2007-03-16 TWAIKOLOADEVCO - Laserfiche WebLink

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BAIL:Before we proceed, Id like to join in that objection for the record. GRAHAM:All right, thank you, Ms. Bail. Mr. Flaherty, before you speak, would you raise your right hand, and do you swear or affirm to tell the truth before the Hawaii County Planning Commission today on this matter? FLAHERTY:Absolutely. GRAHAM:Thank you. You can go ahead and give your testimony, but start with your full name and your address, please. FLAHERTY:Yes, sir. My name is Charles Flaherty. My address is P. O. Box 922, Captain Cook, Hawaii 96704. Im here today to testify on this matter because of my past experience in concern about near shore water quality in West Hawaii. I handed out the study that hasbeenreferredtoearliertoyouall.Imgladtohearthatcertainmembershavereaditand understand what serious matter this is. Its my opinion that this applicant is in violation of their SMA permit currently. It, the study is very clear that there has been a substantial environmental impact to the near shore environment by development at Waikoloa. And while I understand that Dr. Brock has the opinion that the additional golf course would actually be a favorable mitigation measure, Id like to point out that, as was described, the treated sewage is being placed upon golf courses and in a deep injection well, and thats how this degradation has occurred. I would also like to point out that Dr. Brock mentioned at Hokulia that it had no environmental impact, whereas the court- appointed water monitor that answered to the court found that indeed the golf course at Hokulia was directly contributing to elevated nitrite levels off-shore from that development. That monitoring program was ceased after the project was shut down because it became a moot point. However, we are going to be continuing with that, and in addition to that are establishing a baseline study from Hookena to Keauhou in order to establish a baseline for near shore marine water quality and the benthos community off-shore for the area. And we would like to work with the County and other agencies and the community in extending that baseline study to include the entire coastline eventually and establish a County water monitoring program, because the Supreme Court in this past July found that the County has an affirmative duty to protect the near shore marine environment in addition to the State having the same duty. I would also like to point out that the Department of Health, as far as enforcement -. Recently all of you saw the headline in West Hawaii Today where there was massive runoff sediment into the ocean off of Kohala, and the Department of Healths response was it was nobodys fault. Yet, there is the sediment 15 feet deep on top of a coral reef, destroying it. Id like to point out to you all specifically a few statements that are contained within the study. Nutrient concentrations at both Waikoloa and Hokulia were often higher than concentrations measured in highly polluted rivers and estuaries. Its estimated that nutrient concentrations in the anchialine ponds at Waikoloa have more than doubled since the resorts development. Historical water quality analysis from both Hokulia and Waikoloa revealed that nitrogen water quality parameters have increased significantly at both developments over the past ten years. Nutrient concentrations were more elevated at low salinities, suggesting that nutrients originate from fresh water sources like fertilizers, irrigation water and wastewater. These elevated nutrient 11EXHIBIT B