The developer of a planned second surf park and resort in Leeward Oahu has been sued over environmental concerns.

A community organization and some of its members filed a complaint Friday in state Circuit Court against Honokea Kalaeloa LLC and a state agency, contesting a recent report from the developer that claims the project will have no significant negative impacts on the environment.

On Wednesday, about 20 members and supporters of the organization, Na Kia‘i O Wai Ha, publicized their action at a small demonstration and news conference urging others to “Stop the Hewa (offense) in Ewa.”

The event was held outside a new Wai Kai Wave attraction that opened in March at Hoakalei Resort in Ewa Beach about a mile from the site of the much bigger planned wave park in Kalaeloa called Honokea Surf Villages and Resort.

“One wave pool is already too much,” Moleka Hicks, a plaintiff and Ewa Beach resident, said at the event.

The opposition group contends that a recently finalized environmental assessment produced for Honokea Kalaeloa did not sufficiently explore potential negative impacts on the underground aquifer, nearshore aquatic life and other things stemming from elements of the project that include creating a 5.5-acre lagoon filled with nearly 7 million gallons of potable water that occasionally would be discharged into the ground through injection wells.

Other concerns raised by the group include desecrating potential ancient Hawaiian burials on the undeveloped 19-acre site that was once part of part of Barbers Point Naval Air Station and is now owned by the state.

Dayne Panakonau‘e Kahau, a spokesperson for the community group and a lineal descent of Hawaiians who long ago lived in the area, said in a statement, “The area they want to use for the surf park has our iwi kupuna (ancestral remains), historic ala hele (trails), and sinkholes that hold important information and are part of the Ewa karst system. Their plan to take out the water, and to inject their used water back into the karst — it’s going to damage the nearshore limu (seaweed) and fisheries and all of the traditions that depend on them.”

Brian Keaulana, one of the surf village project’s principals, said in a statement that as a descendant of generations of Hawaiian surfers and watermen, he is disappointed by what he called misguided accusations.

Keaulana said the project team is aware of Oahu’s water concerns, which grew more acute after the shutdown of a major supply well two years ago in response to a massive underground Navy fuel spill at Red Hill, and that conservation will be integrated into operations of the surf village. He also said Hawaiian cultural advisors have been involved in the work and that extensive archaeological and environmental studies have been done to ensure protection of natural resources.

“This project is motivated by my ohana’s love for the aina (land), kai (sea) and our people,” he said.

According to the project’s finalized environmental assessment produced by local planning firm G70 and published March 23, the planned Honokea surf lagoon will use potable water from a private water system serving the area and have an estimated 6.9 million gallon capacity.

Normal daily potable water use from all envisioned elements of the planned $106 million surf village — which include a dive tank, a lazy river, an aquatic film studio, restaurants, retail stores, a surf museum and 50 guest bungalows — is estimated to be 136,000 gallons per day. The lagoon also is expected to be drained and refilled every two years.

The environmental report also says significant cultural sites will be preserved and any discovered iwi kupuna will be subject to strict compliance with applicable historic preservation and burial laws.

The region is known to have iwi kupuna in part because the land contains many coral sinkholes. Development of Hoakalei Resort and the adjacent residential Ocean Pointe community, which include a 52-acre excavated recreational lagoon, also resulted in litigation over cultural and environmental impacts that were overcome by that project’s developer, Haseko Hawaii.

Hoakalei’s wave pool also faced objections over its use of potable water.

State Sen. Kurt Fevella (R, Ewa Beach-­Iroquois Point) in October criticized Haseko’s use of fresh water for its wave pool instead of clean brackish water from the adjacent lagoon that has about one-third the salinity of seawater.

“I was disappointed to learn of Haseko’s plan to use potable fresh drinking water to fill this surf pool,” Fevella wrote in a letter to Haseko officials. He called such use unacceptable and unconscionable.

Hoakalei’s Wai Kai Wave pool holds 1.7 million gallons of water, or about 2-1/2 times the water needed to fill an Olympic-sized swimming pool, and needs an estimated 3,260 gallons a day to offset loss.

Haseko said it opted to use potable water due to a combination of factors including maintenance, health regulation standards and impact on lagoon biology.

Fevella said in an October letter commenting on the developer’s draft environmental assessment that he looks forward to the project being built but expected the developer to “explore all avenues” for using brackish water as the project’s primary water source.

The final report said using brackish water is a possibility that would need to be further studied.

Honokea Kalaeloa has been working on its project for more than three years and is seeking to lease the site from the Hawaii Community Development Authority, which is also named as a defendant in the lawsuit.

Craig Nakamoto, HCDA director, did not have an immediate comment on the litigation Wednesday and said the agency’s deputy attorney general will be reviewing the complaint.

The lawsuit seeks a new environmental study and at least a temporary injunction against development, though the community group seeks to stop Hono­kea Surf Villages from being developed.

“This affects all of us,” said Summer-Lee Yadao, another plaintiff in the case. “Do we not all use water here? We all do. We need it to survive. … We have to be mindful of our resources.”

The other individual plaintiffs in the case are Tara Rojas and Healani Sonoda- Pale. All the plaintiffs are represented by Honolulu attorneys Bianca Isaki and Ryan Hurley along with Maui attorney Christina Lizzi.