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From: leslee cook
Sent: Tuesday, December 05, 2023 7:37 AM
To: Council Testimony
Subject: Written Testimony re: Resolution 372-23
Aloha Chair Kimball and respected members of the Hawai'i County Council,
My name is, Leslee Cook and I am from Holualoa, Big Island.
I am writing to you today to plead with you to reject the funds requested by Mayor Roth to use our tax monies to hire
outside counsel to fight Hui Malama Honokohau v. County of Hawaii and instead approve the restricted use of the funds
for the sole purpose of hiring outside counsel to negotiate a settlement with Hui Malama Honokohau.
For decades,the Kealakehe Wastewater Treatment plant has released millions of gallons of treated sewage into
groundwater that flows into our Honokohau Harbor, causing irreversible damage to the surrounding nearshore waters
and the countless lives that depend on them. Maui County spent hundreds of thousands of dollars over eight plus years
fighting a similar lawsuit over their Lahaina Wastewater Treatment Plant,to ultimately lose in the US Supreme
Court. County of Maui v. Hawai'i Wildlife Fund has now set the precedent for Kealakehe and many other groundwater
polluters. Please do not let Mayor Roth make the same mistake as Mayor Victorino.
Please do not approve the funds requested by Mayor Roth, instead open your heart for the'aina. Please use your
powers to urge the administration's to settle the litigation, and upgrade the Kealakehe Wastewater Treatment Plant,
and do what is right for Hawai'i's'aina/environment and the citizens you swore allegiance to represent.
Mahalo nui loa, respectfully,
Leslee Cook
96725 w Q
cv
es. CD
-71
—,9
Comm. No. I I �'
Ref. To: tlLI 1 j IX'
Ref. Date - 6 2023
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