Sierra Club in the News
September (No October Mālama)
9/1 - Suit: Hawaii governor overreaches with housing crisis proclamation
Courthouse News Service
Summary
Native Hawaiian interest groups and environmental organizations joined the American Civil Liberties Union of Hawaii and the Sierra Club on Thursday in claiming that Governor Josh Green overstepped his authority when he issued an emergency proclamation to expand affordable housing opportunities in the state. A lawsuit filed Thursday charges that Green's July 17 emergency proclamation allows the government and housing developers to skirt laws that protect the environment, Native Hawaiian burials and historic properties. The ACLU and the Sierra Club joined Nā ‘Ohana O Lele Housing Committee, E Ola Kākou Hawaii, Hawaii Advocates for Truly Affordable Housing, and Native Hawaiian cultural practitioner Kū‘ikeokalani Kamakea-‘Ōhelo as plaintiffs.
9/8 - Critics Sue Over Hawaii's Housing Deregulation, Calling It Attempted 'Genocide'
Reason, Free Minds and Free Markets
Summary
The governor's declaration of "yes in my backyard" (YIMBY) martial law proved controversial even with people who otherwise agreed that Hawaii's thicket of red tape was needlessly driving up housing costs. It is now being challenged by a wide coalition of advocacy groups who do not share the governor's view that Hawaii housing is overregulated.
Late last week, the public interest law firm Earthjustice filed the suit in Hawaiian state court on behalf of six plaintiffs, including the state chapters of the Sierra Club and the American Civil Liberties Union, as well as two Native Hawaiian cultural advocates and two housing advocacy groups with a history of opposing new market-rate development.
"The governor cannot suspend laws he doesn't like whenever he feels like it," said David Henkin, an attorney for Earthjustice. "That's dictatorship, not democracy."
Their lawsuit and associated press materials argue that the governor is vastly exceeding his powers under the state constitution and the state's emergency management law in order to ram through politically favored "luxury" housing projects.
"This proclamation rips apart our constitution to impose the tired demands of developers and real estate speculators, whose decades of profiteering off of our lands and waters is the true culprit behind our housing crisis," said Wayne Tanaka, Executive Director of the Sierra Club of Hawaii. "Our democracy should not be thrown out the window to build more non-affordable housing."
The governor's efforts to "sidestep" laws protecting traditional Hawaiian burials "should be seen as another attempt at genocide," said Noelani Ahia, a plaintiff.
The genocide claim is seemingly in reference to parts of Green's order waiving the state's historic preservation and environmental review laws, both of which play a role in preserving Native Hawaiian cultural resources.
9/13 - Defueling Red Hill won’t hurt military readiness, Pentagon says
Honolulu Star Advertiser
Summary
“This is a good sign that we are finally moving forward with defueling,” said Wayne Tanaka, director of the Sierra Club’s Hawaii chapter. “However, the certification requirement was both unnecessary and an affront to the people of Hawaii, who continue to be at risk every single day that fuel remains in Kapukaki. The Pentagon already conceded in 2022, after years of gaslighting and denials, that the Hawaii community was correct all along — that the Red Hill Facility was unacceptably dangerous, outdated and unnecessary for its regional fueling needs.” Tanaka said that “federally imposed hurdles like this demonstrate that our lives still remain subject to the uninformed whims of senators and decision makers thousands of miles away, and will continue to be unless and until much more of us take action for military and federal accountability to our aina, our people and our dignity.”
9/16 - Public votes on Red Hill oversight committee, includes two well-known Native Hawaiian activists
Hawaiʻi News Now
Summary
According to the EPA, the group will review the information and provide input on decisions related to the closure and defueling and assuring safe drinking water. “We should have had this 2 years ago,” Healani Sonde Pale said. The EPA says committee members will be finalized Monday night after the appeal window closes. The 10 members of the Community Representation Initiative are from four categories: Impacted residents: Mandy Feidnt Lacey Quintero Oahu residents: Walter Chun Ilima DeCosta Susan Gorman-Chang Marti Townsend Organizations: Environmental Caucus of the Democratic Party of Hawaii Sierra Club Individuals Representing Native Hawaiian Interests: Healani Sonoda-Pale Alfred Keaka Hiona Medeiros
9/19 - Lahaina Residents Can Return To Their Burned Properties Soon. But Is The Air Safe?
Honolulu Civil Beat
Summary
Prior to 1979, electrical transformers often contained [polychlorinated biphenyls](https://oceanservice.noaa.gov/facts/pcbs.html#:~:text=PCBs%2C or polychlorinated biphenyls%2C are,chemicals known as chlorinated hydrocarbons.), or PCBs, human-created organic chemicals that can cause a range of human health problems. When burned, PCBs create dioxin. Williams advises anyone digging around in rubble looking for personal belongings to wear a P100 respirator, also called a cartridge mask because it contains carbon filters. “An N95 mask is not sufficient in my view,” Williams said. The Sierra Club of Hawaii reached out to Hawaiian Electric to inquire about whether any of its roughly 300 transformers that were damaged in the Lahaina fire contained PCBs. In its Sept. 8 response, the company said there was just one transformer identified as manufactured prior to 1980. Company records indicate it was analyzed and did not contain detectable levels of PCBs. Whether other electrical transformers not owned by Hawaiian Electric burned in the Lahaina fire is unknown. That’s cause for concern for environmental watchdogs like Henry Curtis, executive director of the nonprofit Life of the Land.
9/26 - Lawsuit seeks to force Big Island to apply for pollution permit
Honolulu Star Advertiser
Summary
A community group filed a lawsuit against Hawaii County on Monday saying treated wastewater from the county’s Kealakehe Wastewater Treatment Plant is polluting Honokohau Harbor in violation of the Clean Water Act. The lawsuit argues that the Kealakehe Wastewater Treatment Plant is violating the Clean Water Act and polluting Honokohau Harbor. Multiple scientific studies have shown that the wastewater flows into the harbor and shoreline waters through groundwater, and the suit argues that Hawaiʻi County is refusing to obtain a National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System permit in order to comply with the Clean Water Act. This case is very similar to the 2012 case against Maui County for sewage water discharges from a West Maui wastewater treatment plant, which was filed by Hawaiʻi Wildlife Fund, Sierra Club of Hawaiʻi, Surfrider Foundation, and West Maui Preservation Association.
9/28 - Navy Reprimands Red Hill Leaders 2 Years After Fuel Spills
Honolulu Civil Beat
Summary
Sierra Club Director Wayne Tanaka found the announcement underwhelming. “That’s it?” he said. “They knew. Leadership knew, or should’ve known, what was going on, and instead they just gaslit us for years and lied to us until the worst happened.” As recently as February 2021, Navy officials were stating in public and under oath that the facility met and exceeded all regulatory standards. “They knew that was not the case,” Tanaka said. “My concern is without actual accountability, how does this motivate current and future leaders to prioritize our actual safety, our environment, all the things we need to survive in these islands?” Asked to respond to concerns that the discipline wasn’t harsh enough, Keiley said: “We’re taking a step here but can certainly understand those frustrations.”
9/28 - 3 retired Navy rear admirals reprimanded for connection to Red Hill fuel leak
Hawaiʻi Public Radio
Summary: Wayne Tanaka, the director of the Sierra Club of Hawaiʻi, said the disciplinary actions are "less than a slap on the wrist." "With 100 million gallons of fuel still in the facility they and their predecessors defended for years through what we now know were lies and gaslighting, we may not have even seen the worst consequences of these officials' disregard for our ʻāina and people," Tanaka said in a statement. "Meanwhile, those responsible for this mess will be able to enjoy their retirement and pensions."
9/28 - Navy issues written reprimands for fuel spill that sickened 6,000 people at Pearl Harbor base
Associated Press
Summary: The water poisoning upset people across Hawaii, including veterans, environmentalists, Native Hawaiians, liberals and conservatives. Wayne Tanaka, director of the Sierra Club of Hawaii, called the reprimands “outrageous” considering the damage done and the ongoing threat the leak poses to an aquifer underneath the tanks. “Just to have these written slaps on the wrist is insulting to our people, to our dignity,” Tanaka said.
October
10/1 - State-Aided Disaster Capitalism?
Ka Wai Ola
Summary: The Sierra Club Hawaiʻi Chapter’s Director, Wayne Tanaka, gives insight into how the Governor’s administration targets stream and groundwater protections in the wake of Maui wildfires. Tanaka touches on the “re-deployment” of celebrated Water Commission Deputy Kaleo Manuel on August 16, after a West Maui Land Company official misleadingly suggested that Manuel had delayed the delivery of water needed to fight the Lāhainā fires. In another effort to shift blame, the state attorney general petitioned for a “writ of mandamus” against environmental court judge Jeffrey Crabtree. The petition declared that “Maui is in peril as it is ravaged by wildfires,” and claimed in several instances that the 31.5 million gallon per day cap on Maui Hikina stream diversions left the island with “not enough water... to battle the wildfires.” This claim quickly fell apart as it was established that water from Maui Hikina, stored in Central Maui, would never have been used to fight the devastating wildfires miles away in Lāhainā.
10/2 - Military’s plan to stop using fresh drinking water on Oahu golf course halted by DOH
Hawaiʻi News Now
Summary: While fresh water is being used to water this grass, Wayne Tanaka with the Sierra Club of Hawaii says the state’s rules are there for a good reason. “We just can’t keep trusting the military to say what they are doing,” Tanaka says. “We need to take a critical look.” “The marine base has been using potable water to irrigate their golf course for years… I don’t see why it’s taken this long to get to the point of requesting this recycled wastewater,” Tanaka added.
10/3 - Logistical challenges, cultural significance complicate Maui fire cleanup
Honolulu Star Advertiser
Summary: Federal officials say that cleanup of areas destroyed in the Maui wildfires could end up being one of the most complex to date, given the island’s significant cultural sites and its rich history including a royal residence and the possible remains of fire victims. “Of course, there is the huge need to respect and accommodate the desire of those who wish to return to their former homes and businesses,” said Wayne Tanaka, the executive director of Sierra Club of Hawaii. “But we do not want their trauma and suffering to be compounded by future harm to themselves, their families, or even future generations from avoidable toxic exposure.” So far, around 200 Environmental Protection Agency workers have started the first phase of cleanup, removing toxic household debris from Upper Kula and the town of Lāhainā including gas cylinders, pesticides, fertilizers and battery packs used in solar power. They have also monitored the air quality and sampled for heavy metals and asbestos.
10/3 - Navy seeks revision allowing for more whale deaths
Honolulu Star Advertiser
Summary: The Navy is asking the National Marine Fisheries Service to “modify” its regulations to allow for more injuries to marine mammals during Pacific training. The Navy’s current operating permit for its Hawaii- Southern California Training and Testing Study Area expires in 2025 and allows up to three large whales to be killed in “ship strikes” — fatal collisions at sea. As of 2023 the Navy has hit that limit through incidents off Southern California. “The Navy and entire federal government need to start doing everything they can to reverse the catastrophic impacts the United States is having on our increasingly fragile environment, and on our planetary climate security,” said Wayne Tanaka, director of the Sierra Club of Hawaii. “Instead, after Navy vessels struck at least three whales in the last two years, they are now simply asking permission to run over even more whales — animals that can actually play a key role in carbon sequestration and climate mitigation.”
10/3 - Editorial: More accounting for Red Hill spills
Honolulu Star Advertiser
Summary: Two years after fuel from the Navy’s Red Hill storage facility contaminated the drinking water of 93,000 Oahu residents, naval officers connected to the disaster are being held to account — finally, and just barely. Three rear admirals who had leadership roles at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam received letters of censure from Navy Secretary Carlos Del Toro last week. Del Toro cited their “leadership failures” and negligence in oversight that led to fuel spills in May and November 2021. However, all three rear admirals are safely retired, their pensions and benefits intact. The censure letters, each just one page long, will be placed in their official service records, along with any rebuttals they may want to submit. And that’s about it. Wayne Tanaka of the Sierra Club of Hawaii rightly noted, “We are left with a contaminated aquifer, ballooning water bills, and hundreds if not thousands of community members struggling with the uncertain long-term health impacts of jet fuel poisoning.”
10/4 - Retired Navy rear admirals were scolded for Red Hill. Does it affect them?
Hawaiʻi Public Radio
Summary: David Frankel is an attorney from the group representing the Sierra Club of Hawaiʻi, which battled the Navy early on over its spills at Red Hill. He attended a Red Hill open house hosted by the military at Ke’ehi Lagoon Monday night. "The sanctions are not even a slap on the wrist. They're really nothing," he said. "It's encouraging that the Navy has recognized what some of the problems were, but they aren't sanctions... It's kind of meaningless as far as accountability goes."
10/16 - Talk World Radio: U.S. Navy Poisoned Hawaiians’ Drinking Water to Protect Them from What?
Talk World Radio
Summary: This week on Talk World Radio we’re talking about what the U.S. military is doing to drinking water in Hawaii. Our guest, Wayne Tanaka, is Director of the Sierra Club of Hawaii.
10/19 - Water protectors in Hawaiʻi took on the US military and won
Grist
Summary: While the defueling process is being seen as a victory, it’s not without its own risks. According to the Department of Defense’s environmental assessment, there’s still a chance for leaks or spills as the fuel makes its way through underground pipelines and is shipped to other locations. The agency says it’s worked to reduce that risk through repairs and training. “We listened to the community and have taken significant precautions to mitigate risk and protect the aquifer and the environment as we safely and expeditiously defuel the facility,” Vice Adm. John Wade, JTF-Red Hill Commander, said in a press release Monday. Wayne Tanaka, who leads the local Sierra Club, is still worried. He says even a small amount of jet fuel leaking into the environment could be disastrous. “We’ve been told repeatedly by the military that there’s nothing to worry about, that they have everything under control, that they thought of everything, and time and time again, unfortunately, events have proven them wrong,” Tanaka said. “Many of us are holding our breath, clenching our butts, and praying that for once, the [Department of Defense] will be able to execute.”
10/21 - Joint Task Force-Red Hill begins cleanup of fuel spill that entered water supply
CBS Mornings
Summary: CBS reports on the start of cleanup in Red Hill and talks to Texas-based attorney Christina Bayer, Norine Tuck, who was affected by the Red Hill water contamination, Wayne Tanaka, Chapter Director of Sierra Club of Hawaiʻi, and others. “Unfortunately, Red Hill has just won a long, long history of military contamination and degradation of this island…We’ve had instances of radioactive waste being dumped into Pearl Harbor, Pearl Harbor itself is one of the most polluted places in the United States…The entire island’s water table was cracked because of Navy shelling and testing their weapons,” said Wayne Tanaka.
10/24 - Environmentalists drop lawsuit after emergency housing proclamation is revised again
Hawaiʻi News Now
Summary: The governor’s newest emergency order on housing revised Tuesday restores county council oversight over most affordable housing projects. The emergency order to streamline affordable housing projects was enacted in July and this is the second revision. “Now that we are seeing these protections coming back, we are not saying we are comfortable, but we are always vigilant. We always paying attention,” said Kekai Keahi, of the Nā ‘Ohana o Lele Housing Committee. Added Wayne Tanaka, Sierra Club of Hawaii director: “We appreciate that the governor has conceded that we shouldn’t be stripping away our cultural, environmental and good government protections to troubleshoot our housing challenges.” The Sierra Club, ACLU and three local community groups sued the state over the issue, but now the lawsuit is withdrawn. However, the groups say they have lingering concerns. “We are willing to withdraw our lawsuit for now and take a wait and see approach,” said David Henkin, senior attorney at Earthjustice.
10/24- Environmentalists drop lawsuit after Green amends housing order.
Honolulu Star Advertiser
Summary: Green issued a third, updated emergency proclamation today that seemed to satisfy Earthjustice, a nonprofit public-interest law organization that sued the state and Green’s former Chief Housing Officer Nani Medeiros, on behalf of the Sierra Club, affordable-housing and Native Hawaiian advocates, the American Civil Liberties Union of Hawaii and some residents in West Maui. “We are keeping a watchful eye to see what the Green Administration does with this new proclamation,” Kekai Keahi of Na ‘Ohana o Lele Housing Committee, said in a statement. “It is good that they recognized their mistake and removed the worst of the suspensions included in the original emergency proclamation on housing. We are committed to standing watch over every action the administration takes under this new proclamation to ensure the community’s voice is not ignored.”
10/26 - Affordable Housing: At What Cost? | KĀKOU: Hawaiʻi’s Town Hall