“I find that the dangerous conditions of certain reservoirs in the State of Hawai’i and erosion, and fear of failure in certain reservoirs constitute a public nuisance which are dangerous to the public health and safety or to property.”
What she didn’t say:
It’s too bad the State of Hawai’i didn’t know about the condition of the 53 “high hazard” dams on Kauai before last week’s flooding, which killed seven people. After all, the dams are all earthen and date to the 19th century, long before modern safety standards. Yet the Honolulu Star-Bulletin just reported that the state hasn’t inspected a single dam anywhere in Hawai’i for over a year. State officials don’t even know who owns many of the dams. “Ownership of the dams in these cases is a complicated issue,” state Department of Land and Natural Resources (DLNR) Director Peter Young said in a March 15 press release. “DLNR is conducting further investigation into the legal ownership of these structures.”
-Anthony Pignataro
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