Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutCOM 0212.469 1996-1998 PO Box 827 Pepeekeo, HI 96783 September 8, 1997 Mr. Dominic Yagong Hamakua District Councilman ~ate........_~x~q~ Hawaii County Council 'Countq Caun2il~~~~"~` 25 Aupuni Street Hilo, Hawaii 96720 Dear Dominic: We share the concerns of the authors of the article attached and believe that their proposal has merit. At the least i'~'should be discussed in an open forum in the Hawaii County Council and be put to a vote. Therefore, we request that you introduce this measure and we are hopeful that you will lend it your personal support. We will be contacting you shortly to follow up on this request. Aloha no, a Bob and Duyen Williams CF: Dr. Susan Gilbert Rural S. Hilo Conununity Association District Councilpersons »a asa.~I~g »~e n~. R ES - SEP 2 21997 tom' 1. 7Ta!'e_.....~..~- ~ ~ q Hawaii Tribune -Herald, Friday, September 5, 1997-9 fetters . Oplen letter to Council damage On May 20, 1997, the Hawaii County Council passed • Limitation of the source material to cobalt-60 or Bitf52, now Ordinance S7-69, appropriating $2 million electron beam for a post harvest treatment facility, i.e., an irradiation • Prohibition against building the irradiator in a ' facility. In response to community concerns about the safe- tsunami inundation zone t~of an irradiator operating on the Big Island, council • Consultation with the U.S. Geological Survey-Hawaii mdrnbers added several provisions to the bill. It now appears Volcanoes Observatory that these amendments will not be implemented. There- • Requirement of an emergency response plan pre- , fore, there will provably be no environmental impact state- pared in consultation with the Hawaii County Civil " ment, no requirement for an emergency response plan Defense and other emergency response agencies. to be prepared in consultation with County Civil The hazards of an irradiator remain the same, regard- Defense, no prohibition against using Cesium-137, no less of who pays for the construction. Private funds prohibition against building on Hawaiian Home Lands, should not exempt a company from public responsibil- abd no indemnification of the county in case of accidents ity, nor excuse the Council from its obligation to protect or personal injury. the citizens of Hawaii. We urge the County Council to This is because these "safeguazds" as specified in Sec- consider and pass this proposed ordinance as soon as pos• lion 3 of the bill, will only take effect if the public sible. funds appropriated under Ordinance 97-69 are used to Mark Cohen, M,D. construct the irradiator. If the $2 million is used for pro- Susan Gilbert, M.D. motion, crop development, or other purposes permitted Co-Chairs, Concerned Physicians of Hawaii by,the bill, and IF PRIVATE FUNDS ARE USED TO { BUILD THE FACILITY, NONE OF THE AMEND- MENTS IN SECTION 3 WILL BE IMPLEMENTED. Open etter to Cayetano ' According to a conversation with Mr. John Masefield, you sa that there is room for agriculture and euca- President and CEO of Lsomedix, Inc., his company is plan- (yptus tree for wood chips on the Big Island. It is true ning on paying for the construction of the facility, there- that there is ore land than we need for agriculture om by bypassing all the requirements that would be triggered the Hamaku Coast. And we already have 16,000 acres if county funds were used. The County Council has an of wood chip ees being planted. The question is, what a§ligation to ensure that the citizens of Hawaii receive is the best use f the 10,000 acres of publicly owned land the same protection regardless of who provides the on this coast? It ay be that we do not need all of this money to build the facility. Nor is the council relieved land for agricultur .Some of it should go to forestry. Do of its obligation to extend that protection just because there we want real fores with a diversity of high value hard- is anongoing referendum and initiative petition drive that woods that will only a selectively harvested, or do we might prohibit construction of the irradiator. want a wood chip farm, hich will be cleaz cut every sev- Therefore, we request that the Hawaii County Cottn- en years? You say the ucalyptus farm will provide cif-,pass an ordinance stipulating that any and all proposed some jobs. The question, is w many? Let me quote from irradiation facilities in the County of Hawaii meet, but the "Hawaii Forestry and Co unities Initiative" paper: not be limited to, the requirements of Section 3, Para- "Industry statistics show then bet of jobs and wealth graphs (C) through (I), of Ordinance 97-69 (Bi1162). To created increases up to 25 times as ction moves from summarize briefly, these ale: the simpler products (e.g. wood chips export), to irrtxeas- • Prohibition of construction on Hawaiian Home ingly sophisticated products such as furniture and Lands or ceded ]ands ~ art objects." From this it is cleaz that plan ' g high val- Requirement for an environmental impact statement ue hazdwoods has the potential to create 25 jobs for each according to Chapter 343, H.R.S. job that the wood chip faun will provide. I think I have • Indemnification of the county from any liability, made this point before, but, is anyone listening? and the obligation of the contractor to maintain an ode- Since high value lumber can do so much to improve quote liability insurance policy in case of injury or our economy, and the wood chips will provide just '