The expansive South Shore development projects that have plagued many area residents for months despite efforts to alleviate dust and traffic concerns were declared an “environmental injustice” yesterday. Leslie Kahihikolo, the state’s consultant for developing new Environmental Justice policies, and
The expansive South Shore development projects that have plagued many area residents for months despite efforts to alleviate dust and traffic concerns were declared an “environmental injustice” yesterday.
Leslie Kahihikolo, the state’s consultant for developing new Environmental Justice policies, and Debbie Lowe, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Pacific Southwest Environmental Justice coordinator, toured some of the Koloa and Po‘ipu construction sites and talked to community members during a visit last week to the Garden Island.
“There’s 12 construction projects going on at once in this little community,” Kahihikolo said. “No one should have to go through that. It’s an environmental injustice.”
Lowe agreed, noting her limited time observing the area.
The people who will benefit — those buying the multi-million dollar homes — do not live near the construction sites. Yet those suffering from the negative cumulative effects of such large-scale development, she said, are area residents with nothing to gain from the projects.
“People literally have to wipe down the mud and dirt off their couches and tables before eating dinner every night,” Koloa resident Ted Blake said. “It’s not right. We have an inordinate amount of development happening at the same time.”
Kahihikolo said the state hired her in April to define environmental justice in the unique context of Hawai‘i and to develop an environmental justice guidance document to supplement the state environmental review process.
“The goal is that any time anybody wants to plan a development project they will have to take into account Environmental Justice issues,” she said.
Although the developers may not be doing anything illegal, Kahihikolo said the goal of Environmental Justice is to ensure that all people — regardless of race, sex, education or income — live in a clean and healthy environment.
Some South Shore developers have banded to create a hotline to centralize complaints and more effectively respond to community concerns. Others have stepped up efforts to mitigate impact by watering sites and using dust screens, but residents remain dissatisfied.
“It’s the whole concept of fairness and meaningful involvement,” Kahihikolo said. “Environmental Justice seeks to give people a voice in the process when locating these things. The government should be taking into account if a particular population is being disproportionately impacted.”
Kahihikolo pointed to a current example on O‘ahu.
On the Waianae Coast, she said, a native Hawaiian and low-income population lives near a power plant, an industrial park, the island’s only active landfill and a military operation.
Meanwhile, she added, in Hawai‘i Kai, a rich, mostly white population lives without the threat of these “pollution-producing scenarios.”
Concerns from Koke‘e to Kilauea
Kahihikolo and Lowe listened to comments from some 50 Kaua‘i residents from Koke‘e to Kilauea during a meeting Thursday to solicit public input on the state’s Environmental Justice initiative.
The informal setting at Niumalu Pavilion complemented the casual nature of the discussion, with those in attendance taking turns sharing concerns about their moku.
“The community is very frustrated,” Kahihikolo said yesterday. “They don’t feel our state government hears them and does not take action to help them with their environmental issues of concern.
“They feel like they’ve hit a wall,” she added. “They’re angry. They’re frustrated. … but they’re very positive. It wasn’t a whining session. What they had to say was very valid.”
Gary Craft, a Niumalu resident at the meeting, said Kahihikolo and Lowe seemed to really understand where the community was coming from.
Community members expressed worry about water quality issues within the bay and in the Nawiliwili watershed, South Shore development, Koke‘e land leases and reefs.
“We acknowledged the presence of Pacific Missile Range Facility and the delicate balance dealing with strategic and defense mechanisms as they may impact the cultural and natural resources of the ‘aina from mauka to makai,” Kekaha resident Jose Bulatao, Jr., said about the meeting.
But the most frequently mentioned concern had to do with pollution from cruise ships docked in the harbor.
Craft voiced ongoing concerns over the ships’ emissions, asking specific questions about an environmental assessment for Nawiliwili Harbor.
“I just want them to burn diesel. … We’re not trying to shut anyone down,” he said.
At the beginning of the meeting, Kahihikolo acknowledged a distinct fuel odor as a Norwegian Cruise Lines vessel left the harbor.
Residents from the area said the smell is strong due to bunker fuels being burned to power and “refrigerate” the ship, sometimes overnight.
There were additional complaints of soot and noise from the vessels.
During the meeting, a couple of Koloa residents asked Lowe and Kahihikolo to visit their community Friday to look at the nine to 12 simultaneous development projects there.
Blake helped direct their informal tour, saying “their mouths were agape with astonishment.”
Lowe said she asked several people at construction sites if an environmental impact statement was done for those projects; no one knew the answer.
A state EIS could address ways to mitigate the cumulative impacts of such broad development.
“It’s not a question of us against them or wanting to stop anything,” Blake said. “We just want better neighbors.”
Lowe said federal agencies can use a civil rights law to give “more teeth” to the executive order created during President Clinton’s administration in 1994.
Federal agencies, under Title VI, can pull county and state money when it is used discriminatorily.
Kahihikolo said she is touring the islands to identify areas of concern and help create guidelines for a state Environmental Justice policy.
She is expected to submit her report by Dec. 31.
While Thursday’s visit was her first to Kaua‘i, it won’t be the last. Kahihikolo said she will return in October to gather more information.
The public comment period ends Oct. 31.
For more information, call Kahihikolo at 808-728-7991 or e-mail EJHawaii@hawaii.rr.com.
• On the Net: www.epa.gov/environmentaljustice.
• Nathan Eagle, staff writer, can be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 224) or neagle@kauaipubco.com. Staff writer Blake Jones contributed to this report.
