WAIMEA — A crowd of around 50 people was split about whether or not a federal permit for discharge of liquid from a Kekaha shrimp farm to the ocean should be renewed. Many of those opposed to renewal of the
WAIMEA — A crowd of around 50 people was split about whether or not a federal permit for discharge of liquid from a Kekaha shrimp farm to the ocean should be renewed.
Many of those opposed to renewal of the permit were in support of Sunrise Capital’s multi-crop aquaculture plan, and one man, Kaua‘i and Ni‘ihau Cowboy Hall of Fame member Joseph Punilei Manini Sr., of Waimea, said the shrimp farm doesn’t belong on the Mana Plain because it doesn’t have permission to occupy crown, or ceded, lands.
State Department of Health hearing officer Steven Jacobson announced extension of the public-comment period on Sunrise’s request for extension of the current National Pollution Discharge Elimination System permit, required by the federal Environmental Protection Agency and monitored by the DOH, to Dec. 3, at the request of many speakers at the Tuesday meeting at Waimea Theatre.
“It’s polluted,” Manini said of the Mana Plain, adding that the permit request should be denied and that the state Department of Land and Natural Resources doesn’t have jurisdiction to lease the land for the farm.
Those opposed to the permit request cited diminution of ocean recreational resources as a result of pollutants entering the ocean from the farm, though owners and operators of the farm, mainly Dr. George Chamberlain, a director of Integrated Aquaculture International, Sunrise Capital’s parent company, say, “The farm discharge has no impact.”
Several speakers said weekly or biweekly testing should be done on the liquid coming directly out of the farm and into a drainage ditch that leads to the popular Kinikini surf spot near Kekaha Beach Park.
Currently, the NPDES requires quarterly testing in zones of mixing in the ocean several yards offshore.
Chamberlain said several of the suggestions from members of the public could be implemented.
Dr. Paul Bienfang, an environmental scientist, said farm effluent equates to only about 10 percent to 20 percent of the water entering the shoreline.
Dr. Carl Berg of Lihu‘e, a marine biologist speaking on behalf of the Surfrider Foundation, said the plan to raise clams, oysters, other ocean fish as well as Pacific white shrimp makes the farm more than just a shrimp farm, and increases concerns about disposal of fecal waste of all the critters.
Chamberlain agreed, saying the plan is to make the operation much more than just a shrimp farm, including plans to produce algae that can be used to make jet fuel.
Berg also said he has concerns about introduced species at the farm. The DOH should deny the permit until an environmental impact statement is done, and consultation is conducted with the community, he said.
Tony Ricci, a Westside resident, said the jobs the farm produces are needed. “I am this community. We need those jobs again,” he said, adding that opponents are blowing out of proportion potential problems with discharges.
“This is what we are,” he said of agricultural land. “The ocean is a toilet for all the fish. They (opponents of the permit) feel like there’s a cloak of darkness” surrounding the farm.
But it will be detrimental to the community if it closes, economically and otherwise, he said.
“Weekly testing is a no-brainer,” said Dr. Gordon LaBedz, a family physician also representing the Surfrider Foundation. Weekly testing will enable quick detection of any problems that could be quickly rectified, he said.
Now, surfers and other ocean-goers have to contend with being in the ocean with sewage that is not treated very well, said LaBedz.
Brian Tuzon of Kekaha, a lifelong Westside resident and an employee of a company that does work for both Sunrise Capital and the Agribusiness Development Corporation in the state Department of Agriculture, supports the granting of the permit, and said concerns about increased shark sightings when effluent is present don’t fly because there are always sharks at Kinikinis.
Rayne Regush, representing the Kaua‘i branch of the Sierra Club, said, “We are not in favor of the permit,” adding that frequency of monitoring should be increased, water-quality testing should include testing for the presence of bacteria, and NPDES monitoring data should be made available online to the public.
Rich Hoeppner of Wailua Houselots, chairman of the People for the Preservation of Kaua‘i, said Kauaians will take matters into their own hands, as they did when the Hawai‘i Superferry tried to call on Nawiliwili, if there is ocean discharge and it is not checked.
“Our ocean is important enough” so that if the farm pollutes it, something will be done about it, he said.
“Is this another done deal, like Superferry?” Hoeppner asked.
Surfers smell effluent as far away as Major’s Bay, said another speaker, opposing the permit.
Dr. Stanwood Kanna, a dentist with offices in Waimea and Hanapepe and a home in Kalaheo, is a fourth-generation Kauaian who said all the Mana Plain shrimp operations, from Sunkist to Sunrise, have never compromised environmental, product or community standards.
Greg Holzman of Kekaha, a farmer, fisherman, surfer and fish broker, said previous operators of the farm were not doing things correctly, and it didn’t seem like the DOH was doing its job.
“It got bad,” he said. The new operators know how to do things the right way.
“This is a great thing for the Westside of Kaua‘i. I don’t see why we can’t do all this,” he said of the company’s plan to allow limited recreational fishing of kahala and other species in certain ponds, expand into other commodities and have stricter monitoring of effluent.
“I don’t want my kids getting polluted on the beach,” said Holzman.
Bruce Pleas of Kekaha said he is for the farm but against the permit, adding that if the DOH makes substantive changes in the permit as a result of public input they may have to go through the entire public-hearing process again.
“Seven hundred fifty pounds of nitrogen per day is unacceptable to me,” he said of one figure of potential discharge from the farm.
Another speaker called it “absolutely absurd” to allow the dumping of waste where people surf. “This is ridiculous.”
“I do not know one surfer who wants to surf in shrimp waste,” said another speaker.
Noelani Josselin said the permit should be denied, and that DOH and EPA ocean-discharge requirements must be abided by. Discharges will have serious environmental consequences, she said, echoing others’ calls for an EIS for the operation.
“We don’t want to see polluted beaches, not on Kaua‘i.”
Jacobson of the DOH said the department had received over 150 written comments on the permit application as of Tuesday night, and extended the comment deadline to 4:30 p.m. Dec. 3.
Comments may be mailed or e-mailed.
If the permit is issued, it will contain conditions. If it is denied, it will be denied, he said.
All timely submitted statements received by the DOH, including those made at the public hearing, will be retained and considered prior to decision-making, said Joanna L. Seto, Engineering Section supervisor of the DOH Clean Water Branch.
The e-mail address for comments is cleanwaterbranch@doh.hawaii.gov, and the mailing address is Clean Water Branch, Environmental Management Division, State Department of Health, P.O. Box 3378, Honolulu, HI 96801-3378.
Prior to the public hearing, representatives of Sunrise Capital conducted an informational briefing on the farm operations. The story on that presentation will be in Friday’s paper.
• Paul C. Curtis, assistant editor and staff writer, can be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 224) or pcurtis@kauaipubco.com.
