2007-02-15 twaikoloadevco - Laserfiche WebLink

Home

BAIL: You’re welcome. GRAHAM: I have a number of things to say on this. First, if we took a parallel like global warming, in this case we are out measuring nutrients, so maybe global warming we are out measuring CO2 concentration in the atmosphere like they do at Mauna Loa. You can monitor forever, but the question is when do you take action. And I think that’s what we are finding in our international and national global warming debate. You know, is the science clear or is it not clear? And if it’s clear, then it’s time to take action. And to me that also brings up a very strong feeling on the interpretation we get on this report prepared by the University of Hawaii Marine Science Department versus the interpretation we get from the private consultants. We’ve had – from following ocean quality issues for many years – we’ve had Mr. Dollar and Mr. Brock, and for a short time there was Mr. Ziemann, preparing these ocean water quality reports for just about every development in West Hawaii since certainly in the beginning of the 80s.And they are very qualified individuals, and I certainly take no issue with their integrity of their numbers and what they are presenting. However, when it gets to interpretation, as to what these numbers mean, we never really have independent points of view; we always get what’s presented by the developers through their consultants. And now for the first time we have a strong comprehensive overview of what’s going on and independent interpretation of what’s going on. And so if I just read – these are just some of the excerpts that I read from the Marine Science Review prepared by the UH Hilo people – Page 4, “It is estimated that nutrient concentrations in the archialine ponds in Waikoloa have more than doubled since the resort’s development.”; Page 4 also, “These elevated nutrient concentrations may lead to algal blooms in West Hawaii, which may be comprised of exotic and/or harmful species.” Now if I compared this with Mr. Dollar’s presentation before the Land Use Commission, who says they can just occur in natural ocean water without any attributes from the land, I have to evaluate the sources. In one case I have four disinterested parties working for UH Hilo in the Marine Science Department, and the other I have a party contracted by an applicant for a land use change. So I certainly cannot say these independent people that were contracted by the Planning Department, I should disregard their testimony; I tend to more highly regard their testimony because they are disinterested. And I personally, from reading these things, feel like we need to do action; it’s not like we can wait until we have the situation develop here, which developed on Maui.And the situation is still strong on Maui, and is stronger now than it was a number of years ago. I lived on Maui in the 1970s. This was not going on down at that time even though – to my knowledge it wasn’t and I had read anything about it – even though Hawaiian Commercial & Sugar was sure doing their agricultural operations and Kaanapali was in full bloom back then. So what I’m saying is when I read Mr. Brock’s interpretation of his sampling, it reads so very different from what I read from the Marine Science Department of University of Hawaii at Hilo; and what I read from the Marine Science Department of University of Hawaii at Hilo is that things have reached a crucial situation. As Commissioner Iwashita indicated, conditions may be developing for environmental degradation as what we read in this report. So to me changing monitoring protocols and all is a very – perhaps necessary but – weak response to this. So – I don’t know – I’m very appreciative that the County contracted this that we have a third point of view; I very much like the idea that we have a conference to try to work out what are very different attitudes as far as interpretation of the results. But I personally can certainly not support going forward as if this report never existed that essentially contradicts interpretation what so much of what we’ve EXHIBIT C 7