State gets B-minus on
environmental report card
By Mary Adamski
Star-Bulletin
The purity of Hawaii's drinking water and unpolluted swimming beaches weighed on the positive side when the state and county governments were given an overall B-minus grade on the state's annual environmental progress report card.
Solid waste output and overwhelming reliance on oil as an energy source brought the grade down as the Environmental Council considered steps being taken toward environmental goals.
The 15-member citizens board is appointed by the governor to monitor environmental activity, which ranges from waste water and refuse handling initiatives to building bikeways, reducing noise and encouraging planting of native species.
The council considered progress during 1998 in 18 categories measuring the use and conservation of natural resources.
The yardstick used is the goal set for 2002. Some findings:
The goal is to produce 10 percent of the state's energy from renewable sources but only 6.4 percent was generated by wind, solar and geothermal sources. It was a step down from 6.7 percent in 1997 and fell short of the 1998 aim of 7.5 percent.
Some 24 percent of solid waste was diverted from the traditional dumping in a landfill through recycling, composting and other measures. But it was less than the 25 percent achieved in 1997 and missed the aim to divert 31 percent. The goal is 50 percent by 2002.
The Council gave government an F for lagging in building bikeways, an alternative seen as reducing fuel-burning vehicles and pollution. There are 180 miles of bike lanes, about half of the 327-mile goal.
Another indirect measure of pollution production is in the numbers of people who choose public transportation instead of driving. Ridership on TheBus has shrunk every year since 1995. There were 71.2 million bus boardings in 1998, while there were 81.2 million in 1995.
Meanwhile, the number of registered vehicles in the state rose to 893,427 in 1998 from 884,267 in 1997.
Public water systems provided 99.8 percent of the state's population with drinking water deemed safe because it meets federal guidelines on chemical and microbiological contamination.
Island residents and visitors consumed a total of 73.3 million gallons of water. The goal is 70 million.
They generated 8.3 pounds of refuse each and have quite a way to go toward the goal of 4.3 pounds each.
Counties reclaim 11.3 percent of wastewater for reuse in irrigation. The goal is 25 percent.
Beaches were posted as unsafe because of pollution on 13 days in 1998, an improvement over 28 postings in 1997 and less than the anticipated 19 times. The goal is five days maximum.
But there were 530 oil or chemical spills on land or sea in 1998, an increase over 500 in 1997. The goal is 200.
The Environmental Council wants to see 1.9 percent of total state expenditures going to environmental protection programs. It had reached 1.1 percent in the 1998 fiscal year and 1.3 percent in the 1999 fiscal year.
