we brush our teeth with, cook our food with, and bathe in; the quality of our water seeps into every aspect of our lives. This issue affects everyone.

Historical and Contemporary Impacts

From the historical legacy of live bombing on islands like Kaho‘olawe and the Marshall Islands to ongoing challenges such as the Red Hill Bulk Fuel Storage Facility on O‘ahu and uranium mining on Navajo Nation lands, the impacts of militarization on water are profound and enduring. Communities continue to face threats to their health, cultural heritage, and sovereignty due to military activities.

Legacy of Live Bombing

• Kaho‘olawe in Hawai‘i is a historical example of the long-term decimation and impact of live bombing. Used by the U.S. military as a bombing range during WWII, the small island in the Pacific became uninhabitable. Live bombing and firing ranges leave toxic chemicals, including lead, in soils and waters. Uncle Walter Ritte and others led the Aloha ʻĀina movement of the 1970s to protect the land and protesting the continued use of the island for live bombing. After decades of protests, the U.S. Navy ended live-fire training exercises on Kahoʻolawe in 1990, and jurisdiction transferred to the state 1994. The Kahoʻolawe Island Reserve was established to restore and oversee the island and its surrounding waters. Today Kahoʻolawe can be used only for Kānaka Maoli cultural, spiritual, and subsistence purposes. It has no permanent residents.

• The Marshall Islands also suffered from military testing of nuclear bombs, resulting in displacement and lasting radiation in waters, preventing communities from safely eating crops and fish that traditionally sustained their peoples. We featured the Marshall Islands in our recent post “The Myth of Nuclear Energy as Clean Energy.” Stay tuned for Part 2 for more info! 

• Makua Valley in Hawai‘i was used for shooting and bombing exercises since the 1940s. After decades of protest, the Department of Defense said in December 2023, it no longer needs the land for live-fire training, “now or in the future.” The Army promised to return the land when it occupied it in the early 1940s. Instead, it became a “dumping ground” for bullets, bombs and chemicals. Activists have worked to end military occupation at Makua for decades, expressing concerns about Hawaiian cultural rights and endangered species. A portion of the land the Army controls in Makua Valley, more than 700 acres of roughly 4,000, is covered by a 65-year state land lease that the military procured for $1. It expires in 2029.

PFAS Contaminated Water

The US Navy’s Red Hill Bulk Fuel Storage Facility at Red Hill on O‘ahu, Hawai‘i stores well over 100 million gallons of fuel just 100 feet above Oʻahu’s primary drinking water supply (sole source aquifer) for over 400,000 people. Constructed specifically for World War II, the facility is completely underground and holds 20 tanks, each tank standing 250 feet tall and 100 feet wide. Since 1943, a conservative estimate of 200,000 gallons of fuel have leaked from the Red Hill facility into the surrounding environment. This includes the 14,000 gallons of fuel-water mixture in November 2021; 1,600 gallons of fuel in May 2021; and 27,000 gallons of fuel in January 2014—all from the Red Hill facility.

Uranium Mining for Military Purposes

• Navajo Nation: From the 1940s to 1980s, mining companies extracted over 30 million tons of uranium ore on or near the Navajo Nation, with the Atomic Energy Commission being the primary buyer until 1970 for military purposes. Today, over 500 abandoned uranium mines on Navajo land pose a threat of radioactive contamination to water and air, as evidenced by groundwater pollution in the San Mateo Creek Basin and uranium concentrations in surface water and groundwater in the Cove Wash Watershed. 15% of the Navajo Nation relies on unregulated water sources prone to bacterial and heavy metal contamination, while 40% lack running water. The resulting health impacts include elevated cancer rates, respiratory diseases, and kidney conditions, with some residents showing high levels of uranium in urine and babies born with uranium traces long after mining ceased. Cleanup efforts, initiated only recently, fail to fully address the historical and ongoing harm inflicted on Indigenous lands and waters, underscoring the broader issue of settler colonialism and Indigenous sovereignty.

• Proposed Uranium mining at Pinyon Plain: Uranium concerns for traditional lands and waters are far from over with new proposed uranium mining. Pinyon Plain mine In the Four Corners region threatens Havasupai, Navajo, Hopi, Ute, and Pueblo ancestral lands and waters. In our latest Instagram post, we highlight the dangers of nuclear energy, including its reliance on uranium mining, and the negative impacts of the U.S. government’s nuclear acts on Indigenous peoples, lands, and waters. In our latest Instagram post, we highlight the dangers of nuclear energy, including its reliance on uranium mining, and the negative impacts of the U.S. government’s nuclear acts on Indigenous peoples, lands, and waters.  

We hope you will tune-in to our series on militarization, including today’s post debunking The Myth of Nuclear Energy as Clean Energy.

Taking Action

It is imperative that we recognize and address the intersection of militarization, water contamination, and Indigenous rights. By advocating for environmental justice, supporting affected communities, and demanding accountability from government and military entities, we can work towards a future where clean water is a universal right.

• Share: Share our posts on Instagram or Facebook.

• Donate: Ensure that WPLC and the organizations we mention below can continue this work by donating to us www.waterprotectorlegal.org/donate. 

• Learn More and Get Involved

• 'Āina Momona is a Native Hawaiian led community organization dedicated to environmental sustainability, food security and resilience, and social justice. Donate to their work: secure.actblue.com/donate/aina-momona (@ainamomona) 

• Prutehi Litekyan | Save Ritidian is a direct action group dedicated to the protection of natural and cultural resources in all sites identified for DOD live-fire firing training on Guam that opposes the establishment of any military firing range and align our efforts with other regional movements working to prevent environmental degradation and destruction on sacred and native lands. Their work promotes the continued pursuit for return of ancestral lands. Learn more about their work: www.saveritidian.org (@prutehilitekyan)

• With 50 years and counting under their belt, the Sierra Club of Hawaiʻi is working to advance climate solutions, act for justice, get outdoors, and protect Hawai‘i’s lands, water, air, and wildlife. SCH works on both statewide and county-based issues, activating our 27,000+ members and supporters to get involved on issues they care about through our groups on Hawaiʻi Island, Maui, Oʻahu, and Kauaʻi. Donate to their work: sierraclubhawaii.org/donate (@sierraclubhi)

• Haul No! is a volunteer Indigenous-led group collaborating with Indigenous communities and leaders, environmental organizations, and community-based advocates working to stop nuclear colonialism in the Southwest. Haul No! intends to spread awareness and stimulate action to address threats of nuclear colonialism in the Southwest which include: uranium mining and milling, transport of radioactive materials, cleanup of abandoned uranium mines (AUMs), and basically the entire nuclear fuel chain from uranium extraction to nuclear weapons and energy development and waste storage. They organize to uphold Indigenous sovereignty with a culturally-rooted framework that focuses on the intersections of environmental, climate, and social justice for a just and healthy future. Donate to their work: haulno.com/donate (@haul_no)

As new threats emerge to Indigenous Peoples, lands, and water, we start by fighting misinformation and dis-information (information that causes harm) with truth to power. Thank you for supporting our work to bring this information to light. Together, we can make a difference.

In Solidarity,

WPLC