The Hawaii Department of Health received 23 comment letters regarding Hawaiian Oceanic Technology Inc.’s proposed fish farm off the Kohala Coast. The Hawaii Department of Health received 23 comment letters regarding Hawaiian Oceanic Technology Inc.’s proposed fish farm off the
The Hawaii Department of Health received 23 comment letters regarding Hawaiian Oceanic Technology Inc.’s proposed fish farm off the Kohala Coast.
All 23 were negative. Twenty-one of the letter writers called for a public hearing.
On Wednesday, DOH officials announced they’d awarded the company’s National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System permit. No public hearing was ever held.
“They choose to disregard the wishes of the people who live here,” Kohala Ranch Association President Karl Delaney said. “They’re just going to steam ahead.”
Delaney said the association’s board will have to decide what the organization’s next step is.
“We’ll be looking at whether we have any other legal recourse,” he added.
Hawaiian Oceanic Technology Inc. has proposed an ahi farm 2.6 miles off Malae Point, in North Kohala.
The DOH referenced the hearing requests in the last paragraph of its nine-page response to the comment letters.
“Among other concerns, they (commenters requesting a public hearing) are worried about the possible effects of the proposed tuna farm on the environment,” the department said. “The NPDES permit for the HOTI facility … enforces Hawaii’s water quality standards and as a result, addresses the specific concerns brought up by the public during the public notice comment period. Therefore, it has been determined the DOH shall not hold a public hearing and will issue the NPDES permit.”
A message left with a DOH spokeswoman, seeking comment from DOH Director Loretta Fuddy, was not returned as of press time Wednesday.
The association’s concerns mirror those submitted by Hawaii Island residents, as well as a letter from Maui County’s environmental coordinator, sent on behalf of Maui Mayor Alan Arakawa.
“One person remarked to me, upon seeing this application, that this is not a ‘Pollution Control Permit,’ as no pollution is currently generated in the 267-acre HOTI ocean lease site,” Environmental Coordinator Rob Parsons wrote to Fuddy. “Rather, it is really a ‘Permit to Pollute.’ … We simply cannot play Russian roulette with our oceans, since we really do not know how harmful this concentration of land-based feeds (primarily soy, high in natural estrogens and possibly GMO) will be to our marine resource and the myriad of creatures it supports.”
Hawaiian Oceanic Technology Inc. addressed the concerns in a document available on the DOH website. The company does not plan to use soy in the fish food, although the exact formula for the feed has yet to be determined.
The company also responded to the public hearing request, and concerns about the timing of the public notice regarding the comment period. The notice was published Dec. 23.
“We have always responded to invitations to speak to groups and have never turned down the opportunity to meet with anyone interested in learning about the project,” the company’s written response said. “We are not responsible for members of the community who did not read public notices for various hearings. We conducted more than 20 hearings and public forums before the (Final Environmental Impact Statement) was issued and several additional hearings before the Conservation District Use Permit was issued.”
