October 2019
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Volume 30, Number 4 October 2019 A Bombshell Decision Plaintiffs Seek More Transparency In Plan o the surprise of no one who To Manage Army’s Pohakuloa Training Area Thas been paying attention, the Hawai‘i Supreme Court found nder a draft, court-ordered plan to training or maneuvers implicating national that the state has ignored its duty Umanage state lands within the Pohaku- security confidential. It is neither prudent to monitor the Army’s use of some loa Training Area (PTA) on the Big Island, nor reasonable, however, to prohibit plain- 23,000 acres of land that make up observers chosen by the Native Hawaiian tiffs from photographing debris or litter the largest part of the Pohakuloa Legal Corporation (NHLC) or its clients, observed by them during the inspection, Training Area, in the Saddle area of Clarence Ching and Mary Maxine Kahaule- or to prevent them from sharing with third the Big Island. lio, would be allowed to tag along on site parties observations that have no national What may be surprising is the fact that the court’s decision included inspections by the staff of the Department security implications. To do so would re- a determination that the state’s of Land and Natural Resources (DLNR). duce plaintiffs’ role as inspection observers public trust obligations extend to all They would not, however, be allowed to to mere tokenism.” ceded lands, not just to land in the photograph or record any part of those In 2014, the NHLC sued the Board of state Conservation District and to inspections and any documentation of the Land and Natural Resources and its chair freshwater resources, as conventional inspection that the observers might make (William Aila at the time; Suzanne Case wisdom held. would be confidential. today) after the DLNR failed to provide That finding now opens the door To NHLC attorney Summer Sylva, Ching and Kahaulelio with records dem- to new claims that mismanagement those conditions are unacceptable. onstrating that the military was complying of state land amounts to a breach In an April 16 letter to 1st Circuit Judge with conditions of its 65-year lease for the of the public trust. The motion for Gary Chang, who must approve the plan 22,900 acres of state lands, for which the reconsideration of the use of ceded land by the Kahala Resort may be before it goes into effect, Sylva wrote, “It military has paid a single dollar. the first of these, but certainly not is both prudent and reasonable to keep Continued on Page 4 the last. IN THIS ISSUE Polovina to Discuss Climate Change 2 At Annual Dinner of Environment Hawai‘i New & Noteworthy: ‘Aina Le‘a Stumbles n November 8, Jeff Polovina will be and Atmospheric Administration. His eco- A Draft EIS For EMI; Othe featured speaker at our annual system modeling of the food chain, ECO- 3 benefit dinner. Polovina is the author of PATH, has become a standard analytical Council Struggles to Justify the Oceans and Marine Ecosystem section tool for anyone wanting to understand the Expenses for Maui Meeting of the Hawai‘i chapter of the 4th National interrelatedness of marine organisms. 6 Climate Assessment. Until his retirement Polovina is also well known for his work Pohakuloa Ruling Spurs Motion two years ago, he studying regime shifts and climate impacts For Reconsideration in Kahala Case was senior scien- on marine ecosystems. His current research 7 tist and chief of uses climate and ecosystem models and data State, County Agencies Struggle the Ecosystem and to identify potential fishing and climate With Transition to Electric Fleets Oceanography Di- impacts on ecosystems, particularly those 9 vision of the Pacific in the central North Pacific. Hydrogen Buses May Finally Islands Fisheries Although most of his work focuses on Make Debut on the Big Island Science Center, a the central North Pacific and Pacific islands, research arm of the Polovina has received two Fulbright Senior 10 PHOTO COURTESY Water Commission Roundup Jeff Polovina National Oceanic Continued on Page 9 Page 2 ■ Environment Hawai‘i ■ October 2019 Volume 30, No. 4 October 2019 NEW AND NOTEWORTHY ‘Aina Le‘a Stumbles: On August 26, and building lot preparation alone are license allowing East Maui Irrigation Co. Robert Wessels, who heads up ‘Aina projected to cost $246,867,500, Wessels (EMI) to continue to take water from Le‘a, Inc., forwarded to the Hawai‘i has claimed. East Maui streams has been released. County Planning Department an envi- Wessels anticipated publication of And, at 2,700 pages, it is as lengthy as it ronmental impact statement preparation the EISPN in the September 8, 2019 is long awaited. notice (EISPN), prepared by Christian Environmental Notice and accordingly The action proposed in the DEIS is a Renz, a Waikoloa landscaper. scheduled the required public meeting continuation of the status quo, subject, In the decade since Wessels first ap- for September 26 at the Waikoloa Beach however, to the state Commission on peared before the state Land Use Com- Marriott hotel. Water Resource Management’s order in mission as the developer of a project But on September 9, Planning Direc- 2018 to restore flows to ten of the previ- known as the Villages of ‘Aina Le‘a, tor Michael Yee notified Wessels that the ously diverted streams and increased sandwiched between the Mauna Lani department had rejected his EISPN. Yee minimum flows in several more. Also, resort and the Village of Waikoloa, in cited numerous problems with the draft the Department of Hawaiian Home the Big Island district of South Kohala, EISPN, including zoning designations, Lands holds a reserved right to some of the preparation of an acceptable EIS claims that a previous, 2010, EIS that was the water. has been one of the biggest stumbling deemed inadequate described the current Alexander and Baldwin no longer blocks to development of what Wes- project, and an increase in the number owns the lands in Central Maui that were sels now calls the Town of ‘Aina Le‘a, of units over what had been previously the rationale for the development of the consisting of 20 residential villages over approved by the county and the Land EMI system, starting in the 1870s. It sold the next two decades. Infrastructure Use Commission. those lands to Mahi Pono in December Undaunted, Wessels still had the 2018. But it retains an ownership interest Environment Hawai‘i scheduled meeting on September 26. in EMI. According to the DEIS, A&B 190 Keawe Street, Suite 29 No one from the Planning Department and Mahi Pono are co-owners of EMI. Hilo, Hawai‘i 96720 attended. In addition to serving Mahi Pono Patricia Tummons, Editor lands, the DEIS states, the diverted water Teresa Dawson, Managing Editor East Maui DEIS: The draft environ- will supply the Kula Agricultural Park Environment Hawai‘i is published monthly by Environ- mental impact statement for a 30-year ment Hawai‘i, Inc., a 501(c)(3) non-profit corporation. and the Maui Department of Water Subscriptions are $65 individual; $100 non-profits, librar- Supply’s upcountry system. ies; $130 corporate. Send subscription inquiries, address “It is estimated that at full operation changes, and all other correspondence to Quote of the Month Environment Hawai‘i of diversified agriculture, approximately 190 Keawe Street, Suite 29, Hilo, Hawai‘i 96720. 85.22 mgd [million gallons a day] of Telephone: 808 934-0115. “[T]hese changes are outpacing water will be directed to the fields of E-mail:[email protected] Web page: http://www.environment-hawaii.org our ability to address them with Central Maui,” the DEIS states. “Of this Twitter: Envhawaii policy and infrastructure and our amount, approximately 22.7 percent, or Environment Hawai‘i is available in microform through approximately 19.34 mgd, is estimated to University Microfilms’ Alternative Press collection (300 forecasts of future impacts still North Zeeb Road, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48106-1346). be lost through evaporation and seepage Production: Tim Officer are not able to capture the full in unlined ditches and reservoirs located Copyright © 2019 Environment Hawai‘i, Inc. in the Central Maui agricultural fields. ISSN 1050-3285 complexity of the climate system and future damaging impacts.” …. The remaining 65.87 mgd would be Directors used for irrigation…..” Patricia Tummons, President and Treasurer — Jeff Polovina A link to the DEIS is available on the Deborah Chang Teresa Dawson Vice President Secretary Office of Environmental Quality’s web- Valerie Monson, Director site. Comments are due November 7. October 2019 ■ Environment Hawai‘i ■ Page 3 Spalding replied only that all advisory Fishery Council Struggles to Justify body meetings are publicized. None of these sessions, however, were listed on the Expenses for 2018 Meeting at Maui Resort council website or noticed in the Federal Register, which is where council and com- n articles published in February and cross paths with the council, since com- mittee meetings are formally publicized. IJune, Environment Hawai‘i reported mittee meetings are held the week before She referred the questions to council staffer on expenses related to the Western Pacific the council meets. The committee chair, Mark Mitsuyasu, who did not provide a Fishery Management Council’s meetings currently Seattle attorney Jim Lynch, holds response. held at the Wailea Beach Resort - Mar- a seat on the council and is tasked with re- What’s more, the Advisory Panel did riott on Maui in June 2018. We found laying the committee’s recommendations not have a regular meeting on Maui, so that the cost to taxpayers came to around at each council meeting. it is unclear why three of its members $300,000, and council costs alone were In addition to Lynch, the only SSC would be paid double what they’re paid about $200,000 above the norm.