Native Hawaiian group sues over planned Kalaeloa surf village

HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) – A gaggle of Native Hawaiian and environmental activists have sued the state and the builders of the Honokea surf village in Kalaeloa, saying the mission will contaminate the groundwater and desecrate Hawaiian burials.

The go well with filed within the state Circuit Court docket requires a extra strict environmental influence research of the $106 million mission, situated on 19 acres of vacant land subsequent to the Kalaeloa Airport.

As a result of the builders plan to make use of injection wells to empty the seven million-gallon wave pool each different 12 months, the protestors fear that the chemical compounds within the pool will seep into the groundwater and to the close by shorelines.

“Their plan to take out the water and to inject their used water again into the karst – it’s going to break the nearshore limu and fisheries and all the traditions that rely on them,” stated Dayne Kahau of Na Kiai o Wai Ha which filed the go well with.

The mission’s co-founder, famed waterman Brian Keaulana, stated he was disenchanted by the protestors’ “misguided accusations.”

‘We’re conscious of our island’s water issues and shall be integrating conservation into our operations. The mission web site in Kalaeloa has been in disrepair for many years,” stated Keaulana.

“We’ve met with various Hawaiian cultural advisors and performed intensive archaeological and environmental research to make sure that we defend and malama the location.”

The U.S. Navy beforehand used the land to check jet engines, however it has been vacant since 1999 after the Navy cleaned up the soil for asbestos-containing materials, in keeping with a report by the developer’s consultan

The developer’s marketing consultant additionally stated the mission would create greater than 150 everlasting jobs and appeal to greater than 330,000 guests yearly.

The deliberate surf village will compete with the newly opened Wai Kai surf park in Ewa Seashore, lower than a mile away.

“That is the primary surf web site on this planet. Why do we want a wave pool? Why do we want two? We’re in Hawaii; go catch a surf, go White Plains,” stated Keline Kahau, who opposes the mission.

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