HomeMy WebLinkAboutCOM 0212.431 1996-1998 + S
- ~R.~ LAI-~~JI HAW~.~I`I _
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P.O. Box 4964, Hilo, Hawaii 96720 • 934-7723 ~ - ~~I 7
"i:t(Iwi~~T.rus'k'"r~ P ~ l~'UM-~(.P
nina~co May 20, 1997 C
Chairman Arakaki and Councihnemh:r~ of the Hawaii County
'auJ Neaes , ;a
ukane(a Kia'cinb;+~ COUIICll,
.t. Gox+aaar
? Coochie Cayan My name is Mililani Trask, Kia ama of Ka Lahui Hawaii, the
ya~een tV.Andr~ady~e~~. largest Hawaiian sovereignty organization In the State of Hawaii.
'u
~ikU (ATHI(~ ttrLCitr~'
~ ' We have actively pursued social, economic and environmental
~ justice on the local, state, national and international political arenas
~
~ for a decade. We hold alliances with Indigenous Peoples
~ ` ~
~ throughout the world.
" One the common problems that affect Indigenous Peoples
gr`e' f
n i' ~a~~ $
throughout the world is environmental degradation in the name of
economic development. In Hawaii alone, the Kanaka Maoli have
Y~~~l.'
witnessed and been affected by the destruction of our ocean, land
and water by developers assisted by government officials.
+
' ` Bi1162, which appropriates $2 million for the development
_ (a-'
' of an Irradiation facility on Hawaii Island should not be passed. Ka
>.:E Lahui Hawaii cannot and will not support any development which
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.r t~ FSie No. F 1J D Cil
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19972
0 1997
utilizes Nucleaz products that aze potentially dangerous to the health
and saf.~*y of our people and the environment.
Accordingly to the 1997 United Building Code, Hawaii State
Advisory Boazd recommendation, Hawaii Island was upgraded to a
Zone 4 Earthquake potential because of active seismic disturbances.
It is my understanding that no geological studies have been
conducted to support the construction of an Irradiation facility on
Hawaii Island. As a result, the health and safety of the people and
the environment have not been fully considered in Bill 62. Public
safety should be a major consideration during public policy making.
There have been numerous accidents associated with Irradiation
facilities throughout the world.. At the NRC Irradiator Workshop
held at Arlington, Texas on May 24, 1988, the Nucleaz Regulatory
Commission has documented 50 pages of equipment failures,
operational errors, fires, spills, radiation exposures, death, and
ground and water contamination since 1974. In 1976, the Hawaii
Development Irradiator in Honolulu took twelve years to clean-up
its facility, where 200 gallons of highly radio active water were
shipped to the mainland for disposal and sixty cubic feet of radio
active wG~t.; was deposited in the Kapaa landfill.
The proposal to build Irradiation Facility on Hawaii Island
raises too many public and environmental health and safety issues.
We urge the County Council to vote NO on Bi1162