Entries Tagged 'Environment' ↓

Local avocados are the star of the show at the fourth annual Hawai’i Avocado Festival on Saturday, Feb. 20, from 9:00 to 5:00 pm. The free community, Zero Waste event is at the Amy B. H. Greenwell Ethnobotanical Garden on Hwy. 11 and offers a wealth of activities for attendees of all ages.

Fun and informative festivities include demonstrations on avocado grafting and growing, an avocado recipe contest, free guacamole sampling, farmer’s market, arts and crafts, healing arts, agriculture and sustainable living displays, a green fashion show, raffle benefit for Innovations Public Charter School, exciting keiki games, healthy organic foods and a beverage booth serving refreshing smoothies, juices and kava drinks and a chic green fashion show, a living Eco Village pavilion, a silent auction presented by Innovations Public Charter School, arts and crafts, healing arts, sustainable living displays and exciting keiki games.

Experts with UHʼs College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources (CTAHR) and the Hawaiʻi Tropical Fruit Growers Assoc. will host demonstrations on avocado culture, including growing varieties suited to Hawaiʻi, plus grafting techniques, organic management and bee keeping and pollination. Also on tap is a panel discussion, “Putting the Culture Back into Agriculture.”

New to this yearʼs festival is a demonstration of “figure casting” by Josef Hadley aka Brudajo. Also on display will be original festival art by Shirley Pu Wills, a Chinese brush painting titled “Avocadoes in the Breeze.” The art will be sold on prints and T-shirts and Wills will be available to sign prints.

For information, contact Randyl Rupar at (808) 936-5233 or randyldna@earthlink.net, or visit www.manakeasanctuary.org.

NOAA and several partners in Hawaii announced a comprehensive long-term plan to actively assess and remove plastics, derelict fishing gear, and other human sources of marine debris from coastal waters and coral reefs along the island chain. The plan, a first of its kind for the nation, will be instrumental in protecting the state’s coastal communities and marine life from the thousands of pounds of marine debris that wash ashore each year.

“For too long marine debris has marred the natural beauty of our ocean and threatened our marine ecosystem,” said Sen. Daniel K. Inouye of Hawaii. “I have long championed a coordinated effort to mitigate the many tons of debris that suffocate our coral, kill our fish and aquatic mammals and blanket our coastlines. This is a critical issue for our state and I am proud that Hawaii is taking the lead in finding a solution to this global problem.”

For the last two years, numerous governmental, non-governmental, academic, industry, and private business partners from across the state worked alongside NOAA’s Marine Debris Program to develop the Hawaii Marine Debris Action Plan. Building on significant ongoing and past marine debris community efforts, the plan establishes a comprehensive and cooperative framework for marine debris activities and projects across the state to reduce:

• the current backlog of marine debris;
• the number of abandoned and derelict vessels;
• land-based debris in waterways; and
• fishing gear and solid waste disposal at sea

Numerous strategies and activities fall under each of these goal areas, many of them already underway by Hawaii’s marine debris partners. These include debris removal efforts, emergency response, prevention and outreach campaigns as well as increasing research and technology development. Progress will be tracked and measured for each of these areas.

“We’ve all been working to address marine debris in Hawai‘i in our own way for years. It’s great to have a plan that we can all contribute to and work together on to tackle marine debris in Hawaii,” said Marvin Heskett, member of the Surfrider Foundation’s Oahu Chapter.

“This roll-out demonstrates NOAA’s continued commitment to working with partners from across the state of Hawai‘i on the issue of marine debris,” said David M. Kennedy, acting assistant administrator for NOAA’s National Ocean Service. “We are proud to take part in the development of the nation’s first marine debris action plan in Hawaii.”

The plan, supported and coordinated by NOAA with assistance from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, is available online. Video is also available for download on the site.

NOAA understands and predicts changes in the Earth’s environment, from the depths of the ocean to the surface of the sun, and conserves and manages our coastal and marine resources.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has ordered Honolulu Marine LLC and Hawaii Stevedores, Inc. to comply with Clean Water Act requirements for stormwater runoff at their facilities.

Hawaii Stevedores, Inc. operates marine cargo handling facilities at Pier 1 and Pier 35 at Honolulu Harbor. EPA inspections found that the Pier 1 facility did not have a permit or a stormwater pollution control plan, and that it lacked controls to prevent pollutants from vehicle repair and maintenance areas from being discharged in the stormwater runoff.

Honolulu Marine LLC operates a boat building and repair facility on Ahui Street that discharges stormwater into Kewalo Basin. EPA inspectors found the company failed to have required stormwater pollution control measures to prevent discharge of pollutants, failed to cover and contain stored materials and barrels, and did not meet stormwater control monitoring and reporting requirements as required by its stormwater permit.

“Both companies must promptly correct the violations and improve pollution controls at their facilities to protect our harbors and coastal waters,” said Alexis Strauss, Water Division director for the EPA’s Pacific Southwest region. “If not managed and controlled, pollutants can contaminate our coastal waters through stormwater runoff.”

The EPA’s order requires Hawaii Stevedores to obtain a stormwater permit and comply with all conditions of the permit. The company also has 30 days to contain all pollutants stored or used at its location from being discharged in stormwater runoff. Once these are complete, a report detailing the work must be submitted to the EPA.

Honolulu Marine needs to inspect its facility to ensure no pollutant sources enter into stormwater discharges. The company has 30 days to correct all stormwater control issues, address discharges at its catch basin and outfall, clean oily stains at the facility, and prevent runoff from the boat repair area. The company must submit to the EPA its stormwater best management plan, all required records and reports required by the discharge permit, and a report of the completed work.

Both companies were inspected in December 2008 as part of an EPA regionwide effort to improve compliance with the Clean Water Act’s stormwater regulations at ports in California and Hawaii.

Saunders Hall on the UH Mānoa campus served as the demonstration site today for a new renewable energy testbed featuring innovative “micro-inverter” technology.

The “Kumu Kit” solar panel system was donated by Hawaii Energy Connection, LLC to UH Mānoa for installation on the roof of Saunders Hall, home to the Sustainable Saunders Initiative—a collaborative effort among faculty and students to pursue workplace sustainability. Other donations and logistical assistance were made possible from Emphase Energy and the UH Mānoa Sustainability Council. The small residential-sized system, which went live on August 14, will provide an opportunity for students to study the potential of solar energy and test different technologies for turning sunlight into electricity.

“This is a small demonstration and testing site that is vital to move UH to the forefront of research and education in these fields,” said Professor David Nixon, UH Mānoa associate professor in the College of Social Sciences Public Policy Center, and director of the Sustainable Saunders Initiative. “Our vision is to make Saunders Hall the embodiment of sustainability on the Mānoa campus, and renewable energy generation is an important component.”

The first project for the testbed will evaluate micro-inverter technology that improves the efficiency of solar power arrays. The micro-inverters communicate real-time power production data from each solar panel to a central web site that archives historical data.

“We’re particularly excited about the micro-inverters, a new approach to translating the DC power from solar panels into AC power that increases efficiency of the system by 10-15 percent,” said Jeremy Kowalczyk, physics graduate student and Energy Team leader for Sustainable Saunders.

Hawaii is blessed with abundant solar and wind resources that can be harvested to generate electricity. UH Mānoa has set goals of generating 25 percent of its electricity from renewable sources by 2020, and achieving energy independence by 2050.

Steve Godmere and Chris DeBone, owners of the Hawai‘i Energy Connection partnership, noted that this is a great opportunity to contribute to the University’s educational and research efforts in sustainability. “Micro-inverters are an important innovation in turning sun power into electricity-they’re less expensive, more convenient, and more efficient than traditional power inverters.”

The Public Policy Center, its UH partners, and the Sustainable Saunders students will be assessing the performance and cost structure of the PV array with its micro-inverters, along with installation possibilities and barriers. For more information, visit: www.publicpolicycenter.hawaii.edu/solaronsaunders.html.

The University of Hawai`i at Mānoa serves approximately 20,000 students pursuing 225 different degrees. Coming from every Hawaiian island, every state in the nation, and more than 100 countries, UH Mānoa students matriculate in an enriching environment for the global exchange of ideas. For more information, visit http://manoa.hawaii.edu.

eBay founder Pierre Omidyar and his wife Pam today announced the formation of the Ulupono Initiative, a social investment firm dedicated to improving the quality of life for Hawai‘i’s residents through sustainability. The organization will invest in local businesses and philanthropic organizations focused on renewable energy, local food production, and waste reduction.

The Ulupono Initiative seeks to energize the state’s economy and increase its self-reliance through these investments. Local business executives E. Kyle Datta and Robin Campaniano will co-lead the Ulupono Initiative as general partners.

“Pam and I are inspired by the ideas and hard work of the many people leading sustainability efforts in Hawai‘i today,” said Pierre Omidyar, founder and sponsor of the Ulupono Initiative. “We look forward to working with the local community for many years as we discover new ways to improve the quality of life for everyone who calls Hawai‘i home.”

Based in Honolulu, the Ulupono Initiative will make investments in organizations and companies with creative ideas and business models that provide pathways toward sustainability.

“I am honored to be part of this team and look forward to putting my business background to work in a way that will help strengthen Hawai‘i’s economy,” said Campaniano, general partner, Ulupono Initiative. “Our investment strategy is dependent upon finding and supporting innovative sustainability ideas and business models that have the potential to make a significant difference for Hawai‘i.

“To achieve this, the Ulupono Initiative will provide capital and strategic assistance to a variety of organizations, including small and large businesses and philanthropies, on O‘ahu and neighbor islands,” Campaniano said.

Ulupono – meaning to prosper through the right, or pono, path – is a concept already familiar to Hawai‘i’s residents. Across the islands, people are already pioneering ways to change how they power their homes, feed their families, and how much they throw away.

“A truly sustainable island society must be able to consistently and affordably provide its residents with basic necessities like food and energy while also finding ways to effectively manage waste,” said Datta, general partner, Ulupono Initiative. “The Ulupono Initiative will support and help scale local ideas that can help bring about Hawai‘i’s transformation to sustainability and that might also provide a demonstration effect for others.”

Rep. Gene Ward today announced formation of a shark task force. “The purpose of the task force is to engage the community in the two important issues of enforcement and legislation,” Ward said. “State law forbids the practice of chumming or the feeding of sharks from the shoreline to three miles offshore, and federal law prohibits the practice beyond 3 miles up to 200 miles, but there is really no enforcement of these laws.”

Ward’s legislative office is now drafting legislation to vet with Hawaii Kai/East Honolulu community that will create a ban on the commercial practice of shark feeding tours but will exempt educational and scientific research while at the same time allowing for traditional Hawaii cultural practices.

Formation of the task force follows a town hall meeting co-sponsored by Ward’s office last April that attracted over 400 angry members of the Hawaii Kai community, as well as a legislative information briefing that was later held at the Hawaii State Legislature in May of 2009.

“Legislation will be discussed in future town hall meetings in Hawaii Kai starting around the middle of July, and we hope all members of the community will weigh in, including the shark tour operators.” Ward concluded.

The Hawaii Department of Health will receive $30,352,300 through the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act of 2009 for the Clean Water State Revolving Fund, which provides low interest loans to local communities to build wastewater treatment facilities and other water pollution abatement projects. The federal fund was created in 1987, and was reauthorized by Congress in March to invest $13.8 billion in water quality projects over the next five years.

The funding was announced today by U.S. Rep. Neil Abercrombie.

“The Clean Water State Revolving Fund has been major source of funds to help Hawaii develop water and wastewater capacity.” Abercrombie said. “Right now, Kauai County needs to expand the Waimea Wastewater Plant, which can only take in 300,000 gallons. This is causing them to refuse some new sewer hookups because they’re at 90% capacity. Clean Water grants could help them expand that capacity.”

Another $19,500,000 is targeted to the Drinking Water State Revolving Fund for drinking water system improvements. This program also emphasizes funding for small and disadvantaged communities and to programs that encourage pollution prevention as a tool for ensuring safe drinking water.

“These grants address a public health issue across the country, but nowhere more urgent than in Honolulu. We’ve seen firsthand what happens when aging water and waster systems system can’t keep up with demand,” Abercrombie said.

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lisa P. Jackson announced today the availability of an estimated $111.9 million in grants bolstered by funds from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) of 2009 to help communities clean up sites known as Brownfields, which may be contaminated by hazardous chemicals or pollutants.

Communities in 46 states, four tribes, and two U.S. Territories will share in these grants to help revitalize former industrial and commercial sites, turning them from problem properties to productive business and community institutions. The grants include $37.3 million from the Recovery Act and $74.6 million from the EPA Brownfields general program funding.

“Cleaning and reusing contaminated properties provides the catalyst to improving the lives of residents living in or near Brownfields communities,” said EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson. “A revitalized Brownfields site reduces threats to human health and the environment, creates green jobs, promotes community involvement, and attracts investment in local neighborhoods.”

“Recovery Act and brownfields program funds are helping clean up distressed properties so they can be productively reused for community benefit,” said Laura Yoshii, acting Regional Administrator for the U.S. EPA in the Pacific Southwest. “By revitalizing and restoring neighborhoods nationwide, the EPA continues to put both people and property back to work – creating a better environment and brighter future for the next generation of Americans.”

The Hawaii Department of Hawaiian Home Lands is receiving $200,000 for the East Kapolei pesticide mixing and loading area cleanup.

The grants will help to assess, cleanup and redevelop abandoned, contaminated properties known as brownfields. Brownfields are sites where expansion, redevelopment, or reuse may be complicated by the presence or potential presence of a hazardous substance, pollutant, or contaminant. In addition, the Small Business Liability Relief and Brownfields Revitalization Act of 2002 expanded the definition of a brownfield to include mine-scarred lands or sites contaminated by petroleum or the manufacture of illegal drugs. Grant recipients are selected through a national competition. The Brownfields Program encourages development of America’s estimated 450,000 abandoned and contaminated waste sites.

President Obama signed the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 on February 17, 2009, and has directed that the Recovery Act be implemented with unprecedented transparency and accountability. To that end, the American people can see how every dollar is being invested at Recovery.gov.

More information on brownfields cleanup revolving loan fund pilots and grants and other brownfields activities under the Recovery Act can be found here.

Additional information on the EPA Region 9 brownfields recipients and their projects is available here.

President George W. Bush at a news conference today in Washington, D.C. announced the nomination of Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) World Heritage Centre for consideration to the World Heritage List.

The Monument, which includes the islands and waters of the northwestern Hawaiian archipelago, is the nation’s largest protected area. Also being nominated to the World Heritage List is Mount Vernon, Virginia, home of America’s first president, George Washington. These are the United States’ first nominations to be forwarded for consideration on the World Heritage List since 1994.

“The nomination of Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument recognizes its exceptional geological and ecological processes, its provision of critical habitat for some of the world’s most endangered species, and its sacred place in the history and culture of Native Hawaiian people,” said Governor Linda Lingle.

“World Heritage sites truly belong to all people of the world. They incorporate the most universal and significant aspects of natural and cultural heritage as well as legacy of the past and present for future generations,” Governor Lingle added.

The United States will now submit its nominations to the UNESCO World Heritage Centre. Following the submission of the nomination package, Papahānaumokuākea will undergo an 18-month review by the advisory bodies to UNESCO World Heritage Centre, International Union for Conservation of Nature for its natural resource heritage, and by the International Council on Monuments and Sites for its cultural resource heritage. The final nominations would be considered by the World Heritage Committee in the summer of 2010.

If inscribed under the World Heritage Convention, Papahānaumokuākea would join a globally exclusive list of sites with outstanding universal value that are unique and diverse – such as East Africa’s Serengeti, the Egyptian Pyramids, Australia’s Great Barrier Reef, Hawai‘i Volcanoes National Park, and the Galapagos Islands.

Papahānaumokuākea is the first site nominated with cultural connections to the sea, and adds to underrepresented World Heritage sites from the Pacific. It would be the U.S.’s first marine site, and the world’s first cultural seascape. If inscribed, it will become only the 26th World Heritage Site to be recognized globally for both its natural and cultural significance, out of 878 sites currently on the list.

Papahānaumokuākea is being nominated as a “mixed” site (for both its natural and cultural resource values) because of its unique geology, ecology, biology, Native Hawaiian cultural heritage, and its significance to the world.

Native Hawaiians view the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands (NWHI) as an integral part of the archipelago and a deeply spiritual location. Physical remnants of wahi kūpuna (ancestral places) and oral traditions provide evidence of the various past uses of the islands and surrounding ocean by Native Hawaiians both as a home and a place of worship.

The Monument contains one of the world’s most significant marine and island ecosystems, representing a major stage of the earth’s evolutionary history, and habitats where rare and endangered plant and animal species still survive. It is home to more than 7,000 marine species, a quarter of which are found nowhere else on Earth, the largest nesting albatross colony in the world, and the primary habitat for critically endangered Hawaiian monk seals and threatened green turtles.

The NWHI provide habitat for 23 threatened and endangered species, most found nowhere else in the world, such as the Nihoa Finch and a species of loulu or palm called Pritchardia remota.

The beaches and waters constitute the foraging and nesting grounds for nearly the entire population of the critically endangered Hawaiian Monk Seal, and 90 percent of the threatened Hawaiian Green Turtle.

Over 14 million seabirds nest in the islands and forage in the waters of the Monument, making the NWHI the world’s largest tropical seabird rookery.

UNESCO’s World Heritage List protects and preserves natural and cultural heritage sites of “outstanding universal value” as determined by the standards and process established under the World Heritage Convention, the most widely adopted international agreement for the conservation of natural and preservation of culture.

World Heritage Sites currently include 878 sites from 144 countries – 679 cultural, 174 natural, and 25 mixed natural and cultural sites.

Additional information about the nomination process is posted at http://whc.unesco.org.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency recently fined Vector Tobacco Inc. $65,040 for allegedly misusing pesticides and failing to comply with federal pesticide worker safety laws. Vector Tobacco, a subsidiary of Vector Tobacco Group of Durham, NC, allegedly misused six pesticides during their application at its agricultural research facility in Kekaha, Kauai, in 2005 and 2006. And on 93 occasions, Vector Tobacco failed to follow label directions intended to protect workers from exposure to pesticides, in violation of the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act.

“Employers of agricultural workers must ensure their employees are provided with information and protections that minimize the risk of potential exposure to pesticides,” said Katherine Taylor, Associate Director of the EPA’s Communities and Ecosystems Division for the Pacific Southwest region. “Failure to provide these necessary safeguards is considered a serious violation.”

The six pesticides were Terramaster 4EC, Nemacur 3, Lorsban 4E, Prowl 3.3EC, Devrinol 50DF, and Ridomil Gold EC.

During the pesticide applications in 2005 and 2006, Vector Tobacco failed to provide its workers and pesticide handlers with required protective equipment, pesticide information, decontamination supplies, safety training, and notification that pesticides had been applied. These safeguards are required by the federal Worker Protection Standard, which aims to reduce the risk of pesticide injuries to agricultural workers.

Vector Tobacco also failed to prevent workers from entering areas where pesticides had recently been applied, and subsequently denied them prompt transportation to a medical facility after these workers reported averse health effects due to the pesticide exposure.

The Hawaii Department of Agriculture discovered the violations during inspections performed in March and June of 2006. Worker complaints triggered the initial investigation. Since the inspections, Vector Tobacco has shut down the Kekaha facility.

Before selling or distributing any pesticide in the United States, companies must register the pesticide with the EPA and include on the pesticide labeling directions for use and other information necessary to protect human health and the environment. Federal law requires that agricultural employers comply with these labeling directions during pesticide applications to protect their workers from occupational exposure.

For more information on pesticide enforcement and the Worker Protection Standard, please visit the EPA’s Web sites:

• http://www.epa.gov/compliance/civil/fifra/index.html
• http://www.epa.gov/pesticides/health/worker.htm