LIHU’E — County of Kaua’i officials hope to use a federal grant to make a survey of polluted private and public lands on Kaua’i. Beth Tokioka, head of the county’s Office of Economic Development, said she hopes the work will
LIHU’E — County of Kaua’i officials hope to use a federal grant to make a survey of polluted private and public lands on Kaua’i.
Beth Tokioka, head of the county’s Office of Economic Development, said she hopes the work will lead to the use of the lands for government and nonprofit projects.
The Kaua’i County Council approved Tokioka’s request to apply for a $200,000 grant from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to clean up island lands to allow redevelopment.
The action by the council at its meeting at the historic County Building Wednesday would allow for a survey of contaminated public and private lands on Kaua’i, provided the grant funds are awarded to Kaua’i County.
Some of the grant funds also could be used for environmental studies for some of the parcels, to get them “ready for cleanup,” Tokioka told county lawmakers in a brief presentation.
The funds could open the way for a government entity to apply for even more EPA funds to clean up the land under county transfer stations or sewage treatment plants that could be polluted, Tokioka said.
She also said the funds could allow a nonprofit group to develop a playground or other projects that would benefit island communities.
The funds are part of the EPA’s Brownfields Economic Development Initiative, a nationwide project to revitalize properties known to contain contamination or pollutants.
Council members commended Tokioka for investigating the potential good the program might bring to Kaua’i, and for pursuing the funding. The deadline for filing is this Thursday, Dec. 4.
The grant program is in high demand in Hawai’i and in other western states, Tokioka said.
She said Hawai’i County officials have a plan for the assessment of state lands, and want the funds, and that it was her impression leaders of Maui and Honolulu counties also were interested in applying for the funds.
For Kaua’i’s project, Tokioka said her department, with the help of a consultant to be hired, would accept public input on the identification and prioritizing of island properties.
For the cleanup of properties later on, government agencies or nonprofit groups could secure grants or low-interest loans, Tokioka said.
She said her department did not identify any properties for cleanup in its grant application, but noted there are many on Kaua’i that could be helped.
“Probably plantation uses, former plantation uses which could have resulted in contamination,” could benefit from the federal funds, Tokioka said.
She said she and her staff have done extensive research of EPA’s Brownfields program, and have talked with numerous landowners about including them in the project, should the county get the $200,000 grant.
She said some landowners were interested and others were not, and county officials would not push any into the project if they weren’t interested.
Councilwoman JoAnn Yukimura commended Tokioka for studying the potential benefits of the grant, and for pursuing the funding.
But Yukimura noted the grant application should “give a clear purpose to the community and public benefit of the county’s intention, because I think it is a very valuable thing to do as long as it dovetailed into existing community goals.”
Yukimura said if she had her way, priority would be given to public lands over private lands for cleanup and reuse.
Both she and councilman Jay Furfaro said that if county refuge sites or the land under county sewage systems are polluted, they should be identified and cleaned up first. Doing so would provide far-reaching public benefits, Yukimura and Furfaro said.
Tokioka said the inventory will be done on both public and private lands. In the case of private vacant or abandoned land that could be identified for the project, the county would like to see the land cleared of debris and pollutants, she said.
That way, the land could be sold to groups, for instance, who may want to put a church or a resource center on it, Tokioka said.
“It would allow them (private landowners), I think, to better market their property, and hopefully sell it to somebody who would do something to it that would better serve the community than it is being used right now,” Tokioka said.
Tokioka said her interest in the grant funds was piqued because of the success Anahola community leader James Torio and the Anahola Homesteaders Council have had with Project Faith in Anahola over the past two to three years.
The group has gotten help from the EPA in moving ahead with a project to develop a multi-million-dollar cultural and business center on about 20 acres in Anahola.
In October 2002, the EPA provided $15,000 for consulting services for debris cleanup at the Project Faith site. The project site is a former sugar field in Anahola owned by the state Department of Hawaiian Home Lands. It is littered with automobiles, tires, appliances, batteries and household goods.
Torio also is poised to apply for EPA cleanup funds for the project.
Project Faith is aimed at helping Native Hawaiians in Anahola become economically self-sufficient.
Tokioka said she decided to apply for the grant after meeting EPA representative Tom Mix on Kaua’i in September.
Accompanied by Torio, Mix made a presentation to the council on the status of EPA’s involvement with Project Faith.
“Jimmy Torio’s project is one of the early success stories, so we are lucky to have him as a resource,” Tokioka said. The EPA program has been available since 2000.
“I think his project does serve in many ways as a model for us on how to get community benefit out of this grant,” Tokioka said.
She said that even if the county doesn’t get the grant funds this year, she and her staff will have a year in which to fine-tune the information before resubmitting their application to the EPA for funding the following year.
The state Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism applied for the same grant two years ago, Tokioka said.
An inventory by the state was done, and Project Faith was pushed to the top of the state’s list for redevelopment, Tokioka said.
Staff Writer Lester Chang may be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 225) and mailto:lchang@pulitzer.net.
