Letters: Pali Highway paving work poorly managed; Navy can’t be trusted to handle Red Hill; Kauai residents worry about harbor pollution

On Thursday, July 14, I had an appointment for noon in Honolulu. We were coming from Kailua and allotted an extra 20 minutes or so. All was well until about halfway between the tunnel and Waokanaka Street in Nuuanu. Then the traffic stopped. It would occasionally start up and creep along. Three lanes of traffic coming into Honolulu were forced to merge into one lane. It took an hour to get past the resurfacing work going on.

We were, of course, late for our appointment. We also missed a 1 p.m. medical appointment.

This is unconscionable. People have appointments that require getting there on time. What if there was an emergency in that traffic? What if the stress of that awful traffic gave someone a heart attack? Why is there no contraflow lane set up? Why is there no attempt to speed up traffic?

This part of the repaving began in the summer of 2019. This is now three years and counting. The state Department of Transportation needs to do much better.

Fred Harris

Kailua

Hawaii should take first steps to save planet

There is so much wrong with Carlton Chang’s letter regarding global warming and the need for recycling and using renewable energy (“Hawaii can’t help much against global warming,” Star-Advertiser, July 14).

Let’s only look at one of his statements: “Unless a major portion of the world embraces these practices, the proposed changes in Hawaii will have an insignificant beneficial effect.”

I would remind Chang of the words of the Chinese philosopher, Lao Tzu: “The journey of a thousand miles begins with one step.”

It could be that the effort to save our planet includes Hawaii taking a first small step.

Herman Marciel

Kailua

Congress won’t act to reduce emissions

Remember Steve Bannon calling for the “deconstruction of the administrative state”?

Well, everyone now is seeing it in action with the recent Supreme Court ruling saying that Congress must definitely state that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is authorized to reduce carbon emissions (“Supreme Court limits EPA in curbing power plant emissions,” Star-Advertiser, Top News, June 30).

Rather than depending on the EPA, with all its scientific expertise, to figure out a way to reduce carbon in our atmosphere as rapidly as possible, our country should depend on Congress to do it. With the Senate Republicans pointedly not doing anything of major positive consequence to help eliminate carbon, can we really depend on them to save our planet from global warming?

Sandra Barker

Hawaii Kai

Navy can’t be trusted to handle Red Hill

Just because you don’t see that toxic sheen in the water that gushes from your home faucets doesn’t mean Oahu’s water crisis is over.

The Navy has blatantly displayed its total lack of respect, stewardship and regard for the people by stonewalling its defueling plan and setting an unacceptable deadline of December 2024. Their charade continues to be unveiled.

Now it’s the PVC pipe repairs in place of steel pipes (“Fire code violation contributed to Red Hill fuel leak, report finds,” Star-Advertiser, July 17).

What is the last straw? The Navy cannot be in charge of any defueling. There must be an alternative source to carry out the complete defueling of Red Hill now.

The Navy must foot the cost, but it cannot be in charge of shutting down Red Hill.

Diane Fujimura

Makiki

Kauai residents worry about harbor pollution

Morning radio programs need to fact-check their news reporting. Saying that “Earthjustice is suing the state and you, the taxpayers,” is inaccurate on so many levels.

Earthjustice represents Kauai residents with concerns over untreated drainage in the Kikiaola Harbor ditch drain that has contributed to pollution in the harbor for years (“Polluted water dumped in West Kauai prompts lawsuit,” Star-Advertiser, July 16).

In 2019, the U.S. District Court ruled against the dumping of pollutants into the ocean, but the state Department of Health (DOH) and the County of Kauai have yet to act. DOH determined the debris in the Kikiaola ditch contained atrazine and metolachlor in levels toxic to aquatic life.

Kauai residents who fish, swim, surf or simply enjoy the ocean have legitimate concerns.

Comments such as, “Get out your pocketbook, all they (Earthjustice) want is your money,” are unfounded and inaccurate.

Jeri Leong

Niu Valley

Businesses should open restrooms to customers

Recently I witnessed an act of blatant disrespect of others. In the parking lot of a Chinese restaurant in Kapahulu, two young men were urinating.

A restaurant worker yelled at them to stop and go somewhere else. One of the young men answered that there was nowhere else to go, that the drive-in they came from across the street had locked its restrooms.

While it is already disrespectful for the men to walk across the street to urinate on another business’ property, it is even more disrespectful for the drive-in to prevent its own customers from using its restrooms. The drive-in should fix this issue and be a good neighbor.

Clement Bautista

Waialae-Kahala

>> Contact: 529-4831 (phone), 529-4750 (fax), letters@staradvertiser.com, staradvertiser.com/editorial/submit-letter