Editorials for Thursday — October 09, 2003
• Drug booklet
• Hanalei waters
Drug booklet
Parents and educators, anyone who deals with Kaua‘i’s youth, is advised to pick up a copy of the booklet “The Resource Guide: The 411 on Drugs and Survival Resources.
The booklet is a follow-up to the recent simulcast of filmmaker Edgy Lee’s documentary on “ice” or crystal meth.
The publication provides hard facts, and a long list of resources, for those involved with fighting the drug battle, for parents and for drug abusers who wish to get off whatever they are on.
The booklet is widely available and is being provided for free at Bank of Hawaii branches, at 7-11 retail stores and at Chevron service stations.
A wide variety of corporations, government agencies and non-profit organizations put the booklet together in cooperation with Lt. Governor Duke Aiona’s office. Aiona is leading up drug summit meetings statewide that are modeled in part upon Mayor Bryan Baptiste’s Kaua‘i meetings.
This valuable booklet might make the difference in someone’s life, and should help prevent young Kaua‘i residents from turning to drugs and drinking as an escape from straight life.
Hanalei waters
Dr. Carl Berg has spent four years studying the waters of Hanalei Bay, Hanalei River and streams that feed into the west side of the bay.
He is presenting his data and theories about pollutants seeping into the Hanalei watershed at a meeting in Hanalei tonight.
His work shows signs that sewage from dozens of cesspools and septic tanks located on the sandy plain that Hanalei town sits upon is winding up in the ocean waters of Hanalei Bay.
This problem has been apparent for years, if not decades. With the growing number of homes at Hanalei, some in the multi-million dollar bracket, it is time to make changes to how sewage is handled in the growing beach town.
Hanalei Bay is one of the most spectacular sights in Hawai‘i, if not all Polynesia, and deserves to be kept free from sewage.
Berg’s study failed to detect significant amounts of sewage seeping out of the summertime boats anchored in Hanalei Bay. The boats have frequently been cited as a source of sewage pollution. Maybe they are not.
However, the state Department of Health’s findings don’t jibe with Berg’s. Perhaps Berg’s Hanalei Watershed Hui and the state should meet and go over their findings together at the beach at Hanalei.