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Home My WebLink AboutCOM 0045.010 2002-2004 02/10/2003 14:12 FAX 808 9797693 L'ffi{ NATLiRAL SCIENCE DFPT ~ 001 University of Hawaii at Hilo Natural Sciences Division ~ FAX COYER SHEET ~ 200 West Kawili Street Hilo, Hawaii 96720-4091 Number of pages including this page: 3 Date fib ~-~oa T0: Name ~RWAr~ Ce4~~.., Ge~,„~~ l Phone °lbi-e~2r Fax q 6 l - Sq I Z, FRO. Name JP M~~I..,,a Phone `ISM-73Za Fax NOTES 0 urrlvExsrrr PH: (808) 974, OF HAWAII FAx: (808) 974'~9~! o. It~t. To: lML I1+t~ .-FF p~w:~: ~.~~.r.~ 02/10/2009 14:12 FAA 808 9747899 CrHH NATURAL SCIENCE DFPT fdj 002 Monday, February 10, 2003 Dear honorable Council members, please consider the following as testimony a¢ainst the General Plan to put industrial activity in the rural and agricultural area near Pepeekeo. While the general plan is not widely known to those living in the Pepeekeo area, it is widely opposed by those who have heard of it. In my view as a doctor of toxicology and a chemist, siting industry in a rural residential and agricultural area is inappropriate from a health standpoint (please see below). In my view as a citizen it is both bad planning logistically and also shows a fundamental disregazd o£people's desires and efforts to live away from industry. People voted with their feet: they did not move to the country along the coast to live next to industry. Non-coastal land and/or land next to industry could have been purohased at considerably less expense in existing industrial and in the abundant non-coastal areas- Further, industry is incompatible inclose proximity with 1) the coastal zone, 2) with existing residential areas, and 3) with rural diversified agriculture. The proposed change to the general plan violates all three of these basic planning objectives. Minimizing diesel truck exhaust, highway wear. and increased traffic fatalities should also be considered. The argument has been put forth that virtually any industry can be both clean and safe by using technological controls. This often looks good on paper, however life repeatedly teaches us that in the real world, things can be relied upon to work as planned only some of the time. That.could be often as in air travel, less often as in caz travel, or even less often as in space travel. Technology is fallible, and accidents will happen; the list of examples is :gag and sometimes tragic No doubt, the planners in Bhopal India felt assured with the high-tech safeguards of Union Carbide. Tn zetrospect, they made a huge mistake. Most industrial safe-guard failures are not nearly as obvious as Bhopal, but can and do severely damage both people and the environment in mare subtle and longer lasting ways. Human and technological failures azc both inevitable. The questions ere cot if human oversight and technological safe-guards will fail, but how often and how bad are the possible results'? Only good planning and zoning can prevent such tragedies. It is up to you. The need for industry is recognized, hopefully the need for good planing, that does not violate people's life choices, environmental concerns, and basic incompatibilities, is recognized as well. The big island has a huge land area, we need not, and good plarming will not Co-locate industry with existing residential communities, fragile coastal zones, or food-producing agricultural areas. Proper zoning that uses distance to keep people, crops and sensitive environments away and industrial hazards is the most fundamental and reliable means of protection. Tt does not rely upon technologies always working and government oversight catching (and quickly correctiurg) the failures of these technologies. By analogy, it is far simpler, less expensive and safer to separate a child and a book of matches by keeping them well away from each other than it is to constantly be vigilant and hope that any technical safety features will not be breached. In the long run, simple separation by zoning is often far more cost-effective, safer and lower maintenance thaw any other means of keeping people and hazards apart. Health hazards from just one proposed industrial activity near Pepeekeo are briefly outlined below. Any one of them is reason enough to use proper zoning as a distance buffer to keep people and hazards apart. This list is not exhaustive but highlights a few of the more 02/101 2000 14:19 FA% 808 9747898 UHH NATURAL SCIENCE DFFT ~ 009 obvious concerns: a) the increased traffic hazards and diesel air pollution hazards from the increase of lazgc truck traffic carrying garbage to Pepeekeo, and also trucking the ash to Kona; b) the health hazards of organic stack emissions (i.e. PAHs, dioxins, furans) in normal operation, and when emission controls fail (both permitted failures, and un- permittedfailures); c) the health hazards of `fly ash' stack emissions (i.e. mercury, arsenic, lead, cadatirun) in normal operation, and when emission controls fail (both permitted failures, and un•permitted failures). Emission controls do fail. This does happen -all too often. u~cic pollutants (and infectious diseases from raw garbage) can get into people by various pathways: by breathing contaminated air, by eating tAntatninated food (crops, milk, meat fish) and be drinking contaminated water. Incineration permits typically allow for specified levels of toxic outputs on a regular basis, and often allow cavssion excellences on a periodic basis. This is allowed under regular operation, and does not fully address larger accidental releases. Proper planning should. Most of the toxic byproducts of incineration (primarily persistent organics and metals) bioaccumulate in people and food crops and animals, leading to much higher levels in people than the levels found ilct the environment. A deficiency in any of the several emission control requirements (temperature, mass flux, residence time, scrubbers, etc.) can result in incomplete combustion and/or the release of harmful air emissions. Such emissions are a public health hazard because nearby communities may be exposed to site contaminants via the air transport and wet and dry depositional pathways. It should be recognized that human exposure to sirbome incinerator contaminants can occur duectly by inhalation and indirectly by consumption of animals or plants raised in areas where wet and dry deposition of emissions takes place. It is also important to remember that these types of contaminants build up in people over time. Ideally public planncls will represent the public at least as well as they would represent themselves. I~Iopefully we all ask oursdvcs how close to toxic and hazardous industries we would feel comfortable living -along with the more fragile among us: our pregnant or nursing daughter or wife, our elderly, and our children. Most rural people Live where they do in order to be away from industry and/ or to live in the country. We are not on a coral atoll, we have a huge land base, and there is no need to jam industry up against rural, or any group of residents, the coastal zone, or our agriculture and food supply. Please do not needlessly damage or destroy coastal zones and rural agricultural areas for the easiest (least political resistance) or cheapest solution. Please consider people's living choices, people's health, the fragile coastal environment and our food supply. We will need these long-teen resources more and more as oil and imported food become more expensive this decade. Please keep the long-term in mind. Thank you. Sincerely, JP Michaud Jon-Pierre Michaud, Ph.D. ~ ~ ~ Chemistry, Natural Sciences / ' University of Hawaii at I-Iilo 200 W Kawili Street Hilo HI 96720 (808) 974-7320