Please sign our petition at https://actionnetwork.org/petitions/permits-and-public-hearings-for-hu-honua!
It says,
“I oppose issuance of the NPDES Permit No. HI S000557 for stormwater runoff. I urge you to hold a public hearing on this destruction of our valuable natural resources.
In addition, for Hu Honua injection wells, please require a NPDES permit, and hold a public hearing.”
Hu Honua is nearing completion of a power plant on Big Island that would create more CO2 emissions than burning coal; wastewater with over a dozen hazardous chemicals injected less than 100 feet from the cliff shoreline; thousands of acres of erosion-prone land; and wide deforestation just when we need our forests the most to sequester carbon.
The tainted wastewater would percolate into the aquifer as well as through the porous cliffs, and into coastal waters. Hu Honua also intends to allow stormwater to flow off its toxin-laden industrial site, through cliff-side outfalls and then down into coastal waters. The hazardous chemicals they intend to add to the water before injecting it carry manufacturer’s warnings against mixing in waterways or aquatic ecosystems.
Hu Honua plans to clear-cut five acres of eucalyptus trees every day, and truck them 50 miles (using 30 trucks) to be burned for electricity. The trees they’re replanting will take 20-100 years to grow as large as those they’re cutting, destroying the benefits of that many acres in the meantime. We can’t let this go forward.
The Dept. of Health is now conducting a 30-day comment period on the issuance of a National Pollutants Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit for its storm-water outfalls. Please request a public hearing! Tell the DOH you oppose issuance of the NPDES Permit No. HI S000557.
In addition to the petition, please email cleanwaterbranch@doh.hawaii.gov or by mail at P.O. Box 3378, Honolulu, HI 96801-3378.
Sample email:
Dear Department of Health,
I oppose issuance of the NPDES Permit No. HI S000557. The Hu Honua plant poses serious environmental problems including excessive carbon emissions; excessive water usage, contamination, and injection; geologic instability; deforestation; and putting hundreds of acres of land at risk for erosion. I urge you to hold a public hearing on this destruction of our valuable natural resources.
In addition, for Hu Honua injection wells, please require a NPDES permit, and hold a public hearing. The hearings should comply with HRS Chapter 91. Thank you for the opportunity to comment.
Also, we could still use signatures on our Oahu 100% clean energy by 2030 petition.
Why is this petition important? We need to send our elected officials a message that we must do more and sooner. By mid-century we will already be suffering 3 feet sea level rise – it’s insanity to wait until then to stop cooking the planet in fossil fuels!2045 is too late to wait.We need 2030 because there’s NO Planet B!
Brodie Lockard 350Hawaii.org
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