LIHU’E — The state Office of Environmental Quality Control has “strongly urged” the county to withdraw its draft environmental assessment for an erosion control project at Wailua Golf Course. In a letter to County Engineer Cesar Portugal, OEQC Director Genevieve
LIHU’E — The state Office of Environmental Quality Control has “strongly
urged” the county to withdraw its draft environmental assessment for an erosion
control project at Wailua Golf Course.
In a letter to County Engineer Cesar
Portugal, OEQC Director Genevieve Salmonson said the county needs to consult
with citizen groups and individuals before re-submitting the document, which
was published in the Jan. 23 edition of Environmental Notice.
“They haven’t
made the requirements of our administrative rules,” said OEQC official Leslie
Segundo in a telephone interview from O’ahu.
Without a complete report,
other government agencies will have difficulty making an informed decision on
whether to approve or reject the proposal, Segundo said.
The county is
proposing to construct a 3,500-foot revetment to stop severe erosion at a beach
fronting the golf course.
Segundo said OEQC accepted the first report from
Oceanit on the assumption that the report was complete.
“It was supposed
to include information about the lawsuits and other things (related to the
construction to seawalls at the beach),” Segundo said. “But it
didn’t.”
O’ahu-based Oceanit Laboratories, which drafted the report, sees
the proposal as the best way to halt erosion of the beach in front of the first
and second holes and other shoreline areas.
According to an Oceanit report,
erosion has occurred at the rate of a foot a year over the last 40 years, and
the recreational value of the course will be jeopardized if the erosion goes
unchecked
The course was once nationally ranked as one of the best
municipal courses in the nation and is a popular attraction for residents and
visitors.
Portugal and Administrative Assistant Wallace Rezentes, Sr.,
failed to respond to phone calls concerning the environmental
assessment.
The OEQC has asked the county to address the following issues
before further consideration will be given to the erosion project:
* The
county needs to consult with citizen groups and residents, including Kaua’i
Sierra Club representative Judy Dalton and Kaua’i attorney Kurt Bosshard, who
have vigorously opposed seawalls and revetments at the site.
* The report
should contain current shoreline certification and a coastal engineering
report.
* The report should include a map showing the revetment in
relation to the current shoreline, shoreline setback, state lands, lands
offered through executive orders and state conservation lands.
* The
report must analyze other alternatives.
The report must address issues
raised by Bosshard, which include:
* The removal of boulders for a seawall
that was intended to be constructed at the Wailua beach in the mid-1990s.
Although ordered by the Land Board to remove the boulders, the county has not
done so.
* A shoreline survey or certification should be done only after
the boulders are removed.
* Data is needed to show whether Hurricane Iniki
caused severe erosion at the beach.
* Data is needed to show the extent of
erosion over the last 20 years.
* The use of four-wheel vehicles has
contributed to the erosion.
* Parts of a seawall were built illegally on
state lands.
* The state Department of Land and Natural Resources needs to
give its opinion on the proposed revetment.
* The effect of stormwater
runoff from the golf course to the beach.
The first seawall, constructed
in 1987 on state lands without the state approval, was not completed to
specifications because the county ran out of money.
In 1992, Iniki broke up
the wall, strewing giant boulders on the beach.
After the hurricane, the
county received authorization from the Federal Emergency Management Agency to
use $940,000 to replace the wall.
In 1996, Louis Rego Trucking Co. began
building the wall. At the same time, Bosshard and other residents complained
the work went beyond what was allowed by the Army Corp. of Engineers.
The
Army Corps. subsequently ordered the work stopped, and an inspection verified
the complaints made by residents.
The Army Corps. later ordered the county
to remove stockpiled sand, boulders and rubble from the beach. In September
1996, the county ordered Rego to stop the work.
The DLNR issued its
stop-work order, saying the wall or parts of the wall sat on state lands and
that the county needed a Conservation District Use permit for the work.
The
state and county argued over where the boundary lines of the wall were located,
but the state prevailed, and the Land Board fined the county $2,500.
At the
same time, FEMA deobligated the $940,000.
The current proposal carries an
estimated construction cost of $5 million. The revetment would be built over 10
years, Oceanit said.
Unlike a vertical seawall, the revetment would be a
sloped permeable structure. It would allow overtopping seawater and rain runoff
to drain back into the ocean through recesses in the rocks that make up the
wall, Oceanit said.
Before any project can be implemented, the county
apparently must obtain a Special Management Area use permit and a state
Conservation District Use permit.
If the draft environmental assessment is
resubmitted by the county and meets the requirements of OEQC, a decision on
whether the proposed revetment will have any significant impact will be made,
Segundo said.
