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SUSAN L.K. LEE LOY
25 Aupuni Street,Hilo,Hawai`i 96720 n
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TO: Valerie T. Poindexter, Chair
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and Members of the Hawai`i County Council co o
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FROM: Q Sue Lee Loy, Council Member
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DATE: July 18, 2018
SUBJECT: Proposed Amendments to Resolution No. 640.
Please see below proposed amendments to Resolution No. 640. These amendments refine the
title and the enacting clause, and include references to recent impacts in Puna from the
Fissure 8"vent since the introduction ofthis resolution.
The proposed amendment is illustrated below in Ramseyer format with respect to the contents of
Resolution No. 640. Material to be deleted is bracketed and stricken; material to be added is
underscored. A draft copy of Resolution No. 640, as amended to draft 2, is attached.
1. The title of Resolution No. 640 is amended to read as follows:
A RESOLUTION URGING THE STATE BOARD ON GEOGRAPHIC NAMES TO
CONSULT WITH COMMUNITY MEMBERS WHO HAVE DIRECT TRADITIONAL,
CULTURAL, AND FAMILIAL TIES TO THE [DISTRICT-OF-PUNA] AREAS OF PUNA
AND KA`U. THAT HAVE BEEN IMPACTED BY THE RECENT VOLCANIC
ACTIVITY, IN ORDER TO ESTABLISH APPROPRIATE NAMES FOR THE FISSURE
8 VENT [AND] OR ANY OTHER FEATURES OF THE 2018 ERUPTION OF KILAUEA
VOLCANO."
2. The fifth WHEREAS clause is amended to read as follows:
WHEREAS, Fissure 8 reactivated on the night of May 23, 2018, sending a fast-moving
flow northward that crossed Pohoiki Road, surrounded Puna Geothermal Venture, crossed
Highway 132, covered Noni Farms Road and Railroad Avenue, inundated papaya farm land,
crossed Highway 137, entered Ka Wai a Pele (Green Lake), burned hundreds of homes in
Kapoho Farm Lots, Kapoho Vacationland, and Kapoho Beachlots, filled in Kapoho Bay, and
destroyed the Wai`opae Tidepools Marine Life Conservation District, Kua 0 Ka La New
Century Public Charter School, and 'Ahalanui Park/Mauna Kea Pond; and"
Comm. No.Os*• I
Ref. To: P/G,re.ED C.
Ref. Dote JUL 2 4 2018
3. The enacting clause is amended to read as follows:
BE IT RESOLVED BY THE COUNCIL OF THE COUNTY OF HAWAII that the
State Board on Geographic Names is urged to consult with community members who have direct
traditional, cultural, and familial ties to the [district of Puna] areas of Puna and Ka`u that have
been impacted by the recent volcanic activity, in order to establish appropriate names for the
Fissure 8 vent [ ] or any other features of the 2018 eruption of Kilauea volcano."
SL/ps
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A RESOLUTION URGING THE STATE BOARD ON GEOGRAPHIC NAMES TO
CONSULT WITH COMMUNITY MEMBERS WHO HAVE DIRECT TRADITIONAL,
CULTURAL,AND FAMILIAL TIES TO THE AREAS OF PUNA AND KAT THAT
HAVE BEEN IMPACTED BY THE RECENT VOLCANIC ACTIVITY,IN ORDER TO
ESTABLISH APPROPRIATE NAMES FOR THE FISSURE 8 VENT OR ANY OTHER
FEATURES OF THE 2018 ERUPTION OF KILAUEA VOLCANO.
WHEREAS, Section 4E-1 of the Hawai`i Revised Statutes states that the State Board on
Geographic Names shall be composed of the chairperson of the Board of Land and Natural
Resources, the chairperson of the Office of Hawaiian Affairs, the chairperson of the Hawaiian
Homes Commission, the director of the Office of Planning, the president of the University of
Hawai`i, the state land surveyor, and the director of the Bernice P. Bishop Museum, or their
respective representatives; and
WHEREAS, Section 4E-3(a) of the Hawaii. Revised Statutes states that the State Board
on Geographic Names "...shall designate the official names and spellings of geographic features
in Hawaii and provide for circulation thereof to the appropriate state and other agencies. In its
deliberations, the board shall solicit and consider the advice and recommendations of the
appropriate county government officials, and, should the board desire, other knowledgeable
persons."; and
WHEREAS, following a magmatic intrusion into the East Rift Zone of Kilauea volcano,
the first of two dozen fissures erupted on May 3, 2018, near Mohalu Street in Leilani Estates; and
WHEREAS, the eighth fissure, known as Fissure 8, opened on May 5, 2018, near Luana
Street in Leilani Estates, and briefly erupted lava fountains an estimated 230 feet high, sending a
slow-moving lava flow approximately 0.6 miles northward and covering many homes in the
subdivision; and
WHEREAS, Fissure 8 reactivated on the night ofMay 23, 2018, sending a fast-moving
flow northward that crossed Pohoiki Road, surrounded Puna Geothermal Venture, crossed
Highway 132, covered Noni Farms Road and Railroad Avenue, inundated papaya farm land,
crossed Highway 137, entered Ka Wai a Pele (Green Lake), burned hundreds of homes in
Kapoho Farm Lots, Kapoho Vacationland, and Kapoho Beachlots, filled in Kapoho Bay, and
destroyed the Wai`opae Tidepools Marine Life Conservation District, Kua 0 Ka La New
Century Public Charter School, and 'Ahalanui Park/Mauna.Kea Pond; and
WHEREAS, eruptive activity from the 23 other fissures have become concentrated at
Fissure 8, where a gushing fountain has built a broad cone approximately 180 feet high; and
WHEREAS, the U.S. Geological Survey defines a volcanic fissure as an"elongate
fracture or crack at the surface from which lava erupts," making "Fissure 8" an inaccurate name
for the large tephra cone located on the East Rift Zone within Leilani Estates; and
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WHEREAS, the ongoing eruption is creating numerous other new and unnamed volcanic
features, including but not limited to the enlarged crater or nested caldera at Halema`uma`u, the
collapsed crater at Pu`u `O`o,the line of fissures and steam vents extending through Leilani
Estates and Lanipuna Gardens,the ocean entry at Malama Ki Forest Reserve, and the
channelized lava flow to the ocean at Kapoho Bay; and
WHEREAS, the naming of a volcanic feature in the Hawaiian language may encode
information about its physical characteristics, historical events associated with its formation,
ecological surroundings, geographical location, or related oral histories; and
WHEREAS, the U.S. Geological Survey uses informal names to identify and
communicate information about volcanic features, but defers to the local community, including
Hawaiian elders, for formal names; and V
WHEREAS, the global community of amateur lava watchers have suggested many
names for Fissure 8, but the names for this and other new volcanic features associated with the
current eruption should be provided by community members with direct traditional, cultural, and
familial ties to the district of Puna; now, therefore,
BE IT RESOLVED BY THE COUNCIL OF THE COUNTY OF HAWAII that the
State Board on Geographic Names is urged to consult with community members who have direct
traditional, cultural, and familial ties to the areas of Puna and Ka`u that have been impacted by
the recent volcanic activity, in order to establish appropriate names for the Fissure 8 vent or any
other features of the 2018 eruption of Kilauea volcano.
BE IT FINALLY RESOLVED that the County Clerk shall transmit a copy of this
resolution to the Honorable David Y. Ige, Governor; Suzanne D. Case, Chair of the Board of
Land and Natural Resources; Colette Y. Machado, Chair of the Office of Hawaiian Affairs; Jobie
Masagatani, Chair of the Hawaiian Homes Commission; Leo R. Asuncion Jr., Director of the
Office of Planning; David Lassner, President of the University of Hawai`i; Reid K. Siarot, State
Land Surveyor; Melanie Y. Ide, President and CEO of the Bernice Pauahi Bishop Museum, the
Honorable Harry Kim, Mayor; Tina Neal, Scientist-in-Charge of the U.S. Geological Survey's
Hawaiian Volcano Observatory; Kuha`o Zane, president of the Edith Kanaka`ole Foundation;
and Pi`ilani Ka`awaloa ofthe Aha Moku Advisory Committee.
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