HomeMy WebLinkAboutCOM 0620.040 2022-2024 p
112-23
CAMM.620
From: Uilani Naipo
Sent: Sunday, December 03, 2023 6:41 PM
To: Council Testimony
Cc: U'ilani Naipo
Subject: Testimony re: Resolution 372-23
Aloha Chair Kimball and members of the Hawaii County Council,
My name is U'ilani Naipo and I am from Pana'ewa Hilo. I urge you to deny the funds requested by the mayor
to hire outside counsel to proceed in a legal battle with HuiMalama Honokohau v. County of Hawaii. Instead
approve the restricted use of the funds for the sole purpose of hiring outside counsel to negotiate a
settlement with Hui Mama 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 in a similar legal battle over their
Lahaina Wastewater Treatment Plant, to ultimately lose in the US Supreme Court which now set the precedent
for Kealakehe and many other groundwater polluters.
Please do not let Mayor Roth make the same mistake as Mayor Victorino. Do not approve the funds requested
by the mayor and use your powers to urge the administration to settle the litigation, upgrade the Kealakehe
Wastewater Treatment Plant, and do what is right for Hawai'i's environment and people.
Sincerely,
U'ilani Naipo
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Comm. No. ). J
Ref. To: I i . 11
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