The contested case over the water flowing in Wailiku Water Company’s ditch system has raised an interesting question: When is an operator of an old sugar plantation ditch system considered a public utility? Under Hawai`i Revised Statutes, anyone who sells … Continued
At times, washing something can actually make it dirtier. And when that something is food, it puts the public’s health at risk. In Hawai`i, tens of thousands of acres of agricultural land are irrigated with water from open ditches, which, … Continued
Environmental issues made headlines during the 2007 legislative session, even though few bills affecting the environment made it through to final passage. Topic A had to be the Senate’s consideration of Peter Young, nominated by Governor Lingle to head the … Continued
On May 11, the Board of Land and Natural Resources fined five Maui residents $500 each and ordered them to pay up to an additional $200 each in administrative costs for riding motorized dirt bikes on state conservation lands at … Continued
A Brief History Since it first opened nearly 18 years ago, the Waimanalo Gulch Municipal Solid Waste Landfill has become the landfill on the island, accepting each year some 300,000 tons of municipal solid waste and between 85,000 and 95,000 … Continued
NEW & NOTEWORTHY Sewage Spill Settlement: The state Department of Health, the federal Environmental Protection Agency, and the City and County of Honolulu have agreed on a plan to settle a lawsuit filed by the EPA and the state over … Continued
Late last year, Maui solid waste division chief Tracy Takamine delivered some startling news to the Maui County Council’s budget and finance committee: Phase IV-A of the Central Maui Landfill, which receives the bulk of the island’s waste and had … Continued
It took them long enough. Last September 5, the state Department of Health and the Maui County Department of Public Works and Environmental Management signed settlement agreements requiring the county to resolve violations at the Lana`i and Central Maui landfills … Continued
From a common-sense viewpoint, it’s a no-brainer: the very first step in tackling the mounting problem of solid waste is simply stop producing so much of it. The next logical step is to salvage that part of what we toss … Continued
It’s back. The plan to log koa, the beautiful, high-value native hardwood, from about 12,000 acres of land just north of Hilo went down in flames six years ago, amid lawsuits and countersuits over land ownership and logging deals, violations … Continued