Tuesday 1/2 Meeting: Toxic Debris Disposal at Olowalu
Tuesday 1/2 Meeting: Toxic Debris Disposal at Olowalu
The Maui County Council DRIP Committee will discuss the Olowalu toxic waste dump site at tomorrow’s meeting. Please show up to testify in opposition to this environmental hazard on sacred lands.
On December 22, 2023, the Maui County Council voted (7 yes, 2 no) to approve Bill 120 authorizing Maui’s mayor to enter into an agreement with the DLNR for right-of-entry use of land in Olowalu to dispose of 400,000 tons of toxic debris and ash from the August 2023 Lahaina fires:
Alice Lee: YES
Yuki Lei Sugimura: YES
Tasha Kama: YES
Tom Cook: YES
Tamara Paltin: YES
Keani Rawlins-Fernandez: YES
Shane Sinenci: YES
Gabe Johnson: NO
Nohelani U‘u-Hodgins: NO
Mahalo to Councilmembers Johnson and U‘u-Hodgins for voting against this environmentally hazardous plan.
Tomorrow morning, Tuesday, January 2nd at 9:00am, the Maui County Council Disaster, Resilience, International Affairs, and Planning (DRIP) Committee will meet to discuss the temporary and permanent disposal sites. We have an opportunity as a community to speak out against the use of sacred lands in Olowalu as a toxic waste dump.
Please show up at 9:00am tomorrow morning at the Maui County Council Chamber in Wailuku at 200 South High Street, 8th Floor, and sign up to testify.
You can also testify online via BlueJeans: https://bluejeans.com/947335931 or by phone 1-408-915-6290, code 947 335 931.
eComments can be sent in online to the Council:
“Tell us what's on your mind. Your comments and information will become part of the official public record.”
Send in your eComments at this link (position: oppose).
The community has been actively opposed to this plan, expressing serious concerns about the risks to the health of our island’s people, wildlife, and ‘āina. The Lahaina debris contains elevated levels of toxic arsenic, antimony, cobalt, copper, and lead, along with carcinogenic dioxins. The Olowalu landfill is being constructed under emergency proclamation, and environmental protections are being suspended. Olowalu is a culturally and historically significant site and an important natural resource area. The nearby Olowalu reef is critical to the health of Hawai‘i’s oceans.
We need to ask our county officials to take the time to study this further and explore safer alternatives, including organic remediations, alternate sites and methods, and off-island disposal. This current plan is government overreach that could have catastrophic impacts on our island home for generations to come.
Additional actions steps:
Sign the petition “Opposition to Olowalu as toxic waste dump site”
Contact Maui County Mayor Richard Bissen’s office: Mayors.Office@co.maui.hi.us (808) 270-7855
Contact the Maui County Councilmembers offices
Eddy Garcia’s Living Earth Systems Instagram is providing up-to-date research and informative videos.
Please continue to speak out against this Olowalu toxic waste dump plan. There’s strength in numbers. We all love these islands, and the decisions made today will have lasting impacts on our natural environment, health, and community.
Hawai‘i Unites has taken the state to court to stop the release of bacteria-infected mosquitoes on Maui. Your donations help move our legal case forward. Mahalo for supporting the work that we’re doing to protect the ‘āina.
Aloha,
Tina Lia
Founder
Hawai‘i Unites
HawaiiUnites.org
Hawai‘i Unites is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization dedicated to the conservation and protection of our environment and natural resources. Your tax-deductible donations help us to fulfill our mission of honoring and protecting our sacred connection to the natural world.
