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February 19, 2017, Honolulu, Hawaii.
Carroll and Bridget Hammerquist, President of Friends of Maha'ulepu, bring us up to date with current developments regarding the proposed industrial dairy farm on Kauai. Approximately 2,000 cows will be grazing on a little over 400 acres, and the manure will be spread around the fields. Friends of Maha'ulepu are very concerned the huge amount of waste will pollute the
water table and will run off into the ocean. The wastewater will be held in effluent ponds with the potential to overflow during storms. Also, 2.9 million gallons of water will be needed on a daily basis to run the farm. Even though the company is still applying for permits, they are currently developing the property for the dairy using state tax credits. On January 17, 2017, they filed the Final
Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS). The Office of Environmental Quality Control (OEQC) recommended the FEIS be rejected. The National Farms Union has also stated the plan is not sustainable.
The comment period for the FEIS was 30 days. It was then extended 8 more days, probably due to the OEQC comments. A caller says the FEIS has not addressed many of the concerns brought up by the comments.
Grove Farms, a land management company, owns about 42,000 acres of land on Kauai, including the area for the dairy farm. Quiet Title was used to acquire some of the property, but some parcels are still open. Even so, the parcels will be used to graze cows. It is reported there are graves on the property, as well as other historical sites. A caller notes, many years ago
Grove Farms had the state designate the land as "Important Agriculture Land", which also gives tax advantages.
Carroll and Bridget talk about some of the problems they have faced fighting the dairy.
The second hour callers join in the conversation with their concerns. They discuss the same complaints citizens are making about an existing Big Island dairy and ask if the state is going to take care of problems there. A caller from Idaho also talks about what happens when a dairy is nearby. It has been shown it is almost impossible to clean
up a dairy once it has started. New Zealand and other areas on the U.S. mainland have proven that. It is important that we stop the dairy now.
Go to the website www.friendsofmahaulepu.org for more information, see comments that have been made, and see their list of contacts for protesting the dairy. The fight
is not over yet, and it is very important that you join in before the dairy takes root.
The dairy farm has been discussed on many of our past shows. For more information go to our podcast list page and search for "Friends of Maha'ulepu".
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