None of this makes logical sense. You don’t build the world’s largest fuel storage facility 100 ft above a sole source aquifer. Except in wartime, with no significant populated areas nearby. That was the case when these were built in the 1940’s.
Now it seems we are in a new war, over natural resources and public safety vs the Navy’s inertia. It’s not like there aren’t alternatives. The Administrative Order on Consent (last 15 min) is supposed to look at alternatives. It’s really hard to fathom the cost of building new state of the art above ground storage tanks will be more expensive than building more monitoring wells, repairing and maintaining the tanks, implementing “new” (Watada mentions the 16 year old safety upgrades specifically designed for the tanks have yet to be implemented.) Certainly MORE jobs would be created since in addition to building new facility/facilities we still have to deal with the clean up of toxic waste and pollution at the old one.
I found Tina Quizon’s hard hitting 15 minute interview with then (Sept 2015) Department of Health Chair Gary Gill. While Gill tries to put a positive spin on it all, he fully corroborates the concerns of Watada and Lau. BWS says they have formally requested that DOH share any information received from the Navy, and as we heard, that just is not happening. Gill says several additional things equally as hair-raising as BWS. For time reasons, we didn’t even get into the scariness of the tunnel, for instance, but Gill puts it right out there:
Tracy Burgo, the BWS Communications Officer has promised to keep me in the loop on the June meeting. A strong showing of public support for BWS’s efforts to protect our drinking water would give Dept. of Health, EPA, and the Navy a clear message that the current pace and scope of efforts is simply unacceptable. We go!
What a show. We concentrated on what is there physically, the geography of the facility (first 15 min). In the second section (15-30 min) we discuss leak history and contamination evidence. Ernie drops a bomb describing an EPA Superfund situation I was not prepared for (start at 25:00.) In the final segment we discuss the current situation on tank repairs, usage, testing. I was so overcome by the enormity of the situation, I misspoke. Kākoʻo ʻŌiwi is in He’eia; the issue was runoff from Kahekili Highway, not Kamehameha Highway.
We did not get into the Administrative Order on Consent signed in 2014 which maps the political geography of the situation. That will be our focus next week. Same time, 3pm HST. Same station, ThinkTechHawaii.com. Same hydro-hero duo, Ernest and Erwin!
I’m attaching the visuals for easy perusal. Here’s the link to Honolulu Board of Water Supply’s web page dedicated to the fuel tank/aquifer issue.
Last Friday I spent an hour and a half with three senior members of the Honolulu Board of Water supply, Ernest Y.W. Lau, P.E.; Manager and Chief Engineer, Erwin Kawata; Program Administrator, Water Quality Division and Tracy Burgo; Information Specialist.
Here’s what I learned. There are 20 WWII era tanks with a combined fuel storage capacity of 250,000,000 gallons which have been leaking irregularly since built. The leaky tanks are 100 feet above the aquifer that provides drinking water to Oahuans from Moanalua to Hawaii Kai. Even though it was April 1st, none of them were fooling.
Tomorrow Lau and Kawata will go over some staggering data. Join us at 3pm HST. on Think Tech Hawaii for livestreamed coverage. If YOU have a question, tweet us @ThinkTechHI. If you can’t watch live, I will post the YouTube video within 24 hours here at KauiLucas.com
When it’s all over mid- September, I wonder how Chipper Wichman Jr. is going to feel, having been the spark that began the years-long process to bring the IUCN’s World Conservation Conference, themed “Planet at the Crossroads” to Hawai’i. Before we livestreamed yesterday, I asked Randall Tanaka what message was most important for him to communicate. His answer surprised me: legacy. How will we in this host community- whether we participate directly or indirectly -leverage the opportunities it is providing?
We don’t have to wait until September. Opportunities are already happening. Justice Antonio Herman Benjamin, who serves on the World Commission on Environmental Law of the IUCN, was in town visiting fishponds (conservation projects) and speaking. I caught part of a breakfast gathering both he and Randall Tanaka were featured in at the Department of Land and Natural resources Friday. It was a live demonstration of the way experts from very different conservation experiences can assist us in avoiding catastrophic resource degradation, and mitigating the damages we have already sustained, most effectively.
A couple of friends have inquired about where to sign up to volunteer at the IUCN Congress: here.
Breakfast Gathering at DLNR with (facing left to right) Professor Denise E. Antolini Richardson Law School, DLNR first deputy Kekoa Kaluhiwa, Justice Antionio H. Benjamin of Brazil’s High Court, Associate Justice Michael D. Wilson of Hawaiʻi Supreme Court, and Randall Tanaka, Executive Director, Hawai’i’s World Conservation Congress National Host Committee
When the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) meets in Waikiki this September 1 to 10, it will be the first time in its 66-year history that the world’s largest conservation conference will be hosted by the United States.
Attendees from 160 different countries will include first people’s organizations, scientists, business interests, politicians, policy makers, educators, NGOs, experts in the fields of environment and climate change. What role will our extensive and diverse conservation community play? Randall Tanaka, Executive Director of Hawai’i’s World Conservation Congress National Host Committee will answer questions about the role for local organizations. Tweet your questions to @thinktechHI, and watch us livestreamed: Think Tech Hawaii 3pm HST today.
They’re here! They are fabulous! They are the next generation rising to take their place at democracy’s table in Hawai’i. The process of choosing delegates is far more circuitous than I had any idea of. Cameron Sato and Elliot Van Wie do a great job of describing that in the fist section, as well as part of the second. Definitely watch the first 10 minutes if you are planning to vote Saturday the 26th in Hawai’i’s Democratic Preference Poll.
At about 26:00 Cameron Sato gives at truly unique argument for voting for Bernie, addressing head on the concerns about Sander’s age.
And yes, that is the same locally made Princess Kaiulani Fashion‘s custom mu’u mu’u I wore in the final “luau” episode of the 1994 This Old House series on my then home at Niu. And yes, the scarf is Kealopiko, from several years ago. And no, they are not sponsoring this blog.
Good Friday 2016’s Hawai’i Is My MainLand livestream, will be at its usual 3pm HST. What is un-usual, is a focus on United States of America politics and three guests: Asami Kobayashi, Cameron Sato and Elliot Van Wie. All are very active in the Hawai’i for Bernie Sanders US presidential campaign.
It is relatively easy to find out how and where to vote Saturday, March 26th, to influence the votes cast by Hawai’i’s 35 delegates to the Democratic National Convention.
It is less apparent how showing up on Saturday and voting translates to committed delegates. Elliot Van Wie, Precinct 4 President of the Democratic Party of Hawai’i will illumine!
It made me cry. Katie Kamelamela articulates her experience of the recent ‘Aha, a four week long constitutional convention process for Native Hawaiians last month. Approximately 150 Native Hawaiians created a fifteen page constitution based on their understanding of our history. As groundbreaking as that accomplishment was, the process itself was one of deep transformation for Kamelamela (see video at about 34:00.) To come away with profound insight into her own being-a way forward as a leader (not something she sought,) recognizing that above all, unity among Hawaiians is the foundation of sovereignty-fully warrants the fraught with hakakā genesis of this ‘Aha. Kamelamela’s message of acceptance and courageous embrace of change adds a new stanza to Meleanna Meyer‘s kāhea so beautifully presented last fall.
I thank the Grassroots Institute of Hawaii , and likeminded, for their steadfast efforts to induce Hawaiians to play by rules foisted on our ancestors in a series of opportunistic, unlawful and cruelly hypocritical events. It is the pain of that injustice gestating over a century, now manifest as kuakoko, which is birthing something of such pure beauty I am moved to tears.
In the summer of 2012 I had the life altering privilege of participating in the 5 day ‘Ai Pono Ola Pono (healthy eating – healthy living) Huaka’i to Kaho‘olawe Island with ‘Ahahui O Nā Kauka, a gathering of Native Hawaiian doctors, nurses, farmers and other health and food practitioners.
The purpose was to strengthen the connection between healthy local food systems and improved health and wellness outcomes for clinicians. That’s where I met Katie Kamelamela. Then a Botany graduate student at the University of Hawai‘i, Mānoa; she impressed me with her intellectual, scientific, Hawaiian cultural and physical strengths.
A couple of months ago I wrote about her remarkable profile as a Na‘i Aupuni candidate. Friday March 18th at 3pm HST on Think Tech Hawaii she and I will be talking about her experience as a participant in the recent Na‘i Aupuni ‘Aha. Her voice is clear and compellingly holistic. Watch our livestreamed program to hear a future for Hawai‘i from a refreshing voice.
What is it about farmers? I find them the most interesting and compelling people. Ok. I grew up on a mono-crop/obsolete-colonial model ag operation, and both sides of my family have been agripreneurs with various vineyard, ranching, dairy and commercial crop enterprises — so it’s not entirely a surprise.
Rob is poster child for the new generation of farmers. His background is in web design, and he had integrated that skill set into his recently acquired agricultural knowledge. He gives the Go Farm program much credit. My apologies to GoFarm and Steven Chiang, somehow in the process of clipping your video, an unusual contemporary art element was added.
Although we have several mutual acquaintances, this was the first time I met Rob Barreca. Did we have too much fun? Although we have several mutual acquaintances, this was the first time I met Rob Barreca. You be the judge…certainly enough fun for a hana hou show.
Last Friday I spent an hour and a half with three senior members of the Honolulu Board of Water supply, Ernest Y.W. Lau, P.E.; 
When the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) meets in Waikiki this September 1 to 10, it will be the first time in its 66-year history that the world’s largest conservation conference will be hosted by the United States.
Good Friday 2016’s Hawai’i Is My MainLand 
Hawaiʻi Is My MainLand 
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