HomeMy WebLinkAboutCOM 0620.041 2022-2024 P / CoL Gi
COUNTY OF HA WA I; 620
Aloha Chair Kimball and members of the Hawai`i County Council`, �� AFC 53
My name is Kaikea Nakachi from North Kona on Moku `o Keawe and I am writing to you today
to strongly urge you to reject the funds requested by the mayor to hire outside counsel to fight
Hui Malama Honokohau v. County of Hawai`i 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.
I have personally witnessed the dangerous and unnatural algal blooms in Honokohau Harbor that
result from the partially treated sewage being pumped to an injection well where it enters the
nearby coastal waters in as little as 1 week (See Figure 1 below). We cannot allow this violation
of the Clean Water Act to continue to cause irreversible damage to the surrounding nearshore
waters and the countless lives that depend on them.
There is already precedence of this issue with County of Maui v. Hawai`i Wildlife Fund. I do not
wish for the county of Hawai`i to use our tax dollars on a wasted effort attempting to defend a
non-pono activity. 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.
Ua lilo i kai kuewa na kai kapu i ho`omalu is(`Olelo No`eau#2816,The protected sea [shores]
have become sea[shores] for wanderers.Also said to mean cherished daughters have been led
astray). I urge you all to reject this request for funds and ensure we do not further contribute to
lessening protections on our cherished shores.
Me ka ha'aha'a(humbly) and with great aloha,
Kaikea Nakachi
Figure 1:Algal bloom in Honokohau Harbor on February 3 2023,photographed at 1Oam at mooring line of slip C-5.
Comm. N.. 0• I
Ref. To: I(I1�.(MI
Ref. Date . C "' 6 02i