HomeMy WebLinkAboutCOM 0620.048 2022-2024 Pt Council
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Sent: Monday, December 04, 2023 8:15 AM
To: Deirdre Roney; Council Testimony
Subject: RE: Resolution 372-23
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From: Deirdre Roney<abitofearth7@gmail.com>
Sent:Sunday, December 3, 2023 4:45 PM •
To:Council Remote Testimony<councilremotetestimony@hawaiicounty.gov>
Subject: Resolution 372-23
Aloha Chair Kimball and members of the Hawaii County Council,
My name is Deirdre Roney and I live in Holualoa. I am writing to you today because my
husband is a fisherman and snorkeler, my son is a surfer, I am a farmer; we are humans
who can only survive within a healthy ecosystem/aina, and that includes clean water.
Water is Life. Additionally, as an attorney and activist, I urge you to reject the funds
requested by the mayor 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. Legal
precedent and common sense show that the mayor's request is worse than frivolous; it is
irresponsible, disrespectful and harmful. In short, it is not pono.
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. Hawaii Wildlife Fund has now set the precedent for ��.1rg
Kealakehe and many other groundwater polluters. Comm. No.
1 Ref. To:
Ref. Date P•:.6 6 2023.
Please do not empower Mayor Roth to make the same mistake as Mayor Victorino. Do not
approve the funds requested by the mayor. 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. As embers from parched invasive grasses
smolder, coral reefs sicken and brown, aquifers are poisoned with jet fuel and fire
retardant, aina is seeded with unexploded ordnance, please do not add your names to the
long list of government officials who harm Hawai'i because it's easier (and often more
personally profitable) than exercising one's kuleana to uphold the rule of law and to heal
and uplift the aina.
Respectfully,
Deirdre Roney
Deirdre Roney
She/Her
Attorney and Activist
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