From Marti:

The Navy has been on the hot seat lately for the damage it has caused in Hawaii nei.  In central and western Oahu, the Environmental Protection Agency and the state got a commitment from the Navy to clean up any remaining contamination at two Superfund sites – one in Lualualei near the naval munitions storage area and the other in Wahiawa. While preliminary investigations have indicated that no immediate threats currently exist at the sites, soil contaminants at the sites include PCBs, volatile organics, semi-volatile organics and metals. PCBs can cause cancer in animals and adversely affect the nervous, immune, and endocrine systems in humans.

“Our agreement with the Navy and the state finalizes the process that the Navy will follow to complete the investigation and clean up of any remaining chemical contamination at both sites.” said Keith Takata, director for the EPA Pacific Southwest Region’s Superfund Division.

The agreement with the Navy is open to public comment.  Get your say in now by visiting: www.epa.gov/region09/NavalComputer

Check out the full article at The Hawaii Independent: http://www.thehawaiiindependent.com/hawaii/oahu/2009/04/02/epa-us-navy-agrees-to-clean-wahiawa-lualualei-superfund-sites/

And, on the South shore of Oahu, controversy is brewing as the state attempts to hold the Navy financially responsible for the carnage of coral from the USS Port Royal grounding in February 2009.  Ten acres of ancient coral was destroyed!  Chunks as large as cars are still bouncing around on the ocean floor causing further damage.

“There is a critical need for the U.S. Navy to mitigate the damage which has occurred, which continues to occur, and which will get worse with the upcoming south summer swell,” said Laura H. Thielen, chairwoman of the DLNR, in the letter.

“We urge the U.S. Navy to commit appropriate resources to rescue disturbed or destroyed coral, remove or stabilize rubble, and protect loose live coral that has resulted from this incident.”

Here, here!!  Systems that ensure the “polluter pays” are a completely reasonable (and actually quite capitalist) approach to addressing damage to our environment.  The Navy’s negligence destroyed a significant part of our ocean environment. They should be required to pay for the injury they have caused and do all they can to prevent further damage.

What the Navy does in this situation will be a key indication of what the public can expect from their activities affecting the Papahanaumokuakaea Marine National Monument in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands (you will recall the Navy plans to intercept chemical-laden missiles over Nihoa – the only home of at least four endangered species and one of the most significant cultural and archeological sites in the archipelago).

Check out the full article here: http://www.honoluluadvertiser.com/article/20090402/NEWS11/904020369/1001

See the full article at: http://honoluluweekly.com/feature/2009/03/conspiracy-ferry/

From the amazing Hannah Bernard, an invitation to a Maui community event to launch actions that help bring back the health of nearshore waters around Maui.

More Fish in the Sea, A Community Conversation:  E ola ke kai, e ola kakou (As the ocean thrives, so do we)

WHAT: We all want more fish in the sea. How do we make it happen? That is the question we will address in a half day gathering of all segments of the community and a half day work event at a nearshore site to be determined. The results we seek – a community galvanized for practical action to achieve a shared vision: MORE FISH IN THE SEA.

WHEN: April 4, 2009 – 2:00 – 6 pm & FILMFEST 7 – 10pm Sunday April 5, 7:00 am – noon.

WHERE: Maui Community College, Pilina Building and lawn

WHY: Our Earth is truly the ocean planet with more than two thirds of its surface comprised of seawater. The health of our world ocean is paramount for the health of all, but especially for islanders like us who depend on the sea for our sustenance, quality of life, livelihood, well-being and way of life. Yet our oceans are in trouble and our fish are disappearing faster than they are being replaced (>90% of our large fish are gone according to Nature, 5/15/03, to name only one international study). We are calling on everyone to come together to support the healing of our ocean and to work together to return our nearshore waters to thriving health.

HOW: We will join in small group workshops, larger group conversations, and small step action projects to plan together, work together, learn together, and discover how we will change together. We will identify paths forward and begin developing practical concrete steps that individuals, communities, citizens’ groups, businesses, and government can take to help move us toward MORE FISH IN THE SEA.

WHO: Are you an islander? Do you Think Island or want to learn how to? All interested members of the community are invited – fishermen, restaurant owners, dive and snorkel boat operators, the hospitality industry, government representatives, citizens’ and civic groups, ocean scientists, students, communications media, and philanthropists will be invited. A broadly-based steering committee will design an exciting opportunity to talk and learn together, plan together, and act together. The event will be video-taped and we’ll use the resulting video record to help build public awareness of the need for more fish in the sea and what each of us can do to help.

From Marti:

Great news!  S.B. 1088 has a hearing before Chairman Ken Ito (D-Kaneohe) and the House Water, Land, and Ocean Committee.  This hearing may be the biggest hurdle this important bill faces.  So, if you care about improving enforcement of your right to access the beach and mauka recreational areas throughout Hawaii nei, then now is the time to come out.  We need make sure the Representatives do not make any unnecessary changes to the bill, so it is important to ask them to pass this bill as already amended.

The hearing is scheduled for Monday morning, March 23, 2009 at 9:30 am in room 325.

If you can’t attend the hearing, but still want to participate, then click on the link below and take a just a second to personalize your testimony to the Representatives.  Tell them why uphold your constitutional right to reach the beach is so important and deserves improved enforcement.

TAKE ACTION NOW TO PROTECT PUBLIC ACCESS MAUKA-to-MAKAI (this is also where you can find out more about the specifics on this particular bill).

Big mahalos to the Beach Access Hawaii, Hawaii Surfrider Foundation, and the Hawaii Chapter of the Sierra Club for their support in this effort.

Hang Loose!  See you Monday!!

From the AP: http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/H/HI_SHIP_GROUNDING_HIOL-?SITE=PAGRE&SECTION=US&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT

From Elizabeth Reilly of the Hawaii Kai Neighborhood Board:

SB 1318 SD1 relating to planning and economic development titled “Coastal Zone Management; State Planning; Repeal” does just that “Repeals the chapters relating to coastal zone management and state planning, and transfers the authority and functions of the office of planning to DBEDT” despite DBEDT’s public opposition to this proposed action.

Decision-making was deferred on this bill yesterday by the Committee on Water, Land, & Ocean Resources.

From the Honolulu Advertiser:

The Hawaii Superferry said it will cease operations on Thursday following a ruling today by the Hawaii Supreme Court that went against the inter-island ferry service.

http://www.honoluluadvertiser.com/article/20090316/BREAKING01/90316039/1352

Write up from Joan Conrow on the Hawaii Supreme Court Superferry decision, which found Act 2 exempting the Hawaii Superferry from EIS law to be unconstitutional: http://kauaieclectic.blogspot.com/2009/03/musings-supreme-court-slap-down.html

My inbox, meanwhile, has been popping with jubilant messages about the ruling, but folks aren’t happy just because they won. They also see it as a vindication of the rule of law and the belief that laws are supposed to apply equally to everyone. You don’t just go in and have a new one written when a court decision comes down that you don’t like.

This year, Hawaii is expected to receive $5.7 million to aid recovery of the planet’s most endangered marine mammal–the Hawaiian Monk Seal.

The funding marks a $3.6 million increase over last year’s amount.

From Coco Zickos at the Garden Island:

Monk seals are currently “red listed,” said Dr. Mimi Olry, who heads the Marine Mammal Stranding Network on Kaua‘i and serves as the island’s Hawaiian monk seal coordinator.

The listing means they are a critically endangered species and face an extreme risk of extinction, she said.

With only about 1,100 remaining, unless greater efforts are taken the Hawaiian monk seal may soon follow in the footsteps of the Caribbean monk seal’s untimely extinction.

Below is an excerpt from a press release sent out by the US Coast Guard today regarding possible illegal fishing in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands over the weekend.  They didn’t provide much by way of details whether it was a local or foreign vessel, commercial or recreational, or what was on-board.  As the investigation progresses, however, we will try to post updates on this incident.

“U.S. Coast Guardsmen aboard a buoy tender and a C-130 long-range aircraft from Honolulu documented the crew of a vessel believed to be illegally fishing in the protected waters of the Papahanaumokuakea Marine National Monument this past weekend.

A Coast Guard C-130 crew was launched late last week from Air Station Barbers Point on Oahu and located the 79-foot U.S.-flagged long-line fishing vessel believed to be fishing inside the monument Friday, Feb. 27, 2009. The aircraft documented the vessel suspected of having its long-line fishing gear in the water approximately three miles inside the monument and approximately 875 miles from Midway.

The Coast Guard cutter Kukui, an Oahu-based 225-foot buoy tender, was diverted to the fishing vessel’s last-known position in the monument and dispatched a law enforcement team via small boat to board the vessel in order to examine the logs and interview crew members.

The Coast Guard buoy tender’s boarding team gathered evidence that was forwarded to NOAA’s Fisheries Office of Law Enforcement. In the event of a violation, the owner and operator of the vessel may face potential civil penalties and/or permit sanctions.”

Yep, February was “Humpback Whale Awareness Month” in the states, but March is looking like a not-so-hot one for other cetaceans…

Military sonar among suspected causes of mass whale stranding on the Tasmanian shore over the weekend.

Mark Simmonds, of the Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society and an expert on cetacean strandings, said that two species coming ashore together was enough to arouse suspicions of a human factor, including the use of sonar by the military.

Beach access got a real boost today.  Hawaii’s Senate Judiciary Committee just passed SB 1088, which will help to improve enforcement of public access rights to the shoreline and inland recreational areas.  Yay!

Big Mahalos to everyone who submitted testimony! There is still a chance to help out in this important effort.

The bill is ready to “cross over” to the House of Representatives, where it will go through a similar committee hearing process.  Unfortunately, the first committee that will likely hear this bill declined to hear a similar bill in the past.

To ensure that SB 1088 does not suffer the same fate, please take a moment to contact the Committee’s chairperson, Representative Ken Ito either at 808-586-8470 or repito@capitol.hawaii.gov.  Just leave a nice message encouraging him to hear the bill and help protect beach access in Hawaii.

We can start collecting testimony now in support of this bill by encouraging friends, family, and all outdoor lovers to visit our nifty virtual testimony table. Watch for action alerts in your inbox next month calling for public testimony in support of this and other bills that protect the public’s right to open and safe beach access.  You can sign up with our email action alert network by clicking here.

UH, the Army and NOAA are getting around next week to looking for chemical weapons dumped off the Waianae Coast in the 1940s. A public report released in 2001 by the Army’s Historical Research and Response Team identified over 4,000 tons of dumped chemicals munitions, including hydrogen cyanide bombs, cyanogens chloride bombs, mustard bombs and lewisite.

In the past, the Army has assured community members that chemical munitions will dissipate before causing any serious damage or that the pressure and cold temperatures of the depths of the ocean will render munitions inert–at least, in theory. In reality, containers corrode over time, releasing the chemicals into the ocean. The longer the chemicals remain in the ocean, the greater the chances for a rupture or leak.

‘There are a number of avenues of risk associated with this. The highest is to marine life. In small doses chemicals can accumulate in animals and work their way up the food chain. There are also impacts on the reproductive capabilities of some species, in addition to the lethality of higher doses.” – Craig Williams, Chemical Weapons Working Group

Next week’s effort is part of an eventual plan to attempt to remove or destroy in place dumped munitions off the Waianae Coast. The communities along the Waianae Coast have for years advocated for clean-up, over Army objections.

“If you’re telling the community that there is nothing to be afraid of, and that it (ordnance) can stay in the ocean without any consequences, then by the same token you should be able to remove it.” – Colleen Hanabusa, State Senator, 21st District

Star-Bulletin Coverage at: http://www.starbulletin.com/news/20090225_Depth_Chargers.html

The omission was one more bit of embarrassment heaped onto the 3 1/2-day spectacle of a 9,600-ton warship capable of shooting down ballistic missiles in space sitting helplessly aground in 17 to 22 feet of water just off Honolulu International Airport’s reef runway.

We’d like to officially submit “one more bit of embarrassment” as the understatement of the month.

Full article at: http://www.honoluluadvertiser.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20090211/NEWS08/902110398

“We need to stop figuring out how to be a new wheel and go back to the old wheel that worked,” Harp says. “We need to get back into ahupua‘a management. It’s not that complicated.”

Read the full article at:  http://honoluluweekly.com/cover/2009/02/woe-fish/