To: Commander, Navy Region Hawaii
850 Ticonderoga St, Suite 110 Pearl Harbor, Hawaii 96860-5101
Dear Sir,
The undersigned hereby request, after reviewing the Navy Environmental Assessment (EA) that was prepared for public review and comment regarding the Kalaeloa Renewable Energy Park – Ewa Field site , that an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) is warranted and required as specified in NEPA statutes (Sec. 2 [42 USC § 4321], Sec. 101 [42 USC § 4331], etc.)
The entire former MCAS Ewa was designated as National Register eligible during the BRAC transfer process and significant historic sites have already been discovered since the original BRAC 1999 surveys were done. Therefore, we as a concerned community do not believe we have enough valid current information about this project area which will cause significant primary, cumulative and secondary alternations of the cultural and historic environment.
We believe that the overall primary, cumulative and secondary project impacts to cultural and historic sites significantly affects the quality of the human environment in the former lands of MCAS Ewa-Kanehili –and particularly underground resources such as widely documented karst systems known to contain Hawaiian Iwi, pre-historic remains and rare aquatic native shrimp.
We currently have absolutely no documented knowledge as to what actually exists directly below the planned PV site and major East Kalaeloa Energy Corridor that HECO and HCDA will be constructing, but do know that National Register eligible cultural and burial sites already exist in this same area as well as many additional recent casual discoveries of underground karst caves and sinkholes very near the PV project area. Certainly more exists there and the MCAS Ewa command history states that large karst caves were found in this same approximate area as well as anecdotal stories of vehicles falling into underground caves and sinkholes over a period of many decades, including up until very recently.
The underground water that is known by hydrological documents and traditional Hawaiian cultural observation flows below ground in a myriad of karst channels and networks, which major power line poles and other site construction may impact. In this karst system water from the upper lands and mountains directly impacts the propagation and sustainability of rare forms of Hawaiian limu along the Ewa Onelua shoreline which is an important cultural and medicinal resource practice protected for native Hawaiians under Hawaii State Law.
We believe that an EIS will promote a much better informed decision-making process by the Navy, Hunt Development, HECO, HCDA, SHPD and the local community by making documented and better detailed information available concerning significant human environmental impacts and underground caves that may contain human and animal remains as well as still existing native Hawaiian aquatic life forms such as shrimp, etc.
This letter serves as notice of our combined intentions for requesting an Environmental Impact Statement under NEPA. We will also follow up with our own joint and or separate documents to further substantiate our concerns about the project as described in the Navy EA.
Each person will send in this letter from their own email account stating that they approved this letter and can provide additional proof as needed for this EIS request.
Signed and agreed by 106 community representatives:
- Rick Ferris - Museum Historian, Naval Air Museum Barbers Point
- Scott Gier – Hawaii Aviation Preservation Society
- Glenn Oamilda - President, Ewa Beach Community Association.
- Mike Lee - Hawaiian Cultural Practitioner
- Tom Berg, City Councilman Dist.1
- Marissa Capelouto - Kapolei community representative
- John Bond, Director, Save Ewa Field
- Valerie Van de Veer, Director, Military Stables.Com
- Thomas Reese, Documentarian, Save Ewa Field
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