Menacing Miconia: In the wake of hurricane Iselle, all eyes have been focused on the substantial damages caused by falling albizia trees, with little attention paid to Miconia calvescens. Yet near Onomea, ground zero of the miconia infestation on the Big Island, landslides in areas heavily infested with miconia tend to bear out concerns that what happened in Tahiti, where entire mountain slopes were destabilized once shallow-rooted miconia had shaded out native vegetation, could happen here as well.
After Iselle, stretches of the old Mamalahoa Highway, known as the four-mile Scenic Drive through Onomea, were blocked by trunks and limbs of miconia and other non-native trees. Landslides on the mauka side of the highway extended up 20 feet and higher. Even where the road was not blocked, scarred earth could be seen, with the fallen trees having been blocked from the roadway by other trees close to the road.
In 2013, scientists at the University of Hawai`i were among several authors of a study that predicted just such an outcome. They reported that land under miconia stands is more vulnerable to erosion for several reasons, including the fact that the large leaves inhibit growth of understory plants, the leaves collect rainfall and cause it to hit the land in larger drops, and the leaves also decompose rapidly, leaving bare soil unprotected from runoff. (See the March 2013 article in Environment Hawai`i, “Study Links Miconia to Potential for High Erosion Rates in Hawai`i,” for details.)
The area around Onomea is so infested with miconia, however, that the Big Island Invasive Species Committee “some time ago acknowledged that miconia was beyond our ability to control with the limited resources available,” says Springer Kaye, director of the organization. When it comes to miconia, BIISC maintains a buffer at the northern end of the Hamakua Coast, “to try to keep it from reaching Kohala,” Kaye says.
“Landslides are so common on the Hamakua Coast it may just be a coincidence that this one happened on a hillside in a neighborhood covered with miconia… I don’t know of anyone tracking these slides,” she added.
While BIISC is not managing miconia these days, she said, it has not been forgotten, with biocontrol efforts underway at the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
Hu Honua Hit Again: The Hu Honua Bioenergy plant under construction north of Hilo is facing yet another lawsuit from a creditor. On August 1, Morbark, Inc., based in Michigan, filed a complaint in 3rd Circuit Court, alleging that it is owed $1,023,244.50 for two large wood chippers and related equipment. The lawsuit asks for payment of this amount, plus interest, attorneys’ fees and costs, and other damages determined by the court.
The chippers were purchased in February 2013 for $1,844,270.88. Last December, Morbark, which was still owed nearly $1.3 million, accepted a financing plan calling for Hu Honua to pay $265,000 “within 10 business days after receiving net proceeds of a financing in the amount of at least $6,500,000,” with the remainder due on or before June 30.
As a condition of the financing plan, Morbark had to accept a subordination agreement that made its lien junior to any liens of Hu Honua’s parent company, Island Bioenergy, which was not only going to provide the $6.5 million loan referenced in the financing agreement, but also was expected to infuse Hu Honua with an additional loan of at least $40 million by the June 30 payment deadline.
In addition to the Morbark claim, nearly a dozen applications for mechanic’s and materialman’s liens totaling more than $50 million against Hu Honua were set to be heard on October 1. No hearing date has been set for yet another lien application, filed on July 23 by Safway Services.
Volume 25, Number 4 October 2014
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