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COURTESY KUULEI SANTOS
Salt maker Kanani Santos lines the earthen bed with clay found in Hanapepe. The method of making salt has been handed down through generations from ancient times. Salt makers in Hanapepe are opposing a commercial helicopter company’s permits to build office space, restrooms and other structures in the airfield next to the ancient salt patch.
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Beyond the specific conflict now playing out on Kauai between salt-pond practitioners and a tour helicopter company, there is a general juxtaposition of interests between culture and commercialism.
The Hanapepe salt ponds and Maverick Helicopters have coexisted as virtual neighbors abutting Port Allen airport for years — but the situation has flared, with Maverick seeking after-the-fact permits for additions and changes it’s already made to structures on its Burns Field property. Families practicing the ancient Hawaiian practice of paakai (sea salt) farming — drying and harvesting the salt from the ponds for sharing — is urging the Kauai Planning Commission to reject the permits, citing potential harmful impacts to the salt ponds from more air and noise pollution and vehicular traffic.
Families have fought for decades to protect the salt ponds. At a Tuesday hearing, they were backed by a couple hundred supporters opposing Maverick Helicopters’ application, as well as 21,000-plus signatories on an online petition urging the planning commission to deny the permit.
The commission has granted the request for a contested case hearing, to be held before a permit decision. Good. A heritage practice that native families have worked over generations to perpetuate, deserves unique respect. Coexistence is sometimes difficult, but it must always be respectful.