Advertiser Staff and News Services
MOLOKA‘I
Public hearing on fluoridation set
KAUNAKAKAI, Moloka‘i — The Maui County Board of Water Supply has scheduled a public hearing on a proposal to fluoridate public water supplies on Moloka‘i.
The hearing will be at 6 p.m. Tuesday at the Mitchell Pauole Center in Kaunakakai. Testimony will be limited to three minutes per person.
The fluoridation proposal was brought to the water board by the Moloka‘i Dental Health Coalition, comprising Moloka‘i General Hospital, the Moloka‘i Health Foundation, the state Department of Health, and Na Pu‘uwai, the Island’s Native Hawaiian healthcare agency. Other supporters include the Island's three full-time dentists and other healthcare professionals.
The Health Department has indicated it will pay the $145,000 first-year start-up cost for fluoridation on Moloka‘i. The cost in subsequent years would be $10,000 annually.
Official to discuss ocean debris threat
Marine debris, from drifting nets to plastic bottles, threatens the unique biology of the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands, according to Ray Boland of the National Marine Fisheries Service protected species investigations office.
Boland will discuss the marine debris threat in a free public talk from 6 to 8 p.m. March 15 at the Hawai‘i Kai Public Library.
Teams collected 24 tons of debris in 2000 and 25 tons in 1999 from the coral reefs of the islands that extend beyond Kaua‘i to Kure Atoll. Boland said the impacts are many, including damage to coral, entangling of seals and the introduction of alien marine life.
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