HomeMy WebLinkAboutCOM 0620.065 2022-2024 P/Council
Res.572.23
C.OMM. 20
From: Diane Ware
Sent: Monday, December 04, 2023 8:59 PM
To: Council Testimony
Subject: Written Testimony re: Resolution 372-23
Aloha Chair Kimball and members of the Hawai'i County Council,
My name is Diane Ware and I am from Volcano, Ka'u Moku.
I am writing to you today to 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.
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 reef and 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. 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, residents and those that travel here expecting paradise found not paradise polluted.
Malama 'aina/kai,
Diane Ware
808-967-8642 '
P. O. Box 698
99-7815 Kapoha
Volcano HI 96785 '- CD
�r3 r;
!a r.....
a_Ya
Comm. No. 0. I J
Ref. To: Pi[[iilli (I
1
Ref. Date o 6 2023