The Hawaiʻi County administration and the Environmental Protection Agency have agreed on a consent order that is intended to address the many serious operational issues at three of the county’s wastewater plants on the windward side of the Big Island. … Continued
Poems and Pinions: One of the heaviest, most serious tomes in any reputable library of a Hawaiʻi conservation biologist is Alien Plant Invasions in Native Ecosystems of Hawaiʻi, edited by Charles Stone, Cliff Smith, and Tim Tunison. And now that … Continued
Hu Honua Rebuffed: The on-again, off-again dispute over the Hu Honua power plant just north of Hilo is now on again. This comes after Hu Honua itself sought to postpone – possibly for months – the scheduled start of a … Continued
On January 11, 1st Circuit Judge Jeffrey Crabtree will hold a hearing on the Sierra Club of Hawai‘i’s motion for summary judgment regarding a complaint it filed last October against the state Department of Health. The group seeks to force the … Continued
Hu Honua Update: Proceedings before the Public Utilities Commission in the case involving the Hu Honua power plant, being built just north of Hilo, are gaining steam. In September, parties in the case filed prehearing testimonies. The state Consumer Advocate, Tawhiri … Continued
“It’s pretty intense,” says state toxicologist Dr. Diana Felton. With rising seas and more frequent severe storms expected as a result of the climate crisis, she and Department of Health colleague Dr. Iris van der Zander warn of the increased … Continued
On April 19, the state Senate passed the final form of its Concurrent Resolution 47, urging the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs to recognize that health conditions afflicting chronically ill veterans once stationed at the Navy’s underground field station at … Continued
Land Board Fines Trash Hauler $62,000 for Leaving Full Roll-Offs On State Land Being contrite might have helped, but John Guinan, Jr., owner of The Trash Man, LLC hauling company, chose to fight. He ended up with a fine nearly … Continued
The Supreme Court’s April decision in a case involving effluent from the Lahaina, Maui, sewage treatment plant may have ramifications for a host of other facilities in Hawai‘i. That ruling found that where there was a close connection between the … Continued
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