2017-08-23 Environmental Management Commission Minutes

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ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT COMMISSION MINUTES August 23, 2017 Hawai'i County Building, Puna Conference Room, Hilo, HI COMMISSIONERS PRESENT: James Fritz, Chair Jeffry Fear Luana Neff Jon Olson Susan Osborne STAFF: William Kucharski, Director Marcie Toguchi, Private Secretary Jessica Yeh, Deputy Corporation Counsel 1. CALL TO ORDER & ANNOUNCEMENTS: The meeting was called to order at 9:05 a.m. by Commission Chair Fritz. 2. APPROVAL OF MINUTES OF JULY 26, 2017 MEETING: Commissioner Olson moved to approve the July 26, 2017 minutes. Commissioner Osborne seconded, and it carried unanimously. 3. STATEMENTS FROM THE PUBLIC ON ITEMS LISTED ON AGENDA: • Cory Harden stated there are some researchers that exposed European larvae to polystyrene, and the fish ate the plastic instead of their normal food. When they produced eggs, fewer eggs were hatched and the eggs that did hatch were smaller, slower and more stupid compared to fish in clean water. They were then exposed to predators. About half of the fish that were raised in clean water survived, while all the fish that were raised with high plastic concentration in the water were eaten. There is a list of several hundred local governments that have some kind of polystyrene ban. There is also a list of over 100 food establishments on the Big Island that don't use polystyrene. • Jerome Warren posed questions regarding Styrofoam: how many hours has the County Council spent banning plastic? If you add the plastic bag ban plus the previous Styrofoam attempt plus the hours spent so far on this ban, what is the running total? What is the hourly cost if we call these billable hours? This is a politicians dream and a taxpayer's nightmare. The most powerful economic force on earth is the government's ability to tax their citizens. This ban on plastic is an abuse of that power. It's not County business to make manufacturers pay an impact fee. An investment company, Ka`u Royal Coffee and Tea bought industrial land behind Punalu`u Bakery in Na`alehu. They also bought agricultural acreage above the town, where they plan to build houses and plant crops. Mr. Warren stated that Director Kucharski stated at last month's meeting that he didn't know how big Na`alehu's sewer would be, but did mention future expansion. Last year Commissioner Bennett mentioned the possibility of irrigation from a plant upslope. Will the developer pay for the sewer system or will the public? We learned from Commissioner Bennett's public access show that wastewater can irrigate crops. Commissioner should report on district 6, Na`alehu wastewater issue but he doesn't. Instead he reported on an issue happening in district 7. The EPA consent order and the County's compliance solution should have been an agenda item months ago. 1