2018-06-27 Meeting Minutes (EMC)

Home

read that, it’s a well thought out, well researched document. And it found that the septic, they have a variance from the DOH to use septics for the conversion. And it was told that it would save money. Then, what apparently has happened, because I just went back to the CIP and found, on that list that you see there, that suddenly in 2012 that FEA was no longer valid. They had now a new—two wastewater treatment facilities where there was one. Not even a wastewater treatment. So to me there should have been an EIS. So I went looking for it. I went all through the TEN, and there’s no withdrawal of the other one and no EIS for these. So what we’re faced with in Nāālehu is where are we going ʻto put this? So it struck me from the very beginning that what we had here was a baby switch. Why would you put—I mean who in their right mind would put—it’s obvious there’s something going on here. To me, I mean, in my opinion, my very very humble opinion—I’m just a little country bumpkin who really is not up on these things. So I asked for documents. I asked for all the documents. I went to the library and looked for them, and they are not in the library. So, I’m a friend of the library--president of the library branch. I asked that these documents be placed in our library, what they have, what minor little environmental documents they have, supporting the decisions they’ve made, and those were denied. Apparently there’s a DEA, a draft environmental assessment done, that has never shown up in any books, never shown up. So we do not know. But what—the latest thing that came out of Mr. Kucharski’s office was a letter to the EPA asking for the extension. And that’s what you see the page 6 of. And there, once again, the EIS is bottom of the list to justify things, not at the top of the list to inform the decision-making. It’s at the bottom of the list to justify why they selected the site. And now the new maps that they have put out have—ta dah!—a new site. What a surprise. It happens to be the Kaū Royal Hawaiian ʻ Coffee and Tea Company, with John Cross as their land manager. John was with C. Brewer back in the days when they transferred. John was with Ed Olson’s Trust Fund for awhile. And now he’s with, since June 2017 according to stuff I pulled up online, has worked with these folks. So it seems to me that what we’re looking at here is a proposition to put big wastewater treatment facilities on 1,600 acres of land that a developer owns, somehow to not get rid of the LCCs but to provide them with a $20 million facility. That’s what’s showing up in the paperwork that Mr. Kucharski sent. Commissioner Fritz: Can I stop you here for a second? Is this still next to the school? I’m not really familiar with the geography. Ms. Demoruelle: Well, the new sites will not be next to the school. It will be uphill, so they’ll have to pump everything uphill. If you know Nāālehu, it’s up from the Punaluʻʻu Bakery, up that way. I think they’re taking over—have you heard the rumors that they’re taking over the Masters Garage, John Masters Garage, because this is part of that property, that ______ acres. That’s a rumor, we’ve just got rumors down in Kaū, you know ʻ how it is. And the rumor is that these folks are going to benefit from this. So it’s not really apparent to us what’s really happening here. There’s nothing in the TEN, nothing that we can look up, no—that’s the whole point of transparency. I mean, that’s the whole point of this environmental review, is to provide transparency for this project so that you and I and everyone else can know what they’re planning. What we’re getting here is simply