HomeMy WebLinkAboutCOM 0620.075 2022-2024 Pt Counci f
GOMM. 620
From: Misha Kassel COUNTY CLERK
Sent: Wednesday, December 06, 2023 8:39 PM COUNTY OF HAW 'I
To: 0 Council Testimony RECEIVED
Subject: Written Testimony re: Resolution 372-23 Time 1:16 O.M- $
Date DEC C 7 2y02
Aloha Chair Kimball and members of the Hawaii County Council,
My name is Dr Misha Kassel and I am from Holualoa. 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.
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. Do not approve the funds requested by the administration, instead upgrade the Kealakehe
Wastewater Treatment Plant,and do what is right for Hawai'i's environment and people.
Sincerely,
Misha Kassel,emergency medicine physician at Kona community hospital and father of 3 girls here in Kailua-Kona.
Sent from my iPhone
Comm. No. o•tg
Ref.To:
1
Ref. Date DEC 1 9 2023