The Federal Aviation Administration has selected a site for the Next Generation Radar (NEXRAD) planned for South Hawai`i. The site chosen is on land owned by Ka`u Agribusiness Company (a subsidiary of C. Brewer & Co., Ltd.), just over a mile mauka of Whittington Park, at an elevation of 1,370 feet above sea level. The proposed site is on abandoned cane land off the private Ka`alaiki Road, about 1,000 feet south and west of a GTE/Hawaiian Tel antenna.
The town of Na`alehu is 2 1/2 miles to the south and west.
According to the environmental assessment released last month, no endangered or threatened species of plants are found in the area. However, the EA states, habitat of two federally endangered animals — the Hawaiian hoary bat (Lasiurus cinereus semotus) and the Hawaiian hawk, or `io (Buteo solitarius) — could be affected.
In contrast with earlier NEXRAD projects in Hawai`i, federal planners did meet with the residents of Na`alehu in advance of site selection. Community reaction was generally skeptical of the planners’ assurances of no harm from the radio-frequency radiation that the radar will generate. Addressing this point, the EA states: “To alleviate concerns, project updates should be provided to the community.”
Volume 5, Number 5 November 1994
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