2005-04-22 tHuggett (fka Soto SMA 03-007)2

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KIM:I do. GALDONES:Maam starting with you couldyou please state your name, your residence address and you may begin your testimony. MEYERSON:My name is Elizabeth Meyerson. I live at 74-5196 Kanai Place in Kailua- Kona. I am speaking on actually this issue and the next one coming up because I believe in fairness and theyre both going to be addressed by the same things that Im saying. Is thatall right with the Commissioners? GALDONES:However Maam your testimony will not carry on into the next subject matter. MEYERSON:I realize that, I realize. I just dont want to come up and say ditto again for thenextone. GALDONES:Okay,fine. MEYERSON:AswegoonIthinkyoullseewhatsgoingon.FirstofallIdontusually fling credentials around. But this time because of what Im goingto say I have to mention that Im a retired teacher of Environmental Chemistry and I taught it for 25 years. Ive also been very actively involved in many groups throughout the country not only here. There are 2 problems with both this and thenextarea thats going to come up. One of them is traffic. We now have only 1 way to get from North to South most times of the day that happens to be Alii Drive. We certainly cannot get anywhere on Queen Kaahumanu. Thats not going to happen. We are building many, many condominium residences down there, travel, time share residences which have a large number of people. They have no choice but to go out on Alii Drive. We have a tsunami zone. Do you realize that when those people have to get out of those buildings they have to go down towards the tsunami to get out? And were all told to run mauka so it puts them in jeopardy. And theyre continually building these condominiums down there that are a danger for people. And the responsibility will fall on the County if these people are hurt because of a tsunami. It may not happen but it may happen. The big problem that I see however is water. I think you all know the old saying water water everywhere not a drop to drink. Were getting there. Why are we getting there? Because our water is becoming so saline, so salty that its not fit for consumption. Within the next few years youre going to notice that everyone will have either bottled water or some kind of reverse osmosis filter. Our water supply department annually puts out a statement of the saliney of the water and they always say, oh, its not a danger. We arent even required to test this. Well it is a danger. One of the biggest problems in Hawaii is high blood pressure. And everyone knows, ask any doctor, tune into web MD on your computer and you will notice that it raises blood pressure. When we have an endemic situation here with blood pressure putting water into the supply of everyone who is drinking it here, people who cannot afford reverse osmosis filters and bottled water, is a problem. The latest figures on salinity were from 2003. Now I know weve built more and more of the shoreline and more and more consumption of water is occurring. What happens when you build at the shoreline is as you draw out the fresh water at the shoreline, salt water encroaches. I know this is happening because when I first moved here 10 years ago I called the water supply and I said my 8 EXHIBIT B