Three Hawaiian groups whose lawsuit stopped Army Stryker brigade training have filed court papers stating they now feel significant portions of that training can continue.

While a previous court ruling still requires the Army to look at the merits of locating the more than $1.5 billion Stryker brigade somewhere other than Hawai'i, the plaintiffs concluded there are Stryker activities that won't have an adverse environmental impact or diminish the possibility of moving the unit elsewhere.

"Maybe to the Army's surprise — I don't know — we concluded that some of the projects that they are proposing could go forward in the meantime," said Earthjustice attorney David Henkin, who is representing the Hawaiian groups in their lawsuit.

The Army is seeking federal court approval to conduct "critical" training ahead of an anticipated fall 2007 deployment to Iraq by the unit's 328 Stryker armored vehicles and 3,900 soldiers.

A hearing before U.S. District Judge David Ezra is scheduled for Monday morning.

The three groups — 'Ilio'ulaokalani Coalition, Na 'Imi Pono and Kipuka — filed a lawsuit in 2004 charging that the massive Stryker project would damage Native Hawaiian cultural sites and harm endangered species and their habitats.

Henkin said other projects could proceed if the Army "takes some very common-sense approaches to mitigate what would otherwise be harm."

The training the groups said is acceptable includes non-live-fire maneuver exercises at Dillingham Airfield, and non-live-fire training at Kahuku Training Area and Schofield Barracks' East Range with erosion control measures and better delineation of approved off-road maneuver areas.

The Army's latest court filing on the training request was not available last night, but the Army previously identified five of 28 Stryker-related projects on O'ahu and the Big Island, and one modification to an existing training range, as the most time-sensitive to ensuring that the 2nd brigade can transform into a Stryker Brigade Combat Team and be ready for deployment by November 2007.

At a status conference on Dec. 8, Ezra indicated he would likely need several days after Monday's hearing to reach a decision on the Army's request.

But it's a positive development for the Army, whose Stryker projects and training were halted by injunction on Oct. 27 after the San Francisco-based 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals earlier that month ruled the Army had not considered alternative locations for the Stryker brigade as required by national environmental law.

Stryker proponent U.S. Sen. Daniel K. Inouye, D-Hawai'i, meanwhile, said it was former Army Chief of Staff Gen. Eric Shinseki who picked Hawai'i for a Stryker brigade, but that "national security demands" the placement of one of seven of the fast-strike units here.

Critics have said the brigade could have been based in Alaska or Washington state at less cost and impact. But Inouye, in an opinion piece running in tomorrow's Advertiser, said terrorists are fighting in the Philippines, they are active in Indonesia, and are attempting to gain footholds elsewhere in the region at a time when the United States is cutting back on overseas forces.

"Basing a rapidly deployable and lethal Stryker brigade in Hawai'i will signal to those who may wish to do us harm that we are prepared to meet our security objectives in the region," Inouye wrote.

Inouye wrote the 9th Circuit ruled the way it did not because of pressing environmental concerns, but because Shinseki had not formally examined all other basing options before choosing Hawai'i.

As a result, 167 Stryker vehicles sit idle at Schofield Barracks and hundreds more are in warehouses on the Mainland waiting to be shipped, he wrote. The work stoppage is costing the federal government $1 million every month.

But plaintiffs in the lawsuit have said they expect the Army to follow national environmental law as required of all federal entities.

Henkin said evidence obtained since the Army made its request for a modification to the injunction shows that live-fire exercises at Schofield's Kolekole ranges and construction of an urban assault course can go ahead.

"And they could have done them two months ago if they ever sat down and described to us what they wanted to do with any specificity," Henkin said, adding that was something the plaintiffs asked for.

The Hawaiian groups said training at Qualification Training Range 1 at Schofield could be done with restrictions or mitigation like not using 50-caliber and 40 mm grenades.

But objections were raised to building a range and using the 105 mm Stryker mobile gun system at Pohakuloa Training Area on the Big Island because of harm to cultural resources, the groups said.

The groups also oppose construction and operation of a Schofield motor pool and use of unmanned aerial vehicles, which they said can crash, burn and ignite wildfires.

The plaintiffs' court filings say that if the Army has to conduct Stryker activities that cannot take place in Hawai'i under court order, there are other locations available, and the Army identified Fort Richardson and Fort Wainwright in Alaska; Fort Lewis in Washington state; the National Training Center in California; and Fort Polk in Louisiana.

Contingency plans also were drawn up, according to the documents to move troops and Stryker vehicles to an alternative location either last month or in January.

Reach William Cole at wcole@honoluluadvertiser.com.