Archive for September, 2017

BLNR Approves TMT –Again!

Thursday, September 28th, 2017

Shame on the BLNR.  Always pushing Hawaiian religious beliefs and practices to the back burner, and putting money first.

Jim Albertini


FYI.
 

Begin forwarded message:
From: “Dennison, Dan W” <dan.w.dennison@hawaii.gov>
Subject: DLNR News Release – Board of Land and Natural Resources Approves TMT Permit
Date: September 28, 2017 at 10:00:14 AM HST
To: undisclosed-recipients: ;


 

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DEPARTMENT OF LAND AND NATURAL RESOURCES
 
DAVID Y. IGE
GOVERNOR
 
SUZANNE D. CASE
CHAIRPERSON
 
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Sept. 28, 2017
 
BOARD OF LAND AND NATURAL RESOURCES APPROVES TMT PERMIT
5-2 Majority Adopts Hearing Officer’s Findings
 
HONOLULU – Recognizing its responsibility to strike a balance between native Hawaiian traditional and cultural practices and other stakeholders in the state, a 5-2 majority of the Hawai‘i Board of Land and Natural Resources (the Board) adopted today the recommendation of retired judge Riki May Amano to approve the application for a Conservation District Use Permit (CDUP) to build the Thirty-Meter Telescope (TMT).
 
Board and DLNR Chair Suzanne Case said, “This was one of the most difficult decisions this Board has ever made. The members greatly respected and considered the concerns raised by those opposed to the construction of the Thirty-Meter Telescope at the Mauna Kea Science Reserve.”
 
Supporters of the project testified during a contested case hearing and in oral arguments that Hawaiian culture and modern science can co-exist on the mountain. Construction of the TMT is expected to provide jobs for more than 100 people and at completion, permanent jobs for as many as 140 workers on the island of Hawai‘i. The consortium of research universities behind the TMT have provided $2.5 million for scholarships, classroom projects, and STEM grants every year since 2014. Under the CDUP, builders of the TMT must provide an additional one million dollars each year for college scholarships for native Hawaiians and other educational initiatives on Hawai‘i Island.
 
The Board adopted 43 conditions to the permit including Governor David Ige’s previously detailed “path forward” 10-point plan requiring the University of Hawai’i to decommission three existing telescopes, any future development to occur on existing sites, and the TMT site to be the last new site on Mauna Kea. Additional conditions include:
 
●          Design choices to mitigate visual and aesthetic effects
●          Waste minimization plan for hazardous & solid waste, including a zero discharge wastewater system
●          Cultural and natural resources training for workers
●          No impact to water resources under the public trust doctrine, Lake Waiau hydrology & water resources considerations
●          Educational exhibits, specific community outreach efforts and cultural observation days
●          Invasive species prevention and control
●          Continued public access and continuing consultations with cultural practitioners
●          Arthropod monitoring and Wekiu bug habitat restoration study
 
A copy of the preface to the Board’s Findings of Fact, Conclusions of Law and Decision and Order is attached.
 
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RESOURCES
(video courtesy: Hawai‘i DLNR)
 
HD video-Mauna Kea Science Reserve: (shot sheet attached)
 
Board’s Findings of Fact, Conclusions of Law and Decision and Order: https://dlnr.hawaii.gov/mk/files/2017/09/882-BLNR-FOFCOLDO.pdf
 
 
 
Media Contact:
Dan Dennison
Senior Communications Manager
(808) 587-0407
 
 
 

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Do not wait: Speak Up for Diplomacy Not War!

Wednesday, September 27th, 2017

Hawaii Under Nuclear Attack!

      The enormous U.S. military presence in Hawaii makes Hawaii and its people (residents and visitors alike) vulnerable to attack and has major ongoing environmental consequences. There is no question that Major military command and force installations on Oahu would be prime targets in the event of any nuclear war. Places such as the Pacific Command at Camp H.M. Smith located above Aloha stadium, Pearl Harbor, Hickam Air Force base, Schofield Barracks, Kaneohe Marine Corps Air Station, the NSA base near Wahiawa, major munition bases at West Loch of Pearl Harbor, Lualualei on the Waianae coast, etc. For decades, there has been a military command plane named the “Blue Eagle” on 24 hour alert at Hickam A.F. Base to take military commanders airborne in the event of any nuclear attack while the rest of us remain sitting ducks. It has been reported that the pilot and copilot on “Blue Eagle” wear eye patches to prevent total blindness from nuclear blast flashes.

      Recently, the Hawaii State Emergency Management Agency has issued a warning that a North Korean missile attack would only involve 20 minutes from launch to detonation. Their only advice is get indoors, stay indoors and stay tuned. Nuclear fallout could cover all the islands depending on which way the wind blows. For more info (it is not good) See

http://hawaiipublicradio.org/post/north-korean-nuclear-attack-20-minutes-launch-detonation

      Hawaii has already suffered effects from nuclear war preparations. Pearl Harbor is a superfund toxic waste site. Liquid nuclear waste has been discharged into Pearl Harbor and more than 2000 drums of solid nuclear waste have been dumped off Oahu’s southern shores. Nuclear accidents –release of radioactive materials (classified top secret) have reportedly taken place on Oahu. Military fuel tanks are leaking and threatening ground water contamination in the Red Hill area near Tripler Army hospital. Depleted Uranium radiation weapons have been used at Schofield Barracks, the Pohakuloa Training Area (PTA) on Hawaii Island and possibly other sites in Hawaii such as Makua Valley and Kaho’olawe. The PTA contaminated sites continue to be bombed with high explosives.

      During atmospheric nuclear weapon testing in the late 1950s and early 60s, 12 U.S. atomic and hydrogen bombs were set off at Johnston Island located 500-700 miles south west of Hawaii. 67 U.S. nuclear tests were done in the Marshall islands in Micronesia. The nuclear flash on Johnston Island could be seen from Oahu. Street lights went out. Later soil testing determined that Hawaii had plutonium contamination. Upper jet stream winds travel west to east and rain brought the fallout down. Plutonium has a half-life of 24,400 years. Depleted Uranium’s half life is 4.5 billion years.

      The late retired Commander-in-Chief, Pacific Command (CINCPAC) Admiral Noel Gayler called for the abolition of nuclear weapons and put forward a proposal in 2000 to achieve this goal. His assessment was influenced by viewing Hiroshima from the air only six days after its devastation on August 6, 1945 by a US nuclear weapon.  He also witnessed the atmospheric testing of thermonuclear weapons in the Marshall Islands in the 1960s.  In his proposal, Adm. Gayler dispels some common illusions concerning the military value of nuclear weapons. See more here

https://www.wagingpeace.org/admiral-noel-gayler-dispelling-nuclear-illusions/

No More War! The Only Shelter is Peace!

  1. Mourn all victims of violence. 2. Reject war as a solution. 3. Defend civil liberties.
    4. Oppose all discrimination, anti-Islamic, anti-Semitic, anti-Hawaiian, etc.
    5. Seek peace through peaceful means and work for justice in Hawai`i and around the world.

Contact: Malu ‘Aina Center for Non-violent Education & Action
P.O. Box 489 Kurtistown, Hawai’i 96760 Phone (808) 966-7622. Email: ja@malu-aina.org Sign up on our website to receive our posts  http://www.malu-aina.org/

Hilo Peace Vigil leaflet September 29, 2017– 836th week – Friday 3:30-5PM downtown Post Office

The U.S. Military Junta

Monday, September 18th, 2017

The Rise & Rule of

The Generals

                                                                                             

Generals McMaster, “Mad Dog” Mattis, and Kelly!

Trump’s National Security Advisor Lieutenant General H.R. McMaster, Secretary of Defense and retired Marine General James Mattis, and former head of the Department of Homeland Security, now White House Chief of Staff, retired Marine General John Kelly

The Militarization of Everything

not just foreign policy but – police, schools, sporting events, media, movies, TV, churches, and of course government spending priorities.

A Government of, by, and for, the generals!

Instead of civilians controlling the military. It’s the military controlling the civilians with little or no significant Congressional oversight, and wars now waged in secret. Trump has been reduced to a public figurehead of the military junta.

See http://www.alternet.org/news-amp-politics/its-bizarre-american-generals-who-have-led-us-disaster-mideast-are-treated

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/47821.htm

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/47834.htm

https://www.globalresearch.ca/who-rules-america-2/5608802

No surprise in policies: War, War & More War!

Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Yemen, Syria, Pakistan, etc.

More of the same! Now threatening nuclear war with Korea, escalating tensions with Russia, China, Iran, and of course helping produce record profits for the arms makers. Silence is not an option. Stand Up! Speak Up! Resist!

Wage Peace Not War!

  1. Mourn all victims of violence. 2. Reject war as a solution. 3. Defend civil liberties.
    4. Oppose all discrimination, anti-Islamic, anti-Semitic, anti-Hawaiian, etc.
    5. Seek peace through peaceful means and work for justice in Hawai`i and around the world.

Contact: Malu ‘Aina Center for Non-violent Education & Action
P.O. Box 489 Kurtistown, Hawai’i 96760 Phone (808) 966-7622. Email: ja@malu-aina.org

Sign up on our website to receive our posts  http://www.malu-aina.org/

Hilo Peace Vigil leaflet September 22, 2017– 835th week – Friday 3:30-5PM downtown Post Office

Calling all Water Protectors

Monday, September 18th, 2017

Please submit testimony on Water Bill #65  Important points to stress noted below,  Mahalo.

Jim Albertini

 
 
Image may contain: text
Shannon Rudolph to Kona Geothermal on Hualalai?

23 hrs ·

 

Calling All Hawai`i Island Water Protectors!
Email Your Testimony NOW for Bill 65!
HERE: counciltestimony@hawaiicounty.gov

The Hawai`i County Council will hear Bill 65 in committee on Tues. Sept. 19th at 10:30am in the Council Chambers of the West Hawai`i Civic Center.
It’s BEST to TESTIFY IN PERSON in Kona, but people can also testify via video conference from Hilo, Waimea, Kohala, Naalehu and Pahoa sites on Tues. 9/19 at 10:30am.

AGRICULTURE, WATER AND ENERGY SUSTAINABILITY COMMITTEE

We thank the Dept. of Water Supply for agreeing that there will be no more basal aquifer wells, public or private, in the thin lens just above sea level, which feeds our fishponds, pools and reef…
But this plan does not go far enough.

Changes we are strongly requesting:
The plan says that they will now rely on existing and new high level / mauka wells. These are the same wells that keep failing and have falling water levels. They have a terrible track record – ten years ago four wells went out at once and there were mandatory restrictions – our current crisis is not a “100 year storm”. The DWS needs to be accountable, show us that you can do it now, let alone expand on these wells.

We need meaningful conservation measures that are measurable and enforceable. How will they also apply this to private users? For example, the Kohanaiki golf course – they are saying they are sustainable using brackish water from 8 wells, pumping 650,000 gallons per day… which is 5% of Keauhou pumpage.

We need meaningful community input in this planning process right now and in the future. The plan has one paragraph that says they ‘might’ hold public meetings in the future.

There needs to be a systematic identification and preservation of impacted natural/cultural resources.
The Aha Moku does not have power to enforce or carry out assessments and there are plenty of kupuna out there who are more knowledgeable – and cultural practitioners who are truly cultural practitioners that know the coastal resources that are impacted.
We want them included in the planning process.

The Water use development plan assumes a steady state recharge of the aquifer, however the 2011 USGS ( US geological Survey )assessment showed a 50% variation in recharge rate between wet and dry years. Most climate models show a drying trend in the future for Kona. This plan needs to plan for a drier future.
We Need a sustainable and practical plan for our future – and the public fully expects to be a part of the planning process.

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*Bill 65 refers to the Hawai’i County Water Use Management and Development Plan amendments to the Keauhou Aquifer System.

The process for adoption will take at least 3 hearings.

For any Bill to pass, it requires a committee level hearing or hearings and then 2 more council hearings. The process for adoption will take at least 3 hearings. (If the discussion leads to the need for even more additional hearings, for instance, if there is a postponement for making amendments or getting additional information, that is also a possibility.

Council Member, Karen Eoff, has said they will definitely have hearings on this in the Kona Chambers for any final decision-making.

> Here is a link to Bill 65 – the Updated Water Use and Management Plan: ~ IT IS NOT AN “ERROR” page.

http://records.co.hawaii.hi.us/WebLink/DocView.aspx…

 

*You can read or download the PDF version of Bill 65.
The Bill is just 2 pages, but the report is 80 pages and can be found at the same link – but – you have to scroll way down the page to see it.

Your comments are important to this discussion.
Email Your Testimony HERE: counciltestimony@hawaiicounty.gov

Hawai`i County Council:

Valerie T. Poindexter
Phone: (808) 961-8018
Fax: (808) 961-8912
Email: valerie.poindexter@hawaiicounty.gov

Aaron Chung
Phone: (808) 961-8272
Fax: (808) 961-8912
Email: aaron.chung@hawaiicounty.gov

Susan “Sue” L. K. Lee Loy
Phone: (808) 961-8396
Fax: (808) 961-8912
Email: sue.leeloy@hawaiicounty.gov

Eileen O’Hara, Ph.D.
Phone: (808) 965-2712
Fax: (808) 965-2707
Email: eileen.ohara@hawaiicounty.gov

Jen Ruggles
Phone: (808) 961-8263
Fax: (808) 961-8912
Email: jen.ruggles@hawaiicounty.gov

Maile Medeiros David
Phone: (808) 323-4277
Fax: (808) 329-4786
Email: maile.david@hawaiicounty.gov

Dru Mamo Kanuha
Phone: (808) 323-4267
Fax: (808) 329-4786
Email: dru.kanuha@hawaiicounty.gov

Karen Eoff
Phone: (808) 323-4280
Fax: (808) 329-4786
Email: karen.eoff@hawaiicounty.gov

Herbert M. “Tim” Richards III, DVM
Phone: (808) 961-8564 (Hilo)
Fax: (808) 961-8912
Email: tim.richards@hawaiicounty.gov

Prayers and Chants in support of Mauna Kea Wed. Sept. 20th

Sunday, September 17th, 2017

Pua case of the Mauna Kea ohana has announced Prayers and Chants in support of Mauna Kea Wed. Sept. 20th beginning at 7AM

On 9/13/2017 11:53 AM, Jim Albertini wrote:

Sign holding in support of Mauna Kea Protectors Wed. Sept. 20, 2017 Banyan Dr. 7:30-8:30AM

Land Board to Hear TMT Contested Case Oral Arguments

Below is a DLNR release about the TMT Contested case hearing on Wednesday, Sept. 20, 2017.  There will be a peaceful sign holding from 7:30-8:30 on the sidewalk along Banyan Dr, fronting the Naniloa Hotel prior to the BLNR hearing.  Please pass the word.  Come in a spirit of Kapu Aloha to support the Mauna Kea Protectors/Petitioners.  Bring a sign if can:  “Protect Mauna Kea, Sacred Before Dollars, Respect the Sacred, No TMT” etc.  Mahalo.

Jim Albertini