HomeMy WebLinkAboutCOM 0064.004 2018-2020 VVVLV O HAWA P/Pc
COUNTY OF HAWAII
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Time q,00UM By COW(.C14
Date 09-'RI
From: Shelly Aina
To: Poindexter,Valerie;Chuna.Aaron;Lee Loy,Sue;Kierkiewicz,Ashley;Kanealii-Kleinfelder,Matt; David,Maile;
Villegas,Rebecca;Eoff,Karen;Richards,Tim
Cc: Council Testimony
Subject: Oppose Bill 16
Date: Monday,February 18,2019 10:51:57 AM
I'm a member of the Sierra Club. They have kept me informed about the Bill before you.
Please know that I completely oppose Bill 16,the proposed Pi'ilani Partners bottling plant
near Wailoa Park in Hilo.
Water, a public trust resource, would be taken from a deep, untouched aquifer, despite the
objections of native Hawaiian leaders and dozens of testifiers. The water would be shipped
off-island to profit a few people. The audacity of such an enterprise is incredible.
I learned that Pi'ilani would extract up to 200,000 gallons a day. It could take three bottlefuls
of water to produce one finished bottle of water. Much of the waste water from production
would be contaminated and discarded. I encourage you to watch the documentary Tapped to
see how some big industries (Coke, Pepsi) have already robbed local resources to add to their
bottom lines. It's outrageous.
Aquifers are only recharged with water and kept pure if watersheds above ground are cared
for. This requires time, energy, and taxpayer and private money. Pi'ilani Partners at first
refused to pay any fees for the aquifer water. Then they offered a$100,000 scholarship--a
fraction of likely profits. But in the past, Earthjustice has questioned whether community
benefit payments fulfill public trust obligations. How many times have we seen corporations
renege on their civic duties with no consequence?Please don't allow another to potentially
•
darken our future.
According to the Sierra Club, it would seem that the only persons supporting this plant are on
the payroll (directly or indirectly) of the Pi'ilani Partners. Sierra Club also points out that
plastic dust may contaminate soil around the plant and be spread by wind, and that fossil fuel
would be burned to run the plant and transport the water.
The plant could generate over one million plastic bottles a day, contributing to the already
overwhelming impacts of plastic waste on wildlife, on human health, and on taxpayers paying
for cleanup. Single use plastic bottles are a blight on the environment, for no good reason
other than convenience. Again, please watch Tapped.
Bottled water contributes to the worldwide privatization of water. The rich can afford to live
where there is clean municipal water, but the poor must buy bottled water or(as on Hawai'i
Island) travel to spigots. Social injustice prevails in this industry.
I implore you to stop this madness by denying the Pi'ilani Partners bottling plant construction
in Hawai'i.
Mahalo!
Shelly Aina
Waikoloa
Comm. No (P4'q
Ref. To: I BG 9 2019
Ref. Date