COM 0045.010 2002-2004 - Laserfiche WebLink

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02/10/2009 14:12 FAA 808 9747899 CrHH NATURAL SCIENCE DFPT fdj 002 Monday, February 10, 2003 Dear honorable Council members, please consider the following as testimony a¢ainst the General Plan to put industrial activity in the rural and agricultural area near Pepeekeo. While the general plan is not widely known to those living in the Pepeekeo area, it is widely opposed by those who have heard of it. In my view as a doctor of toxicology and a chemist, siting industry in a rural residential and agricultural area is inappropriate from a health standpoint (please see below). In my view as a citizen it is both bad planning logistically and also shows a fundamental disregazd o£people's desires and efforts to live away from industry. People voted with their feet: they did not move to the country along the coast to live next to industry. Non-coastal land and/or land next to industry could have been purohased at considerably less expense in existing industrial and in the abundant non-coastal areas- Further, industry is incompatible inclose proximity with 1) the coastal zone, 2) with existing residential areas, and 3) with rural diversified agriculture. The proposed change to the general plan violates all three of these basic planning objectives. Minimizing diesel truck exhaust, highway wear. and increased traffic fatalities should also be considered. The argument has been put forth that virtually any industry can be both clean and safe by using technological controls. This often looks good on paper, however life repeatedly teaches us that in the real world, things can be relied upon to work as planned only some of the time. That.could be often as in air travel, less often as in caz travel, or even less often as in space travel. Technology is fallible, and accidents will happen; the list of examples is :gag and sometimes tragic No doubt, the planners in Bhopal India felt assured with the high-tech safeguards of Union Carbide. Tn zetrospect, they made a huge mistake. Most industrial safe-guard failures are not nearly as obvious as Bhopal, but can and do severely damage both people and the environment in mare subtle and longer lasting ways. Human and technological failures azc both inevitable. The questions ere cot if human oversight and technological safe-guards will fail, but how often and how bad are the possible results'? Only good planning and zoning can prevent such tragedies. It is up to you. The need for industry is recognized, hopefully the need for good planing, that does not violate people's life choices, environmental concerns, and basic incompatibilities, is recognized as well. The big island has a huge land area, we need not, and good plarming will not Co-locate industry with existing residential communities, fragile coastal zones, or food-producing agricultural areas. Proper zoning that uses distance to keep people, crops and sensitive environments away and industrial hazards is the most fundamental and reliable means of protection. Tt does not rely upon technologies always working and government oversight catching (and quickly correctiurg) the failures of these technologies. By analogy, it is far simpler, less expensive and safer to separate a child and a book of matches by keeping them well away from each other than it is to constantly be vigilant and hope that any technical safety features will not be breached. In the long run, simple separation by zoning is often far more cost-effective, safer and lower maintenance thaw any other means of keeping people and hazards apart. Health hazards from just one proposed industrial activity near Pepeekeo are briefly outlined below. Any one of them is reason enough to use proper zoning as a distance buffer to keep people and hazards apart. This list is not exhaustive but highlights a few of the more