Federal probe targets Kauai electric utility
The inquiry focuses on the unintentional killings of rare birds
LIHUE » Kauai's electricity cooperative has been the subject of a federal criminal investigation for months, the utility announced recently.
Kauai Island Utility Cooperative received a letter in March that the U.S. Department of Justice was looking into the unintentional killing of protected seabirds like Newell's shearwaters and Hawaiian petrels.
No charges have been filed, and the company continues to work with federal and state governments to solve any problems to hopefully avoid criminal prosecution, company officials said yesterday.
"Bottom line, there are (a number) of endangered species that were killed," said David Proudfoot, an attorney who represents the cooperative. "Every ... season, there are many Newell's shearwater and Hawaiian petrel that die."
The threatened shearwater and the endangered petrel, migratory birds, can become injured and killed by unshielded lights and power lines owned by the electric co-op. Often the birds become distracted by the lights and run into objects.
Proudfoot said that, despite their repeated requests, the Justice Department has not given them specific information about the cause of the investigation.
"If we never know, we would be happy," Proudfoot added.
The company has turned over pages of documents compiled on migratory bird numbers, breeding patterns and any other information requested.
And it is working with the state and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to complete a Habitat Conservation Permit, Proudfoot added.
The permit would allow the unintentional killing of some birds as long as the company works to minimize the impact to the species and mitigate any deaths that could be avoided, Proudfoot said.
The permit has been in the works since before the co-op's inception in 2003. It is expected to be done within the next two months, said Kauai Island Utility Cooperative spokeswoman Anne Barnes.
Without the permit, however, the death of a protected or endangered bird is a criminal offense, Proudfoot said.
The company decided to make the investigation public because "we are membership-owned, (and) we need to let the membership know," he said.
Kauai Island Utility Cooperative has also spent nearly $1.5 million since its inception to help the endangered birds by putting in shielded lights, doing studies on seabird reproduction, creating breeding colonies and funding the Save Our Shearwater plan, which rescues injured or startled shearwaters and nurses them back to health, Barnes said.
According to KIUC, 458 seabirds -- about 83 percent of all the birds collected -- were rescued and released last season. Of those, 370 were Newell's shearwaters and six were Hawaiian petrels. In 2005, 303 birds were rescued and released.