Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 11, Number 7, 1 Iulai 1994 — Molokaʻi group fights pipeline development [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]
Molokaʻi group fights pipeline development
by Patrick Johnston Some loeal residents believe a water pipe tapping the aquifers of east Moloka'i for development on the west side could bleed the island of most of its traditional livelihood. They want it stopped and are going to court to see that it is. On May 10, a coalition of Hawaiian homesteaders, business owners, and environmentalists on Moloka'i, announced they intended to file a lawsuit in federal court within 60 days for Clean Water Act violations committed by developers of a 9-mile pipeline project in Moloka'i. Developer Kukui (Moloka'i), ine., eontractor Kajima ine., and sub-contractor Kiewit Pacific are named in the suit. Kukui (owned by Japan-based Tokyo Kosan Company) operates a number of resort, condominiunt, and golf develop-
ments on Moloka'i, and has the potential for four more hotels and 4,000 acres of luxury home lots. Kukui is now using two million gallons of water per day to service its properties. With the new pipeline they will, according to plaintiffs involved in the suit, be able to pump 10 times that amount. The section of pipeline in dispute is a 500-foot stretch that runs across state land connecting the Moloka'i Irrigation System with the privately-owned Moloka'i Ranch. Moloka'i Ranch has already agreed to let the pipe cross its property. The Iawsuit claims that Kukui, Kajima, and Kiewit violated the Clean Water Act and Hawai'i Department of Health regulations by not obtaining a storm water permit before or during construction of the project. Heavy rains in February of this year caused massive runoff from the project site into the island's gulches and the Pālā'au coastal estuary. The group is requesting $5 miilion in civil penalties as soon as July 11 unless Kukui, Kajima and Kiewit comply with the law. A spokesman for Kukui said they are investigating the status of the matter and will respond by the July 1 1 deadline. The suit is one of two filed against the company relating to construction of the water pipe. Last January, the same group sued Kukui and the state for failing to follow Hawai'i Environmental Protection Act regulations by granting an easement to the company to build the pipeline before an Environmental Assessment study was carried out. Kukui then went ahead with construction without waiting for the completion of an assessment.
An Environmental Assessment is the first of two procedures used to determine the impact of a development. If the assessment shows the impact to be significant an EIS or Environmental lmpact Statement is required. An EIS looks into, not only the effect on the physical environment, but also but also how the development would impact the socio-economic and cultural elimate of the region. Bill Paty, chairman of the Board of Land and Natural Resources at the time the easement was granted, said the Board considered the portion of state land too small to warrent an assessment or impact statement. "The neek of Iand was so small that we didn't want to get involved with an assessment." He added that the decision was strictly based on land and not on any socioeeonomie concems. Moloka'i residents involved in the suit, concerned that extensive development in West Moloka'i will fundamentally alter the largely rural Hawaiian character of the island - and exhaust water supplies that could be used for more traditional activities
- believe an EIS is warranted. With it they hope put the brakes on the project. Denise Antolini, a lawyer for the Sierra Club Legal Defense Fund who is representing the Moloka'i group explains, "The pipeline has the potential for a ten-fold increase in development on the west side. I think the EIS will expose why that is a bad idea." Colette Machado, Moloka'i chamber of commerce board member and long-time supporter of a traditional and rural Moloka'i adds that, "The bottom line is that we have used the environmental laws effectively to force developers to comply with necessary standards. ... Moloka'i is the last Hawaiian island. ... We will not sacrifice our lifestyle, subsistence rights to the shoreline, and use of the water to Kukui's profit-making scheme to develop the west end for outsiders." An injunction has been granted to plaintiffs prohibiting further work on the state portion of the pipeline until the case is decided. continued on page 14
Bulldozed section of pipeline trench
Moloka'i residents protesting against pipeline development. Photos courtesy of Sierra Club Legal Defense Fund
Moloka'i water suit
from page 8 In response to the accusationns, Kukui says that it is impossible to pump more than 11.9 million gallons per day through a 24-ineh pipeline and that, even if they could, that does not give them the right to use the water. "The mere fact that you have transmission doesn't mean you have the right to use the water." a spokeman for Kukui said. The state water commission is responsible for allowing water use on Moloka'i. While not mentioned in the suit, Moloka'i Ranch is seen by plaintiffs as an equally guilty party in the dispute. The foreign-owned ranch provided the easement for 99 percent of the pipeline and, according to its 1993 annual report, stands to profit enormously from the increased value of its arid land brought about by the added irrigation. De Gray Vanderbilt of the Moloka'i Chamber of Commerce explains, "The new pipeline, and its daily delivery of the majority of the 17 million gallons of water it says it needs, will result in 'enormous increases' in the value of the ranch's 50,000 acres of arid land." Vanderbilt adds, "To the developer, water is profit. To Hawaiians, it sustains a lifestyle found nowhere else in the state."
Winter rains caused heavy runoff in pipeline trenches.