Posted on: Tuesday, July 23, 2002

ISLAND VOICES
Power plant decision needed

By Keichi Ikeda
President of the Keahole Defense Coalition

The recent Honolulu liquor inspector bribery scandal, the airport kickback scandal and the state procurement scandal show that the Keahole Defense Coalition's claims over the years about a pattern of nonenforcement of rules by regulator agencies are credible.

It is unbelievable that state officials are not subject to any disciplinary action if their only wrongdoing is nonenforcement of rules designed to protect the public. It is no wonder that regulatory agencies disregard such rules with impunity.

This was exactly what happened when the Board of Land and Natural Resources recently granted a time extension to HELCO's Keahole power plant project even when it was clear that the Big Island power plant cannot meet standard conditions for conservation district lands. This action contrasts sharply from action the board took on the Wa'ahila Ridge controversy on O'ahu, where the board followed conservation district land-use rules in making its decision.

But, in Kona on the Big Island, the board saw fit to ignore its own rules. And, to avoid having to enforce conservation district regulations (which would require removal of the new construction), it ordered HELCO to apply to the state Land Use Commission for a zone change to get its land out of the conservation district and into some other zoning district that the BLNR does not have to supervise.

Isn't the proper response for the BLNR to simply do its job?

Instead, the BLNR abdicated its statutory responsibility to protect conservation district lands for the public.

To make matters worse, it appears that even the state judicial system is afraid to render decisions.

An example is the refusal by the local Circuit Court to stop HELCO's construction until the BLNR time extension is resolved. The Keahole Defense Coalition had asked for this stay to stop HELCO's construction even if the ruling is favorable to the coalition.

This reluctance to rule against HEI/HELCO extends to the state Supreme Court. More than four years ago, the Keahole Defense Coalition appealed to the Supreme Court the ruling by the local Circuit Court granting HELCO the right to build its Keahole project despite a 3-2 vote by the BLNR to deny the application. And, in spite of a notification more than three years ago from the Supreme Court letting all parties know that it had all input necessary to make a decision, we still have no ruling.

The same court has denied the coalition's petition to suspend construction until the appeal is decided.

Ironically, the issue on appeal is the effect of an agency's "failure" to render a decision on time. What happens when a court fails to render a decision on time? With no ruling, and no stop-work order, HELCO continues to build. The people lose because they have done everything right and by the book. HELCO wins because agencies with authority have failed to act.

Are the coalition and the public being denied a timely ruling because they lack political power? Are the halls of justice open to the powerful and closed to the powerless? Is it possible that because the litigants in this case live on a Neighbor Island, instead of in Honolulu, they can't get access justice equal to that which their Honolulu neighbors and friends enjoy?

Or, is it possible that even the Supreme Court of this state is being intimidated from correctly interpreting the law in a timely manner? Surely the court realizes that the more complete the construction, the more difficult it would be to undo the damage in the event that the Circuit Court ruling authorizing construction is overturned.

The record so far leads us to ask these questions. We hope the courts prove our suspicions wrong in raising these questions by issuing some rulings before it is too late to do any good.