HomeMy WebLinkAboutCOM 0985.008 2016-201811.9f.. qFromtheofficeof- Office: (808)961-88964y _ Vie,
Council Member Fax: (808)961-8912
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District 3—Hilo and Punas -'•• Email sue.leeloy@hawaiicounty.gov
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SUSAN L.K. LEE LOY or)
25 Aupuni Street,Hilo,Hawai`i 96720 C7 --t
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TO: Valerie T. Poindexter, Council Chair 17, * c)
and Members of the Hawai`i County Council o '
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FROM: Sue Lee Loy, Council Member
DATE: August 9, 2018
SUBJECT: Resolution No. 640, Draft 2; 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 Kali 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.
Attached is Resolution No. 640, as amended to Draft 2 with the contents of Communication No.
985.1, as duly approved by the Governmental Relations and Economic Development Committee
on August 7, 2018.
Please place Resolution No. 640, Draft 2, on the August 22, 2018, Council agenda for final
reading.
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Comm. No . g-. 8
Ref. To: EDL
Ref. Date AUG 0 7 2018.
Hawai`i County Is an Equal Opportunity Provider and Employer
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
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
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 'CYO, 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
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.
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