Report rejects
Waahila power line

Groups fighting HECO's
proposed line applaud the finding

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By Diana Leone
dleone@starbulletin.com

Opponents in the heated battle against proposed power lines on Waahila Ridge above Manoa Valley are claiming victory.

"We're all very pleased," said Helen Nakano, a past president and founder of Malama O Manoa after reading a decision by a hearings officer that she said recommends the state Board of Land and Natural Resources deny Hawaiian Electric Company's request to place 138-kilovolt lines on large steel poles on the ridge.

Mary Steiner, chief executive officer of the Outdoor Circle, said her group, which has fought the project for eight years, is "really excited" about the 71-page recommendation by hearing officer E. John McConnell that it received yesterday in the mail.

"I think this is a slam dunk," Steiner said. "The judge has made a case that is hard to refute."

McConnell, a retired judge, was hired by the land board to hear the protests of Malama O Malama, The Outdoor Circle and Life of the Land.

"Judge McConnell confirmed our belief that the 138-kv line is not needed and should not be built," Nakano said.

HECO spokesman Chuck Freedman said yesterday that the electric company hadn't yet received the recommendation.

"Until we see what the hearings officer said, we really can't comment," Freedman said. "This is an important project from the standpoint of preventing a major blackout and we need to take a look at the full recommendation before we comment on it."

HECO argued that it needs to link its Kamoku substation in McCully with the Pukele substation in upper Palolo Valley via the proposed line over Waahila Ridge as a backup for electricity customers in Waikiki, East Honolulu and Windward Oahu should the main transmission lines fail.

Opponents questioned the need for the line and argued that larger power poles will mar the scenic beauty of the ridge between Palolo and Manoa valleys and interfere with recreational and Hawaiian cultural activities on the ridge.

Steiner said McConnell found "HECO has failed to establish that there is a public benefit for its proposed project which outweighs its adverse impacts on conservation district lands."

"Much of the evidence introduced by all parties to this proceeding, including HECO, goes to the question of the necessity or need for this project. ... The public benefit or public need for this project has been substantially overstated by HECO and is speculative," Steiner read from McConnell's ruling.

HECO and the three citizen groups presented their cases to McConnell for seven days in November.

Gil Coloma-Agaran, chairman of the land board, said yesterday he had received the judge's recommendation but would not comment on it at this time.

Coloma-Agaran said all parties to the case will now have a chance to make comments on and objections to McConnell's findings. When those documents have been filed, the parties may choose to make oral arguments before the board.

The deadline for a final decision by the board has been moved from mid-February to July, but it shouldn't take that long, Coloma-Agaran said.