For decades, Maui County has been pressured to seek a Clean Water Act permit for discharges of partly treated effluent from its Lahaina sewage treatment plant into nearshore waters. The effluent is pumped into injection wells deep into the ground, where … Continued
On the occasion of completing 30 years of continuous publication – a mile- stone that will be attained in June – Environment Hawai‘i will be reprinting from time to time articles that we believe display the breadth and the depth of the … Continued
Temperatures are rising. And as they soar, so, too, do the mosquitoes that carry the parasite that causes avian malaria, fatal to so many of the native Hawaiian forest birds. For years, scientists and biologists concerned with the health of … Continued
Chalk one up for the state. A big one. A three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has shredded the takings claims of Bridge ‘Aina Le‘a, LLC, over the state Land Use Commission’s decision in 2011 to … Continued
Delay in ‘Ohi‘a Rust Rule: Last August, after many years of delay, the state Department of Agriculture finally approved rules to ban the importation of plants in the Myrtaceae family from other states, in hopes of protecting ohi‘a from a devastating rust. … Continued
“Infectious disease is going to have a larger impact than terrorism on our future,” Lieutenant Governor Josh Green said in his introductory remarks to the 6th International Workshop on Angiostrongylus and Angiostrongyliasis, held last month in Hilo. In his official capacity, Green … Continued
(This article has been updated to correct Dr. Alfred Mina’s first name.) In Hawai‘i, it would seem, dogs have received better treatment for rat lungworm disease than humans. For several years, Dr. Alfred Mina, a veterinarian in Hilo, has been … Continued
In the normal life cycle of rat lungworm (Angiostrongylus cantonensis), snails and slugs eat rat feces that contain the first-stage lungworm larvae. Thoselarvae develop to the third stage in the snails. When rats eat the snails, the larvae develop into adults … Continued
Correction: Argon Steel, Ph.D., informed Environment Hawai`i that the bleach solution used in testing possible effective vegetable washes was household bleach, which was diluted 25 percent, so the actual dilution was 1.5 percent bleach. Also, the chlorine that was used … Continued
Tibouchina Biocontrol: The state Department of Agriculture has released a draft environmental assessment for the statewide release of a small Brazilian beetle, Syphraea uberabensis, to controlcane tibouchina, a noxious weed, and related species. According to the draft EA, noticed inthe Office of Environmental … Continued