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The two main underwater power cable routes from Maui and Molokai/Lanai are planned to feed Oahu by bringing them ashore near Pearl Harbor. Seems like this would be bigger news but they have found huge piles of unused munitions, artillery and poison gas cannisters before the entrance to the harbor. It presents an interesting scenario. Move them and risk a major disaster, or not move them, at which point, the casings corrode open at some time and the cable coming to shore will have to be relocated, without a lot of options, considering it is Oahu. Not really part of Puna but just kind of the general goings on around Ha-Ha Land. Wonder what happens when people "find" (remember?) that the Navy routinely dumped radioactive cannisters during the 50's and 60'?
http://www.civilbeat.com/articles/2012/1...ions-dump/
quote:
Bombs Away: Undersea Cable May Run Afoul Of WWII Munitions Dump
The discovery of thousands of chemical warfare weapons off of Pearl Harbor could cause problems for the state's highly touted interisland cable project, designed to bring renewable energy from the neighbor islands to Oahu.
"It was a majority decision to descend into the Dark Ages.
Don't worry, be happy, bang on da drum all day!"
*Japanese tourist on bus through Pahoa, "Is this still America?*
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Self limiting would be a good definition
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Another excellent example of focusing on the wrong problem.
Replacing all the "standing" electric hot water heaters on Oahu would eliminate the need for the interisland cable... or at least buy enough time that people would forget about the cleanup before the cable is eventually installed.
No matter, gotta have that new $21B rail to nowhere...
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I'm with kalakoa. Or I should say, I see kalakoa's point. In Hawaii there should be some emphasis on house-by-house solutions with the support of the state and through the encouragement of businesses that provide alternative energy (solar, etc). I would add that the outer islands should be wary of "feeding" Oahu. How many more people do they want to crowd into that little place anyway? Remember Haiti. Ten million people on an island. That's crazy.
I kinda dig the rail idea though. Most respectfully, it wouldn't go "nowhere". It would go to, from and through a densely populated area. I really love that libertarian spark in the abstract (more than I can express here), but when it comes down to reality, good public transportation will benefit the people who live in, work in and visit Honolulu. In fact, I would't mind having a nice little trolley running up Railroad here in Puna.
By the way, I wonder why they call that street "Railroad"? : )
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Warning, furthering the derailment
Railroad had a rail road....up until the '46 Tsunami wiped out the Hilo Railroad/Hawaiian Consolidated Railroad, Keaau (Ola`a) was a hub for lines that went up to Glenwood & out to Pahoa, carrying mainly sugar cane, but also passengers.... many of our old timey neighbors remember, before our area was built up, traveling on the train & stopping at the junction...
a little glimpse here:
http://www.hawaiistateinfo.com/keaau.php
and always a fun stop is the train museum in Laupahoehoe:
http://www.thetrainmuseum.com/history.html
Added: one of the fun things to do is to find the remnants, road bridges made from old trestles, an old roundhouse, old tsunami twisted tracks, massive concrete footings for the trestle stands, rail ties, chocks & old pegs...
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When I say HNL rail will go "nowhere", I mean: "it doesn't go to Waikiki". Seems to defeat the purpose -- it would have been "way cooler" if the resorts had glossy black "private cars" (with a piano bar inside) that you could ride from the airport...
There's also the matter of part of the route being "jeapordized" by current court rulings; if that section ends up underground, it's going to be much more expensive, maybe even doubling the cost of the project.
Anyway, original point remains: whatever happened to "conservation"? Somehow it's always "get people to use more" and "find a way to sell more".
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Could also be some prophetic planning, as DBEDT's HCCAP models have Waikiki needing more gondola like transport & moorings in the plan-able future.
