HomeMy WebLinkAbout2019-01-03 Public Testimony Transcript - Piilani Partners SMA 18-070WINDWARD PLANNING COMMISSION
COUNTY OF HAWAII
PUBLIC TESTIMONY TRANSCRIPT
JANUARY 3, 2019
Public testimony on the application of PIILANI PARTNERS, LLC (SMA 18-000070) was
called to order at 10:11 a.m. in the County of Hawaii Aupuni Center Conference Room,
101 Pauahi Street, Hilo, Hawaii with Chairman Joseph Clarkson presiding.
COMMISSIONERS PRESENT: Joseph Clarkson, Donald Ikeda, Thomas Raffipiy, John
Replogle.
ABSENT & EXCUSED: Gilbert Aguinaldo, Donn Dela Cruz.
ALSO PRESENT: Michael Yee (Planning Director), Malia Hall (Deputy Corporation Counsel
for the Windward Planning Commission), (from 9:00 a.m. to 10:05 a.m. & 10:27 a.m. to
11:25 a.m.), Jeff Darrow (Planning Program Manager), Maija Jackson (Planner), Christian Kay
(Planner), Alex Roy (Planner), Jessica Andrews (Planner), and Sarah Hata-Finley (Commission
Secretary).
And 28 members from the public in attendance.
APPLICANT: PIILANI PARTNERS, LLC (SMA 18-000070)
Continued hearing on an application for a Special Management Area Use Permit to develop a
potable water well and bottling facility with related improvements on a 2.5712 -acre parcel within
the Special Management Area. The subject property is located at 525 Pi`ilani Street, at the
northeastern corner of the Pi`ilani Street-Mililani Street intersection, Waiakea, South Hilo,
Hawaii, TMK: (3) 2-2-033:011.
CLARKSON: We're not sure when our next item on the agenda will be taken up on the action
by the Commission— that's Piilani Partners, LLC, SMA 18-000070. It will not be today. It will
be published in the paper and that information will also be on the Planning Department website
with regard to the Windward Planning Commission.
At this time, we have 15 people signed up to testify on this matter. We will receive that
testimony either in written form or oral form, and because of the number of people, we're going
to be strictly following a three-minute time limit on testimony.
At this time, I'd like the first four people to testify, excuse me, are listed as Dwight Vicente,
Mattie Larson, Cory Harden, and Floyd Eaglin. Apparently, Dwight Vicente is not here. So,
will Joseph Kualii Lindsey Camara please come forward? Will you all raise your right hands,
please? Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth on this matter before the Planning Commission
today?
TESTIFIERS: Yes/I do.
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CLARKSON: Please introduce yourself When you start, we'll start over here to my left, your
right, and proceed down the table. Please directly into the microphone, and you'll have three
minutes.
CAMARA: Aloha, O Joseph Kualii Lindsey Camara ko`u inoa. O Mauna Kea ku`u mauna. O
Wailuku ku`u wai. I live with my `ohana in the ma`ukele of Kaumana. I'm here to testify
against the issuance of SMA Permit 18-000070 to Piilani Partners, LLC for the installation and
operation of a commercial well extracting water from the Mauna Kea Aquifer.
The Public Trust Doctrine. The Mauka Kea Aquifer and all fresh water sources in Hawaii are
trust resources held in trust by the State Department of Land and Natural Resources who has the
fiduciary responsibility to protect, control and regulate the use of of water resources for the
benefit of its people.
The SMA Permit will allow for a public trust resource to be harvested for commercial gain with
no compensation to the trust beneficiaries, the people of Hawaii. The State also has a specific
fiduciary responsibility to Native Hawaiians to be compensated for the use of trust resources.
Piilani Partners, LLC plans to make no compensation to the County, State, or Native Hawaiians
or consultation on this matter for the use of this trust resource that it proposes to extract and
profit from.
I watched some video of the December 6' Planning Commission meeting where Mr. Fuke and
attorney Pam Bunn articulated that the proposed use of water for this SMA is far below the
sustainable yield of the Mauna Kea Aquifer or Mauna Kea or Onomea they called it, and there
are no competing uses for this water source. What their statements do not capture that this, that
the Mauna Kea Aquifer is a closed, pristine water body that has not been tapped for use. The
Mauna Kea Aquifer contains fresh water under a closed, pressurized system, making it artesian.
Beyond the straightforward extraction rate from the Mauna Kea Aquifer, drilling and well
installation pose a far greater risk to the aquifer. If drilling or well installation activities
compromise the caprock which seals the over 100,000 -year old closed system, there is no way to
fix the problem. The caprock being 1,000 feet below Mauna Loa substrates, 1,000 feet below
the, below the surface. The Mauna Kea Aquifer is a highly pressurized system that if
compromised could leak out and forever compromise the system.
Even if this SMA does not compromise the system, it sets a precedent that anyone can extract
from this system which over time will increase the likelihood that it will be forever
compromised. Lessons can be learned from our past mismanagement of our rare artesian water
sources like the Pu`u Loa Aquifer underlying Pearl Harbor and Ewa Plains in Oahu. This
resource was once artesian, but overdevelopment of wells compromised the system and now the
once pristine system is now contaminated with military and agricultural waste which is really
one of the greatest tragedies in Hawai`i's history.
Alternatives to this resource must be considered. There is abundant fresh water above the Mauna
Kea Aquifer that is not artesian or sealed which flows to the sea in the Mauna Loa Aquifer that
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can be extracted from shallower wells. I'm not advocating for the extraction of water from
Mauna Loa for commercial use, but merely stating that there are alternatives to the proposed
action.
It was also stated in the December 6' meeting that because the Mauna Kea Aquifer is not a
designated aquifer, it is not regulated by the DLNR Commission on Water Resource
Management. The Mauna Kea Aquifer is unique in the world, and we are still learning about the
extent of the largest fresh water resource in Hawaii.
Our current criteria for designation was not created to account for a resource such as this. This is
by far the greatest water resource in Hawaii, protected from pollution, able to fill all of
Hawai`i's domestic water needs for generations in the event that other systems are contaminated
or compromised. As our greatest water resource, the Mauna Kea Aquifer should be subject to
the highest standard of conservation and review available regardless of whether it is designated
or not.
The State Commission of Water Resource Management
CLARKSON: —Sir, please, please wrap it up.
CAMARA: Sorry, it's three minutes already?
CLARKSON: Yes.
CAMARA: Okay. Okay, beyond that, these waters is sacred to, is sacred to Kane. It's the wai
kapu o Kane from the summit of Mauna Kea. The start of this aquifer is Waiau and Waihu and
Pohakuloa which flows into this resource from the heavens down 11,000 feet below sea level,
touches the magma hot spot, these elements come together to create, to create life, to create new
lands. So, it's not just sacred by some mythology or some, you know, some, you know, it's not
voodoo. These waters are sacred because they are a part of creation, and we should really give
this the highest level of review, and before we even think about ever tapping into this resource,
look at all alternatives. Thank you.
CLARKSON: Thank you.
CAMARA: Mahalo nui.
CLARKSON: Thank you.
CAMARA: Aloha.
HARDEN: Cory Harden for Sierra Club, Moku Loa Group. Thank you all for your service on
the Commission. We oppose taking public trust water from a deep, pristine aquifer just to send a
lot of it off -island, spawning plastic waste that will persist for generations, and all to enrich just a
few people.
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Several issues. Native Hawaiians. Native Hawaiian leaders have opposed this project, and
following the Public Access Shoreline Hawaii decision, Native Hawaiian rights and cultural
interests must be protected.
Community benefits. Piilani has offered $100,000 in student financial aid to offset public trust
impacts, and that's commendable, but it's inadequate to offset the impacts. And, Earthjustice has
questioned whether community benefit payments fulfill public trust obligations.
Well shutdown. If the well flows freely with no pumping, and then the plant goes out of
business, who is going to take care of this free flowing well or who is going to decommission it?
Submarine groundwater discharge. There will be 200,000 gallons of underground water, with
whatever nutrients they carry, suddenly not migrating to the ocean, and what's going to happen
out in the ocean? No one really knows.
Noise. If the County decides to shut down the plant because of excessive noise, how exactly
would this be done? The staff has expressed doubts about noise issues.
State citizens. The waters of the State are protected for citizens of the State. Are the project
owners citizens of the State?
The Kauai Springs decision. This Commission may be obliged to deny a SMA Permit based on
that decision.
State Office of Planning made several recommendations, and I can't quite see where those got
followed?
Environmental assessment. The plants going to require sewer line extension, road construction,
streetlights, traffic controls, causing multiple environmental impacts, using County land, and that
will attract future projects which will have their own impacts.
And, a recycling centerPiilani has offered to rent space for a recycling center, and that's
commendable, but they put in so many conditions, it may never happen, and that would generate
more traffic and might trigger an environmental assessment because it's going to be two
structures on that property.
Thank you.
EAGLIN: My name is Floyd Eaglin. I'll speak at the next one. I'm totally against this thing,
because I think it is a bad idea, but I'll go through it when the people are here to address them.
LARSON: My name is Mattie Mae Larson. I reside at [Ms. Larson gave her residence address]
over in Ka`u. I am the owner and founder of Upcycle Hawaii, and I am here to testify against
the water bottling facility. I think we can all agree with what these folks have said, and I think
we all know the statistics that creating bottled water is a net loss of water. It takes more fresh
water to create a bottle of water than we contain within that water bottle itself.
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My biggest concern is where are we going to put the waste that we are going to generate when
we create this facility. I am flabbergasted that we are going to ban polystyrene and then we're
going to move forward with creating a water bottle facility.
As you can see next to me, I have brought my props. This bottling facility will indeed be
bringing in super sacks full of plastic pellets [holding up a container of plastic pellets and a
large, white plastic sack]. These super sacks are non -recyclable whether we have the facilities or
not to process them. These are going to fill up in our landfills, the landfills which are closing
which are meeting maximum capacity, and we have no more room to put stuff
Furthermore, as a volunteer for Hawaiian Wildlife Fund, I spend hours on the beaches every
single month picking up thousands of pounds of plastic waste. I have personally picked up
thousands of plastic water bottles myself, and so I just think it's common sense going forward
on, being an island in the middle of the Pacific where we're supposed to be the front leaders as
far as like loving our `aina and, you know, malama pono. I just can't use any other word then
asinine to describe the way that I feel about us putting forth a water botting facility. We don't
have the space to put—[brief interruption of audience clapping]. We don't have the space to put
the waste, and furthermore, if we're looking at creating eight jobs, I can tell you that we can
create eight jobs very easily in other sustainable practices.
So, I will be back at the next testimony, but I think you all know how I feel about it now.
CLARKSON: Thank you, all. I know emotions are running high and that you want to applaud
and yell and clap, but every time you do, whatever the testifier is saying is obliterated from the
record, so in courtesy to them, you may want to hold back a little.
BENJAMIN (from audience): They can pause what they're saying, and it will still be on the
record. We just want you to know how we much we support what they're saying.
CLARKSON: Okay.
BENJAMIN (from audience): Carry on.
CLARKSON: Will the next four testifiers please come forward? That would be Gary Harrold,
Hank Fergerstrom, Ellen Schomer, and Julie Stowell.
HARROLD: Good morning.
CLARKSON: Please raise your right hand. Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth on this
matter before the Planning Commission today?
TESTIFIERS: Yes.
CLARKSON: Well, whoever is going first, I'd like to start with this gentleman on my left.
Please speak into the microphone. Introduce yourself and proceed. You have three minutes.
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FERGERSTROM: Thank you, and good morning, Planning Commission. My name is Hank
Fergerstrom. I'm the spokesperson for Na Kupuna Moku O Keawe, which is a kupuna
organization representing all six districts of the Island of Hawaii.
My testimony is very short. First of all, I want to let you know that we are in absolute opposition
to the, this bottling plant. Some of the stuff has been brought up before, but I want to reiterate
that, that water is a public trust asset, and you're talking about using public trust assets for a
private purpose.
Also, the area that you're talking about is close to the Wailoa Park. That was where the old
Canec factory was. And, in case you didn't know, most of the debris from the last big tsunami
that hit Hilo is buried in that park, and so the leakage of metals over the time, over time, has got
to be in that area. It just doesn't make any sense to even think about drawing water from that
area where we already know that above it is all kinds of toxic stuff
There is a big question, too, is a trade-off of permitting, because if I understand this correctly,
this was an old permit from Suisan that they're trying to bring back to life. This is a totally
different type of operation, and it needs to go through a whole different, whole new process of
permitting.
With that, I'm going to go ahead and close now, and I will be back for this next meeting. I do
want to say that this is getting kind of crazy, you know, that we come here—this is the third time
we're here, okay? And, we're having the same problem getting our testimonies out into the
public in front of the right people. Unfortunately, I've been at this too long. I know most of
these will end up in the trash. Thank you.
HARROLD: Thank you, Planning Commission for your work listening to the public in a
democratic way. I'm Gary Harrold. Touching the heavens, mountains called the sierra mound.
Plastic, straws, lids, cups, bags bottles. Plastic surround. Maybe someday Pele will ejaculate
`heath the ground incinerating Cup `O Noodles and tupperware with a burping sound. Our
higher power knows we over consume. On our `aina, we've got so little room. Our garages fill
up. Our rubbish stuff fills up. So does our dump. Instead of plastic bottles, infill our transfer
station with Trump. Ship water across the world by fossil fuels. Mother Nature knows we don't
follow the rules. Your reusable water bottle, schlep it. Then, Gary will not have a snit or fit.
Leave water in the ground just like dirty oil. Our dear resources we must remain, we must
respect and be loyal. Thank you.
SCHOMER: My name is Ellen Schomer. I appreciate being able to participate in government
and speak freely. My heart sank when I saw Hilo is considering having a water bottling plant.
My hope was our society and government were going to see the light and make plastic bottled
water illegal very soon and start passing legislation regarding plastic use and packaging. Plastic
has been a great invention, but there's such a thing as too much of a good thing.
Governor Ige and Hokule`a have spoken well about the idea of Hawaii being able to
demonstrate to the world how to be sustainable. Planet Hawaii within Planet Earth. So, we are
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honored to be able to do that, and we have to walls the talk. There's talk that telescopes and
space exploration are modern, forward, futuristic endeavors that we need to embrace. I say how
about we start with more immediate and pressing issues like consuming less plastic and
protecting clean water as a public resource and basic human right.
The wars of the future will be even more focused on resources as will the very survival of the
human race. I envision our good citizens all willing and able to take the simple step of having
their own reusable non -plastic water bottle and home water filters or delivered water to fill them
with. This is already cheaper than buying bottled water and empowering and the right and very
easy thing to do.
We could also have bottle -filling stations such as airports and other public places have. It's
looking like recycling has not worked out and is coming to an end. It was a noble effort. The
wolf as at the door. I have heard it said that what Americans fear the most is not terrorists, war,
or famine, but lack of convenience. We lead the world in consumption and carbon footprint as a
people, and I believe we can and will change our ways. Let's start in Hilo.
Thank you, Piilani, for trying to bring what might have been a few hopefully decent paying jobs
and tax revenues to Hilo, Hawaii. We welcome you to come up with a better idea. Thank you.
STOWELL: Aloha, my name is Julie Stowell. I live on the Hamakua Coast. I am opposed to
the granting of a permit to Piilani bottling plant. Water is a public trust resource. It's not to be
used for private business. The plan is this water would be bottled, generating more plastic waste.
This is not what we need. We need safe, clean water for people to drink here, and we should
have places for people to get water and refill their bottles.
Hawaii should not be adding to the plastic waste in the world. We should be leading the world
in how to aloha `Hina, malama `Hina, how to take care of that which feeds us. We live on a
remote island, and we're seeing the impacts our modern lifestyles on our environment. This is
deeply saddening. Drilling into the Mauna Kea Aquifer could compromise this sealed, pristine
artesian water source. This is the greatest water source in Hawaii, and it should remain
untouched. We don't know what the impacts could be.
Please consider all that we are sharing. Water is the physical manifestation of spirit in the world,
and we should protect this resource, this relative with everything. Mahalo.
CLARKSON: I thank all four of you. The next four to come up, please, to testify, Koohan Paik-
Mander, Susan Rosier, Shirley Hargrove, and Michele Prevost. Please raise your right hand. Do
you swear or affirm to tell the truth on this matter before the Planning Commission today?
TESTIFIERS: Yes.
CLARKSON: Please pass the microphone down to the woman on the makai end of the table.
Thank you.
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PREVOST: Hello. Aloha, my name is Michele Prevost, and I live on the Hamakua Coast, and I
oppose the drinking water facility proposed there. First and foremost, water is sacred, and we
must protect it, and we are blessed to have that water here. Let us consider the impact. One key
word is plastic bottles. We have to think globally and act locally. This is why I oppose more
plastic bottles in my community and worldwide. We cannot continue to abuse the Earth in this
way. It is not pono, and it is not sustainable. Warning, if we do not respect the Earth, humans
will die in masses. We must respect the Earth that gives us life. Please let us on the Big Island
support sustainable living. Mahalo.
PAIK-MANDER: Aloha, my name is Koohan Paik-Mander, and I keep thinking about the
international panel for climate change, the report the UN put out last year. I think it was really
pivotal in the global conscience, consciousness about where we're at with the survival of all
species on the planet.
So, here we are today, January 3rd, 2019. Remember this year, 2019, is going to be the year
when historians look back and go, that's when people changed and woke up. If we survive as a
species, that's when they'll look back. Because of that pivotal IPCC report. It catalyzed a
movement in Europe called "Extinction Rebellion" where people in England were demanding
that their lawmakers realize that we are at a pivotal moment where now priority must be given to
the perpetuation of life on Earth, not just regulations, ordinances, and zoning—although that is
extremely important. I'm not arguing with that.
In any case, we started Extinction Rebellion here in Hawaii, and we took the logo in England,
and we adapted it for Hawaii, and you can see, it's an hourglass with Heaven and Earth, and it's
running out of time.
But, I wanted to talk about how does Extinction Rebellion relate to a plastic water bottling
operation? Well, here's how. I have some photos. You may have seen them already. This is
the photograph of the albatross. This was taken about 10 or 15 years ago when people first
started realizing that our animals are becoming extinct due to plastic ingestion, because they
don't know it's not food. It's everywhere, not just in Wake Island where this picture was taken,
but also in the Antarctic where polar bears can't find any fish anymore because of the depletion
of fish, and now, they're trying to suck on plastic bottles. Like the plastic bottles that will be
shipping out from the Piilani water bottling plant. Many whales filled with tons of plastic in the
ocean have washed up dead. Many whales all over the world. And, here in the northwest
Hawaiian Islands, we have a Laysan albatross feeding its baby plastic because that's all there is
in the ocean anymore. In fact, I believe that the amount of plastic is equal to that of plankton.
Plankton gives oxygen to the ocean. The ocean is the number one provider of oxygen to our
atmosphere, so as we continue to produce carbon into the atmosphere, how are we going to
counter -balance that with oxygen if they're killing all the plankton?
Finally, here's a snapshot of the middle of the open seas. No land anywhere. Check out all the
plastic. And, a river in the Philippines. I don't see any water, do you? It's just plastic. And, it
goes on and on and on. There are thousands of pictures like this all over the world. So, it's a no-
brainer. We must make changes. This is what Extinction Rebellion is asking, and I'm going to
pass out a letter, an open letter that was written by an international panel of leaders of Extinction
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Rebellion talking about the urgency with which our government and our elected officials need to
switch paradigms. We're in a new world, 2019, happy new year.
ROSIER: Good morning. It's hard to follow an act like that, I gotta tell ya. I put this over here
so that you could see the symbol while she was talking.
CLARKSON: Please introduce
ROSIER I didn't
CLARKSON: Please introduce yourself
ROSIER: Susan Rosier. I didn't come here really to talk about extinction; however, the project
that you're looking it absolutely connects to that, and I think that it's time for you folks to start
thinking with your heart instead of other people's pocketbooks.
We've come to a point onactually, we've exceeded the point—on most of the islands in this
archipelago, where you seem to be following the trend that made Oahu such a congested place,
and Maui, where I come from, is looking like a mini Oahu. This project originally was to use
pipe water. Pipe water. I don't what has changed in the paperwork that allows them to use water
from Mauna Kea Aquifer because suddenly, one of the partners has spirituality, and if he truly
had spirituality, he would not touch Mauna Kea water at all. Ever. It upsets me that he even
found out that it was there. Pipe water was bad enough. We have the number one export from
this island is bottled water. What is wrong with you? Even considering one more? The amount
of plasticI did recycling on Maui. The amount of plastics is absolutely incredible. You know
why? People, people do not save them for recycling, and the reason is because it takes so many
of them to make the poundage, and the recycle centers are only, they only have to count 200. So,
you can get your nickel back or your six cents back, but by the count, but, you can only count up
200, and that's the reason we have a big plastic problem. Cans are getting recycled. They're
easy to smash, and they're done. Bottles lose that little sticker, and it's not allowed. And, that's
the reason just so you know.
I would like a show of hands of how many people here actually read the SMA. It's eight boxes,
and they wouldn't give me an electronic—and I asked months and months ago. They wouldn't
give me an electronic copy. They said one wasn't available right there in that office, the
Planning office, your folks' office. So, I know you guys are not allowed to answer any questions
but can you put your hand up if you read it? Has anybody in here besides me read it?
ROHR (from audience): You know, I think you're mistaken. You're thinking of Hu Honua.
ROSIER: So—so, you haven't read the SMA, and II really believe that an EIS is required for
anybody that's going to drill and just these guys don't have it. You guys are doing permits off of
old permits. What in the world does a bottling company have to do with a fish processing plant?
Why do they get to skate through on things that were issued years ago that have no relationship
to them at all. You are our Commission, and I really appreciate your being here on this job. I
understand how hard that is, and these are hard things that I'm asking you. These are hard things
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that the community is asking you, but you are our representatives, and only you can change
things. We can only ask you. It's up to you to do the right thing. Do what is pono. Mahalo.
HARGROVE: Aloha, my name is Shirley Hargrove, and I'm a resident of Hamakua, and I'm
here because I oppose the bottling plant. I—you know, this is, this is such a beautiful nation. It
is such an amazingly wonderful place to be, and all that these plastic bottles will bring is just
continued waste, continued pollution, and something that is basically indestructible. It will be
with us forever. It's not like it's going to biodegrade. It's—it's not going to disappear. It's just
going to further accumulate, and I'm real appreciative of those images that were shown of
animals that were dissected or showing up on the land filled with waste, and I cannot see Hawaii
contributing to this waste stream, contributing to further death and promoting extinction, and not
only extinction of animals, but extinction of us as a people. And, you have the power to
influence this, and I would really appreciate that you would consider the potential harm that this
decision would make if you continue to support this bottling company. Thank you.
CLARKSON: Thank you all for your testimony. Will the next four testifiers please come
forward? That would be Kalani Souza, Dylan Crawford, Claudia Rohr, and Nelson Ho. Please
raise your right hand. Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth on this matter before the Planning
Commission today?
TESTIFIERS: Yes.
CLARKSON: Please proceed, Mr. Souza.
SOUZA: Thank you. Matthew Makaio O Kalani Kaiulani Koko Maeda Souza. Everybody just
calls me Kalani. It's a lot easier. I'm on a bunch of different Federal boards and State boards
you guys know for the most part. Still working with the University of Hawaii. I'm wearing this
shirt because I like to have sex with my wife, and she's supporting this cause. I think emotional
intelligence is something we have to respond to. I can appreciate what Chairman Clarkson said
about rising emotions perhaps getting in the way of pertinent testimony.
My grandfather said as the rainmaker, probably the most important thing for you to know, boy, is
when it's going to rain. Cause then you run out in front of the people, you say the appropriate
chants, you bring the water down, it reaches the to `i. I thought wow, tutu, why the rules? This is
leadership, boy. He says we don't wait for the emergency to happen before we decide who is in
charge. We establish those lines of leadership way ahead and they are built with trust.
I want to suggest that as we look at the beltway and what's happening internationally, and these
situations have happened to us before here in these islands. That we're holding a different hand
here. There's a, a moral center that we hold here in Hawaii as we do public discourse, as we do
planning. We don't need to erode this leadership further. You guys have been doing an
outstanding job under a lot of pressure to create economic development. You guys know I work
with Shidler Business College. I'm suggesting, you know, like I taught at DERP as you know
for years, the planners, they come to my class or did, you know, now that I'm out in community.
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The bottom line is as we do these processes forward, we have to engage in a genuine way. It's a
high-risk moment right at this moment. I don't think we can afford to erode public trust as we're
addressing some national standards that are a bit underwhelming. We don't need to add fuel to
that fire. You can see from the color of the shirts in the room that this is just beginning. I mean,
this is just beginning. It's going to be at the capitol. It's going to be engaging the solar
observatory. There's a lot of things happening. It's bigger than any one individual.
So, gentlemen, ladies, I'm asking you, solid leadership means we care for the people of this
community. My grandfather said when times are good, the children should learn to feed the
elders first. They should learn the place of respect and the reason why we respect wisdom and
the intergenerational connectivity. But when things are difficult, when danger is present, the
children should be fed first. They are the future, and the right elders will refuse to eat because of
the return of investment.
I'm suggesting this moment may be a critical moment where we should feed the children first.
CRAWFORD: Yeah, I'd also like to say thank you. My name is Dylan Crawford, and I do
appreciate you, lady and gentlemen, for hearing testimony today. I just, I would like to state that
I'm in opposition of this water bottling facility based on just, just my experiences of a surfer and
a haole, but a Hawaiian who grew up on Molokai, and I was raised by a, by a very wise
Hawaiian man on the east end, and, you know, we'd walls the coastline. Molokai is really known
for its self -subsistence, yeah? There's a lot of hunting and fishing and farming that goes on over
there due to the cost of living and other factors.
So, you know, with my experiences, walking that coastline from a young boy from the age of
five years old and seeing like the nice glass bottles on the beach to, you know, slowly turn into
like, you know water bottles, and all the fishing fodder that gets washed along the shorelines that
needs to be taken out that at this point has become micro -trash where you pick up a handful of
sand and it's colorful. It's got nice pink and green plastics all intermingled within it, and the fish
are eating it, and the turtles, the whales, everything. You know, it's become a part of the
ecosystem, and it used to be that old [inaudible] saying, it's the economy, stupid. Well, you
know what? It's the ecology, stupid. It's not about that anymore. The time for change is now.
That's what this shirt represents. This is an hourglass that is showing that the Earth is running
out of resources. It's running out of patience. Just the Earth itself is running out of patience with
us. The ecosystems are collapsing, and, you know, I went back to Molokai this last October, and
it's painful to see what those coasts look like today. It's completely—it's a dump. It's just a
complete dump, and I see you guys with your Aquafina water bottles up there and, you know, I
don't know what you're going to do with them at the end of the day, but you're going to forget
about it, but those water bottles have a memory, and they're going to be long, long after we're
gone, they'll still going to be around, potentially in the ocean. And, you know, the ocean is my
church. That's where I find my solace, and I just see my, my church getting polluted, and it's
painful.
And, furthermore, I just think the Big Island has a lot of potential, yeah? We have a lot of
intelligent people. We have awe have an amazing island, you know, and I think that we could
do a lot better to be leaders, yeah, instead of followers, and when you open a water bottling
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facility like this, you're just following. You're following the money. You're following a bad
precedent in moving forward, and I just am completely opposed to putting out more plastic
pollution that this planet does not need.
And, I thank you guys for hearing my testimony. Mahalo.
ROHR: Hello? [Testing microphone.] I'm Claudia Rohr. I just want to say, how do you put
into perspective what everyone is saying? How, why is this under your authority to consider
this? You're charged with considering the secondary impacts of this project which everyone is
saying is extinction. You've done, been done a disservice. The Planning Department is
administering the application before you. They did a very poor job. After going into the
Planning Department three times and raising my voice, I finally got the file for the original GP
Amendment Ordinance 91-72 yesterday at 4:15. I sent it to you at 10 o'clock. In that folder was
a feasibility study done in 1990 where the Planning Director was ordered, or was directed by the
County Council to do a feasibility on the GP Amendment that Suisan wanted, requested. That
feasibility study came up with it's inappropriate to have Industrial zoning on that land which lies
between the Ho`olulu Park Complex and the Wailoa River recreation area. The Background
Report, which I also sent you, is on that GP Amendment, has numerous agency comments
against Industrial use in that area, including the DLNR Land Division in charge of the State park.
I didn't see anything from them this time. Did the Applicant actually send them notice? Did the
Planning Department ask for their comments? I think the disservice was the non -disclosure of
that feasibility study in the Background Report. You didn't provide—or the Planning
Department fell down on its responsibility for open disclosure and non -biased recommendations.
The EA. The analysis of environmental review. I sent you the form. No boxes are checked.
Yet, an intrical part and a pre -requisite to this property development is extending the public
sewer line under the County -owned land, a 174 feet down Pi`ilani Street. This is not simply a
sewer hookup. There is no listing on any exemption list for extension of a public sewer line
under County land, and if you think there is, that means it's a potential trigger, and the procedure
is to send out requests saying we would like to exempt this action under Chapter 34. Agency,
please give your opinion of this exemption. They didn't do that. There's no record. You're
open for a lawsuit just based on the recommendation you gave to the County Council to
forwarding it with recommendations for approval. You should send this back to the Planning
Department for a redo and an EA before this goes any further and you waste taxpayers' dollars,
because you will be sued. How many people in this room believe that? An extension of the
public sewer is not a minor action or a minor thing that can be exempted. You must consider the
whole project including the sensitive area which is the aquifer they are planning on drilling into.
HO: Aloha, Commissioners. My name is Nelson Ho. I am a Sierra Club member, and I fully
support what Cory Harden as our executive committee leader, leadership said about this
proposal. I, too, am opposed to the Piilani Bottling Plant proposal and the basis for my concern
is the plastics waste. And, I'd like to just again note there are four plastic bottles here that the
Commissioners are using—five, thank you, Chair. And, I also would like to note that there are
numerous foam cups here. There's a whole stack next to the coffee maker over there, and I think
that the County itself can do better. And, I think you're hearing from the public that we want the
County to do better. We want there to be wise choices made by the leadership here, and I fully
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support that, and I also want to thank every one of you and the staff for being here conducting
this hearing. It's an awesome process that I'm glad to participate in.
I've also participated in clean-ups of the Big Island coast with the Hawaii Wildlife Fund run by
my friends, and I'm just so disheartened every time I go down there and pick up debris from
international fishing operations to local people having their plastic rubbish wind up on a Ka`u
coastline, and it's endless. It's a, there's a conveyor belt of plastic rubbish and marine debris that
washes up on our island shores, and I feel like we're just running, running a losing race, and I
would like to see the Big Island contribute to stopping that flood of plastics into our ocean. That
is my, really my main concern about this proposal. It doesn't have to happen this way.
As part of Recycle Hawaii in the past, I would try to reuse these plastic bottles, and I would
have them in my vehicles carrying water so I don't have to—if I needed to wash my hands or
drink something in the middle of a drive, until I realized that the plastic bottles themselves leach
chemicals into the water. That surely isn't good for you and over a lifetime, it could be
detrimental to your health in terms of cancer or some other thing.
And, as a litter pick-up, I would say a toxic pollution pick-up crew, I, too, dug my hands into the
sand in Ka`u, and I could see that the plastics just get smaller and smaller. And, then I love
poke, and I go to Suisan as often as I can afford it, and I'll try their different blends of poke, and
then I began to go, I want to go there because it's locally caught, wild fish. It's not farm -raised
fish. And, then I began to wonder because the science is coming in that the fish are uptaking
these micro -particles of plastics in the open ocean. Our ahi go all the way to Japan and then
come back. It's a life cycle. Their ocean is their backyard.
So, I would like you folks to consider that when you make your decision. I know there is
concern about the legalities of saying no to an Industrial -zoned proposal, but I think there are
over -arching issues that can overcome those legal questions, and battle it in court if you have to.
Take that bold stand and say we're just going to make a small step towards ending this toxic
pollution of our oceans.
So, thank you for listening to all of our testimonies.
CLARKSON: Thank you. The next and last group of testifiers, please come forward. Kathryn
Benjamin, Kamaili [sic-Kamaki] Rathburn, Julie Stitz, and Nani Pai. And, if I horribly
mispronounced your name, and you didn't hear itoh, there we are. Please raise your right
hand. Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth on this matter before the Planning Commission
today?
TESTIFIERS: I do.
CLARKSON: Please start with Mr. Rathburn.
RATHBURN: Aloha, everyone. My name is Kamaki Rathburn. I'm here not necessarily
representing anybody in particular but myself. But, I feel like it's important that we come and
communicate with you guys. Really appreciate what you're doing. I know I came here last time
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and had several mouthfuls and it was a little bit garbled, so I'd just like to make my message
today a little bit more, a little bit more concise then last time. And, I don't want to repeat what I
already said, so—and, I'm not prepared or have written anything or thought about what I would
say to you a little bit, so I just want to say a little bit about water.
First of all, do any of you know how much water there is in our solar system for example? Or in
our galaxy? Does anybody know? Nobody knows the volume of water. We know that water
goes through transformations and things like that and the natural processes, but there's the same
amount of water, I believe, here today that there's ever been since water was first manifested in
this place, okay, where we dwell as creatures. And, so the water volume has probably not
changed in my opinion. That's not scientific, just my view, but regardless, water is a finite
resource. Water is sacred, and by sacred as I understand [inaudible] is we've been blessed here
in these islands with an abundance of fresh water.
The arctic tractor which travels from the far north in the frozen north brings pristine, fresh
ancient ice melt at the bottom of the ocean in a river that flows to these islands and, in fact, I
think they're trying to harvest it in Kona if they're not doing it already. But, we have this
abundance of water, yet water is not free of being altered or changed, so we know from research
and from a lot of resources that water is affected by many things.
But, what I really wanted to say is that we are very much water as we all know. Water is not just
in the ground or falling from the sky. Water is in everything. It's in everything, okay? The
water has rivers and the streams and lakes far below the surface. The rivers and lakes and
streams are on the surface. The rivers, lakes, and streams are above the surface. They're in the
sky, in the atmosphere. They're moving.
I was ridiculed recently. It was funny. I was ridiculed recently by a comment I made on line
about the, about this issue, but it was mostly about, it was specifically about the waters of the
Amazon. Okay, so, the water, the evaporation process. It goes up, the clouds form, they travel,
and the idea was that the person that was ridiculing me saying that the water goes all over. I said
no it remains in the Amazon for the most part. No, no, no, you know, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm insane,
you know water moves all, yeah, but that's true, but let me tell you something. Recently, some
scientists put out the thing and it's, you know, I just had to laugh because I already knew this.
The water rises, it moves to the east of the Andes, it freezes, and returns back into the basin. The
water of the Amazon remains in the Amazon, okay? So, the water, the water in Hawaii should
remain in Hawaii.
I believe that the, exactly opposite our planet, is Okavango Swamp which is an enormous
freshwater source. It's the largest inland water, freshwater delta in the world I believe. And, it's
exactly opposite. If you take a magic rod and drove it through the planet, it's exactly opposite.
It's in the southern hemisphere. If you tilted Okavango up and tilted Hawaii down, we're
actually on the equator, so it matches a point in South America and a point in Sulawesi which
will not shift, but if you actually would rotate the planet up to its actual, to equator, the equator
runs right between Mauna Kea and Mauna Loa, the, the neutral zone. Hawaii is a very special
place. Hawaii has been inundated in many ways for, not just with the rival but western, but, you
know, in many, in many times in the past, so, what we need to do now, it's not about
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preservation, conservation. It's about restoration because conserving and preserving is not
enough. We've done so much damage.
And, another thing I want to say about the water is we talk a lot about the plastics, and it's true.
We can see the plastic bottles. We can see the pictures of the trash all over the place, all over the
world. And, in [inaudible] California, a very blessed, blessed—there's a very beautiful area
called Monterey, Monterey Bay area, where the Waikiki white sands came from Pebble Beach
and, you know, the cattle came from Monterey to the ranches here initially, but Monterey's a
beautiful, beautiful place. They have a very deep trench there in the ocean. Extremely deep,
comes into the Salinas River mouth, and it has the uploading of all those nutrients, and, the
wealth of the ocean which makes it a very rich resource for all the wildlife and the people. When
the Spanish arrived there in the old days and they found it, Monterey Bay, they said the sea lions
and seals were so abundant, you could walk across or back to Santa Cruz. Santa Cruz is 45 miles
across the bay.
So, what I want to say about the plasticI see, you want me to shut up. But, I want to say about
the plastic is that the plastic is not just in the, on the beach, and in the sand. The sea salt. When
you go Island Naturals today or wherever you buy your sea salt to stay healthy, it's got plastic in
it. Plastic is in all the sea salt, okay, so
CLARKSON: Please wrap it up.
RATHBURN: we need to mitigate that. If not, just staunch it, stop it. There's something
called hemp, and I hope that somebody in this universe will come before you guys at some point
like Piilani with a project to maybe produce a hemp plant. You can produce vessels that will be
able to be recycled complete without damage here locally and not sent out.
CLARKSON: Okay, thank you.
RATHBURN: Thank you.
BENJAMIN: Aloha kakou, my name is Kathryn Benjamin. I live about a block and a half away
and separate issue but we're talking about water this morning is that year after year after year, I
watch pesticides, herbicides, Roundup get sprayed right next to the preschool, the Chiefess
Kapi`olani School, right into the waterways, not 200 feet from where your uncles are going
fishing. We have abused water in every corner of this world, and this is not you personally. This
is not America. It's every capitalistic, every colonial structure on this earth. We are past the
point. I'm hearing a lot of optimistic people saying we'll look back at 2019 as the year where
things change. We need it to be the year that everything changes immediately. There is not time
to go to meeting after meeting after meeting after meeting. How many hours have all of you
spent sacrificing when we're supposed to be earning money or taking care of our children to
come and speak at these things so that everyone can take our testimony, put it in a big pile, and
carry on with the project? It's beyond infuriating. I remember feeling this rage when I was a 10 -
year old child. Our children right now know that what we are doing is inane. It is insanity to
continue to poison our waterways this way. And, yet, capitalism? Colonial structures and this
prolonged and very strange, illegal occupation of America in the Hawaiian Islands. Is the
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elephant in the room? And, each and every one of you have a duty to adhere to the Geneva and
Hague Convention and do your job, and the Planning Commission of not allowing the
steamroller that is wiping life off the planet. That is the United States.
Kona is going to run out of water. They're putting all their water into who? Americans coming
over for their holidays. What happens when we need the water from our aquifer to give to our
own people? Well, it got all bottled up and shipped off so someone can make some money.
Who's going to make the money? Not the people here.
My prayer is that you take this as an opportunity to change things. To be a planning
commission. To be a committee. To be a legislature. To be whatever board it is that we sit in
front of that says oh I looked around the room and I listened to the people and they're right, and
this project is done. Now, let's go and do some real work. Because maintaining the status quo
and keeping terrible things from happening over and over isn't progress. That's us just doing
everything we can to make things not be that much worse. Progress is going and rehabilitating.
Progress is saying there doesn't need to be a single more plastic bottle manufactured on Earth
ever. Let alone a new company to make more of it. Every single one of you, you have been to
the ocean. You have picked up this plastic in your hands. Every single one of you. There is not
a person on Earth who has not seen the ravaging of plastics. Enough is enough. When
somebody comes and tries to violate my physical body, I have the right to say no. It's not very
well respected most of the time, but I have that right. And, our Earth is doing everything she can
to be a voice through us to say no, and we shouldn't need a laundry list of all the reasons why.
No means no.
I oppose this project, and any other further commercialization of plastics, of petroleum, or the
abuses of water in Hawaii.
STITZ: Hello, my name is Julie Stitz. I'm going to keep it short. I want to say that I strongly
oppose this project. Our oceans are clearly past the points of—we can't, we can't continue going
on doing what we've been doing with plastics. The oceans can't breathe. We can't exploit our
resources here. It's a bad project for our community and for the people, and it has nothing good
to offer any of us here. Thank you.
PAI: Aloha mai kakou. My name is Nani Pai. I oppose the Piilani Partners water bottling
company. A little bit about me. I spent 31 years as an educator, most at Kamehameha both on
Oahu and here on Moku O Keawe. One of the things I taught when I taught grades three to five
was the importance of the ahupua`a system, and critical to that was the understanding, I think, of
wai or water, fresh water. And, so, when this proposal came up, I thought, I thought about it. I
read about it. You know, trying to keep abreast of what's happening both here and abroad, and I
thought well, I'm going to come and see if, if my voice lends to the greater voices in the room.
So, the importance of wai. In—when these islands were first populated, it didn't even half
resemble of what you see today or even a hundred years ago, but just like today, the ability to get
fresh water was important. So much so that when you—the measure of wealth to our people was
the word waiwai and, you know, I don't know, I apologize for coming late, but that might have
been already shared by some of the people that provided testimony or earlier.
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And, so, oh yeah, you know, people think, yeah, well, we know that, we know that, but do you
really? How long can a person survive without water? You can survive a few days without
food. How long can we survive without water?
Now, I want to shift the importance of, I heard everybody's testimony and, yes, our planet is in
dire straits. But, I brought my mo`o, one of my mo`o today, my granddaughter, because I
wanted her to see what government is like. She's, she's only nine years old, and the role that
government plays in making decisions that will affect her in her lifetime, if we're lucky enough
to survive that long.
There are many reasons for not approving this permit by Piilani Partners. So many. You know,
there's the plastic issue, of course. We're already inundated by plastic. Trying to make small
steps towards becoming more sustainable myself. It's not easy by any means, but, you know,
every small step in the right direction is a good step.
So, I want you to think as you're deliberating. Please think about your keiki, your mo`opuna,
your grandchildren, and what we are leaving for them. Are we making this world a better place
for them? Really? That's what's important, because most of us in this room have already lived
most of our lives, but our children and their children, and the children to come are just beginning
theirs. So, mahalo.
CLARKSON: Thank you, all. There will be at least one more chance to testify.
Public testimony ended at 11:21 a.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Sarah Y. Hata-Finley, Secretary
Windward Planning Commission
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