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Press release
John Walter, left, an environmental consultant working
for the Environmental Protection Agency, shows a soil
sample taken from the old Molokai Electric site to Diana
Wong, center, a colleague, and Amy Playdon, a site
assessment specialist from the State Department of Health.

Residents hope to
transform a rundown
site in Kaunakakai

State and federal agencies
offer $600,000 to create a
business center but a toxic
cleanup may be needed

---

By Gary T. Kubota
Maui correspondent

A group of Molokai residents wants to turn a former electrical generating site into a place to generate new small businesses.

But the residents have to overcome an obstacle: An environmental assessment needs to be done to determine what hazardous material, if any, needs to be cleared at the former Molokai Electric site in Kaunakakai.

Under a federal community enterprise program for economically depressed areas, government agencies have stepped in to help solve the problem. Environmental work that normally would be done by the private sector is being conducted with help from state and federal agencies.

"We see this as the redevelopment of our town," said Stacy Crivello, chairwoman of the Molokai Community Enterprise Board, a volunteer board that oversees a number of projects on Molokai, under a federal enterprise community program enabling residents to receive government help.

One of the plans focuses on the redevelopment of the former Molokai Electric site, which has been unimproved for more than 15 years and now houses makeshift offices and storage spaces.

Crivello said that once the nearly 64,000 square feet of land has been approved for redevelopment by government agencies, the site could serve as the launching pad for start-up businesses, a farmer's market, a food processing plant and a museum.

Residents hope it will help stimulate the economy on Molokai, where the unemployment rate of 17.2 percent in July was the highest in the state.

"This is the first urban-renewal project in Kaunakakai," said Karen Holt, executive director of the Molokai Community Services Council, a nonprofit group working with the board.

Holt said state and federal agencies have either approved or pledged more than $600,000 toward the redevelopment. The largest contributor has been the U.S. Economic Development Administration. It has approved $20,000 to prepare feasibility studies about redeveloping the site and tentatively pledged up to $400,000 in matching funds for construction.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is spending about $125,000 to assess the level of hazardous waste at the Kaunakakai site and will be analyzing soil and water samples.

An agency contractor was taking samples this week at the site and expects to have the testing completed by the end of November.

The agency has helped in two "brownfield" assessments and cleanups on state-owned land in Kakaako on Oahu, but the project on Molokai is its first assessment in Hawaii on private property.

Molokai Electric Co. owned the site for more than 45 years before selling it to the family-owned business, Misaki Inc.

The firm has indicated an interest in selling or leasing the property to the nonprofit Molokai Community Services Council.

Kevin Misaki, representing the firm, said his family has received a number of inquiries about buying the property, but interested parties have been reluctant once they realize they may have to clean up toxic waste.

Misaki said the site has never been suspected of containing toxic waste, but because it once stored fuel for power generation, an environmental assessment is required.

"It hindered us from selling the place," he said.

Greg Helm, a resident helping in the urban renewal of Kaunakakai, said the site's central location could fill a need in the town for a place for family gatherings.

He hopes to see the site include a bowling alley and an outdoor stage for holding community events.

"There's really no place where kids can go and hang out," Helm said.