HomeMy WebLinkAbout2021-10-27 EMC testimony (10-20) Demoruelle, Sandra
Testimony tothe Hawaii County Environmental Management
Commission
October 27, 2021
Agenda Item: County Legislation
Res. 239-21 Draft 1 – Securing $2 Billion in innovative funding for
DEM wastewater projects
Aloha Chair Adams and Commissioners,
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On August 25, I sent the attached UIPA request for the financial
information for the Pahala wastewater project’s new design plans - fiscal
information which I never received.
This UIPA request is just another example of DEM not providing
transparency and accountability for current unbuilt projects, so I just have to
ask: why hand ANOTHER $2 billion to the same department and contractors
for MORE design on the same projects?
What if DEM is magically handed a blank check for $2 billion tomorrow –
the problem of spending it wisely \[with public transparency and
accountability\] remains unchanged.
My suggested solution – in accordance with the State and Federal law of
environmental review - just do a programmatic County-wide wastewater EIS
to include reasonable consideration of all possible treatment alternatives
while providing broad citizen participation in the County’s wastewater
decision process.
This way, DEM can stop paying contractors to waste time and money on
endless “designs” that are never built – like in Pahala.
Mahalo for your attention to my suggestion to do a broad programmatic
EIS for all County wastewater alternatives before throwing good money after
bad.
Sandra Demoruelle, PO Box 588, Naalehu HI 96772