Environment

Leniency Offered to Delinquent Water Users

Tuesday, November 23rd, 2010

After years of struggling to pay the Department of Agriculture (DOA), the Molokai Irrigation System (MIS) Advisory Board has taken steps to help their water users pay delinquent accounts.

As of Aug. 31, 81 accounts are in delinquency – having not paid their water bill for 60 days or more – and owe a total of $341,091, according to Duane Okamoto, DOA deputy director. Of those, 25 owe more than $1,000 and account for more than half the water usage in the MIS.

“It’s just like any other utility,” Okamoto said at last week’s MIS Advisory Board meeting. Just like any other utility, the DOA has procedures to penalize those that do not pay.

However, after talking with the board and the community over the past few years, the DOA is offering more flexible repayment plans on Molokai. The MIS board is the only board in the state not to use standard collection procedures – if users don’t pay, the DOA cuts off their water.

“We would like to do this on a case by case basis,” Okamoto said in an interview after the meeting. “We need a board who’s familiar with the community to tell us, [so] we can give consideration to everyone’s situation.”

First, the board looked at delinquent accounts and found some water users that had passed away. For these accounts, it was recommended the debt be waived up to the date of death.

,” Okamoto said.

No Freebies
While the board came to a consensus for delinquent accounts, there are still homesteaders who do not pay their bills because they believe they should not be charged for water at all.

Board member and homesteader Moke Kim argued that the Hawaiian Homes Commission Act of 1920 stipulates DHHL is to provide water free of charge for the agriculture and domestic needs of homesteaders.

Okamoto said all those on MIS land – homesteaders and non-homesteaders – are charged transmission fees on their water usage at 47.5 cents per thousand gallons. Board Chair James Boswell suggested because homesteaders were being charged a transmission fee, a standard monthly fee should replace the per water usage.

“My water bill was especially high in the summer – over $400 in August,” Kim said at a previous meeting. “In September it was $300. Do you mean my transmission had changed?”

Okamoto reiterated that the rate is for the delivery of water, not for water itself, and that money goes toward system maintenance. He added the money is needed, as the DOA receives less money from the state legislature these days – down to $350,000 a year from $1 million about six years ago.

The recommendations will be reviewed by the DOA and brought back to the board for further discussion before any action is taken.

Toxic Waste Removed from Ilio

Friday, November 12th, 2010

An environmental cleanup prompted by the Coast Guard will continue until mid-November as the last of the hazardous waste is removed from a cliff at Ilio Point and shipped to the mainland.

For nearly two weeks, workers have been using a large vacuum to suck up the remains of equipment that was dumped by a Coast Guard station while it was active prior to 1966.

“The Coast Guard dumped [the materials] there, so it’s our responsibility to clean it up,” said Gene Maestas, public affairs officer for the U.S Coast Guard 14th District in Honolulu.

Testing of the site in 2009 showed high concentrations of polychlorinated biphenyls, or PCBs, in the soil. When testing was conducted offshore, however, no contaminants were found in the water, sediments, invertebrates or fish.

“We’re very lucky [the station] dumped something that’s not more readily in the marine environment,” said Jay Silberman, project manager from the U.S. Coast Guard Civil Engineering Unit. “We want to clean it up before it gets into [the water].”

Silberman said the PCBs chemical adheres tightly to soil – almost like glue – and requires a solvent to separate the two. Because PCB does not dissolve in water, the contactor, Pacific Commercial Services Inc., is removing the contaminated materials with a vacuum that reaches 18 inches below the surface.

The materials will be bagged and sealed and shipped to the mainland.
 
The dumpsite was discovered in 2008 by Silberman and a colleague, who later put in a request for funding to conduct testing and a cleanup project. Estimates put the cost of the operation at about $600,000, which is fully covered by the Coast Guard.

Silberman said the debris – electrical equipment, pipes, iron metal, wood, glass and brick – covers about 100 cubic yards of the cliff, 70 yards of which is hazardous.

The public is advised to stay clear of the site until the operation is complete.

Save Our Seals

Thursday, November 11th, 2010

With a dwindling Hawaiian monk seal population, federal officials are proposing a new plan to improve the survival of the endangered species. However, some Molokai fishermen say they are worried the plan could come at their expense.

The National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) is preparing a programmatic environmental impact statement (PEIS) for an action plan that seeks to relocate monk seals to Molokai and other islands.

The NFMS is considering moving recently-weaned female pups from the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands (NWHI) to the Main Hawaiian Islands (MHI) for three years. During this time, the seals would be released among wild pups and be monitored and studied before being returned to their respective islands.

Fishing Woes
Representatives of the NMFS were on island last week to gather public opinion for the PEIS, which will evaluate the impacts of the proposed activities. While some fisherman felt the recovery program has good intentions, they also spoke of how it could be detrimental to their business.

that the seals are a nuisance and eating the fish right out of the nets.”

Ching suggested the idea of establishing a breeding center in the NWHI, in hopes to satisfy both parties.

“It’s just a thought, but NOAA seems to have deep pockets,” Ching said. “…It would be a safe environment and there would be no human interaction.”

Walter Naki agreed, stating that human interaction would be difficult to avoid if more seals were brought to Molokai.

“We don’t want to criminalize people,” he said. “I like the part about saving seals but don’t want to see one innocent fisherman put in jail.”

Seal Recovery
According to NMFS, 60 to 90 percent of NWHI seals die by the age of three. However, research has shown that MHI seals do well, with 60 percent surviving to adulthood. Jeff Walters, of the NMFS, said a reason for this could be that there are less predators and competitors on MHI.
The primary focus of the seal recovery program is to modify seal behavior, decrease human socialization, and improve female survival.

“The thing about wildlife species is you need females to have pups to keep the species going,” Walters added.

If implemented, the program would be launched no earlier than 2012 and would begin with a trial phase of a few pups. The public has until Nov. 15 to submit written comment before the PEIS is drafted and published. For more information go to www.nmfs.noaa.gov and search for the Hawaiian monk seal recovery program.

KP2 Update
Of the 1,200 Hawaiian monk seals that remain, Ho`ailona, affectionately known as KP2, is doing well and is now stable with his eye condition.

At his current home at the University of California, Santa Cruz (UCSC), Ho`ailona is still being considered for surgery for his cataracts, but depends on if he returns to  the Hawaiian Islands.

Dr. Terrie Williams, director of the Marine Mammal Physiology project at UCSC, said she and NMFS are still in discussion about Ho`ailona’s future and when he will return to Hawaii.

She said the question remains of where to place him. Sea Life Park has been the most talked about location thus far. It has not been decided whether Ho`ailona would be returned to Molokai.

“My understanding is that construction of a pool is what is slowing his travel back to the islands,” she added. “We've been working on Ho`ailona’s training to help him make the transition to a new island home. It would help to know where that home is.”