Every Sunday, “Back in the Day” looks at an article that ran on this date in the Honolulu Star-Bulletin. The items are verbatim, so don’t blame us today for yesteryear’s bad grammar.
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The State Department of Land and Natural Resources has suggested that Hawaiian Electric Company practice better "long range planning" to prevent further damage to Oahu’s mountains by power lines.
Because of the presence of HECO’s overhead power lines, Keaiwa Park already has lost $250,000 in potential federal funds, said Paul Tajima, program planning coordinator for the department.
Tajima’s criticism of the electric company is contained in reply to a request by HECO for rights-of-way over State property in the Halawa-Manana area for two additional 138 KV transmission lines.
The report notes that the proposed line actually will be the third set to be built in the general area — in a time span of less than 10 years.
"The effect is a repetition of lines and poles cutting across the landscape," Tajima wrote.
He noted that the power lines are having a very serious effect on conservation, visual and recreational values of an area, particularly one designated for park use, such as the Ewa Fores additional to Keaiwa State Park.
Well over 250,000 persons used the park last year and about 85,000 hiked the loop trail.
"The question has been raised as to whether long-range planning by Hawaiian Electric Co., Inc., could result in a better solution such as integration of the lines to prevent random proliferation of lines over the countryside, as is now evident, or underground installation of lines," Tajima wrote.
Because of the sizable loss of federal funds, Tajima also said that serious consideration should be given by Hawaiian Electric Co. "for a long-range plan, the consolidation of overhead lines to routes well removed from urban development and recreations areas, and the installation of lines underground, where possible." …
