A Wai'anae Coast group has taken the Army back to court over its use of Makua Military Reservation, saying the service failed to include numerous "high priority" sites on a list for Hawaiian cultural access, and failed to provide opportunities for public input on the list as required.

Col. Matthew Margotta, commander of U.S. Army Garrison Hawai'i, said yesterday's federal court filing still is being reviewed, but added, "The Army has fully complied with the requirements of the most recent court order and identified additional sites for cultural access."

Yesterday's filing by community group Malama Makua is the latest in a court case that dates to 2000.

The group, which consists primarily of Wai'anae Coast residents and includes Native Hawaiian practitioners, sued the Army that year. It claimed the Army's failure to prepare an environmental impact statement for military training in the 4,190-acre valley violated the National Environmental Policy Act.

The case was settled in 2001 with the Army agreeing to conduct the study.

According to the latest lawsuit, the settlement required that within one year the Army had to identify additional high-priority areas within Makua Military Reservation for unexploded ordnance cleanup for cultural access, and hold public meetings on the plan.

Following that, the Army was required to make a good-faith effort to promptly secure funding for unexploded ordnance clearance to provide access to the cultural sites.

In March, U.S. District Judge Susan Oki Mollway ruled that the Army was in violation of the agreement, and ordered it to begin submitting quarterly reports to the court until unexploded ordnance has been cleared from designated priority locations.

Earthjustice attorney David Henkin, who represents Malama Makua, yesterday said there were two public meetings held by the Army on high-priority sites in 2002.

"(But) that was the last time there were any public meetings or public discussion," Henkin said. "Between 2002 and 2008 there have been huge changes in Makua in terms of the knowledge of what (Hawaiian cultural) sites are there."

After a fire in 2003, archaeologists discovered 54 new Hawaiian sites with hundreds of features, Henkin said.

Henkin also said the Army has cut back on cultural access rather than expanding it, as the result of a 2005 decision that the ground had to be cleared of unexploded ordnance down to a depth of 1 foot.