September 2026 PDF
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Waikoloa Green Project Wins Favor With County, But Water Issues Loom
Once more, a massive development is being proposed on a site near Waikoloa Village. If the plans of landowner Waikoloa Green, LLC, move forward, over the next two decades, some 400 apartments and around 300 single-family houses will sprout on … Continued
Board Talk: East Maui Water
Board Advances Court-Ordered Contested Case On Revocable Permits for East Maui Diversions Following recent orders from the Environmental Court, the Board of Land and Natural Resources voted last month to authorize its chair to appoint a hearing officer and to...
New & Noteworthy: Coco Palms In Court; The True Cost of Salvage
Coco Palms in Court: This past summer, Utah-based Reef Capital Partners, which owners the former Coco Palms resort site in Wailua, Kauaʻi, secured $431 million in redevelopment financing. Whether that will be enough for the company to fulfill its plans...
Beleaguered ADC Executive Director Quits in Anticipation of Her Dismissal
Wendy Gady, for nearly three years the executive director of the Agribusiness Development Corporation, is out. Facing almost certain termination after an evaluation of her performance that included a negative grade, Gady submitted her resignation letter on August 12, effective...
Lawsuit Challenges Plan to Mine Seabed Off American Samoa
A push by the Trump administration to mine the seabed off the coast of American Samoa is being challenged in court by groups in both American Samoa and Hawaiʻi. The lawsuit, brought against the National Marine Fisheries Service and Commerce...
August 2026 PDF
This PDF contains an error in the article on page 7, “In Sierra Club Appeal, Judge Reverses Water Permit, Orders Contested Case on East Maui Diversions.” The court ordered a contested case to be held by September 28 if the...
Attorney General Bails Out ADC With Loan to Cover NPDES Challenge
“This is crazy. It’s a crazy amount of money. It’s like $2 million dollars.” Wendy Gady, executive director of the state Agribusiness Development Corporation, was describing the legal charges her agency had already incurred and those it was likely to … Continued
EDITORIAL: The Costly Debacle of the ADC’s NPDES Challenge
(Above photo: Kevin Minoli. Credit: Alston & Bird) In November 2024, members of the board of the state Agribusiness Development Corporation were advised by Ben Berridge of Stantec GS, Inc., that complying with permit conditions of a draft National Pollutant … Continued
The Special Deputy AG’s Fees
(Above photo: From the state’s contract with Alston & Bird.) Environment Hawaiʻi received detailed breakdowns of invoices submitted by the law firm of Alston & Bird to the Agribusiness Development Corporation. Here’s what we learned: The first invoice, dated July … Continued