New Water Bottling Plant in Hilo Proposed

[HereOnThePrimalEdge]

Discussion about a proposed water bottling plant in Hilo came before the Planning Commission last week. Most residents who spoke were against the idea due to negative environmental impacts by disposable plastic containers and other products.

Planning Commission members listened carefully as they drank from Aquafina bottles, on the tables in front of them. (See photo in link):

http://www.westhawaiitoday.com/2019/01/0...operation/

[glinda]

Bottled water is a scam.. and the plastic bottles it comes in is a nightmare..

I think we should ban all plastic containers and not support any new industry here or anywhere that uses them in their packaging.

Bottled water bans have been proposed and enacted in several municipalities and campuses around the world, over such concerns as resource wastage, transportation emissions, plastic litter, and damage to affected aquifers.

The small town of Bundanoon, New South Wales (Australia) enacted such a ban in 2009 and was the first town to do so anywhere. The University of Vermont (UVM) in Burlington became the first public college to enact such a ban. As of late 2016, 82 high schools, colleges and universities across the world have implemented bottled water bans on their campuses. Municipalities have also banned bottled water from their facilities, such as the city of San Francisco, California.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bottled_water_ban

[Kelena]

I believe he speaks for all of us:
https://youtu.be/29E6GbYdB1c

[terracore]

"No plastic, no tapping aquifer: Residents continue push back against proposed Hilo bottling operation"

Here, I'll fix it for you:

"No jobs, no profiting, no tax revenues from something that falls from the sky for free: Residents continue push back against progress, self sufficiency, smaller taxes, and personal responsibility"

ETA: clarity

[jrw]

Great clip Kelena that how things go here in hilo and Puna

jrw

[MarkD]

So they're not complaining about environmental damage to the site--they don't like what the plant is producing (plastic bottles). C.A.V.E. -- Citizens Against Virtually Everything.

[glinda]

quote:

---

Originally posted by terracore

"No plastic, no tapping aquifer: Residents continue push back against proposed Hilo bottling operation"

Here, I'll fix it for you:

"No jobs, no profiting, no tax revenues from something that falls from the sky for free: Residents continue push back against progress, self sufficiency, smaller taxes, and personal responsibility"

ETA: clarity

---

Aint that a bit short sighted terracore?

I agree.. water is a cool product.. but why would you support the start of a business that will make trash that is harming the planet, especially now that it is becoming so apparent?

Great Pacific garbage patch

From... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Paci...bage_patch

The Great Pacific garbage patch, also described as the Pacific trash vortex, is a gyre of marine debris particles in the north central Pacific Ocean. It is located roughly from 135°W to 155°W and 35°N to 42°N. The collection of plastic and floating trash, which comes primarily from countries in Asia, lies halfway between Hawaii and California and extends over an indeterminate area of widely varying range, depending on the degree of plastic concentration used to define it.

The patch is characterized by exceptionally high relative pelagic concentrations of plastic, chemical sludge, and other debris that have been trapped by the currents of the North Pacific Gyre. Despite the common public image of islands of floating rubbish, its low density (4 particles per cubic meter) prevents detection by satellite imagery, or even by casual boaters or divers in the area. It consists primarily of an increase in suspended, often microscopic, particles in the upper water column.

And that even on the Big Island it is a real reason for concern.. and we are TRYING to stop it???

Pioneer in plastic pickup: Group aims to bring unique beach cleaner to Big Island

From... http://www.westhawaiitoday.com/2019/01/0...ig-island/

The Hawaii Wildlife Fund is seeking donations to transport a prototype machine to the Big Island that can sort microplastics from beach sand.

A group of 12 engineering students from the University of Sherbrooke in Quebec, Canada, have worked in conjunction with the Wildlife Fund for two years to design a machine that can help remove small pieces of plastic marine debris from beaches.

A completed prototype of the machine, called the HoolaOne, will be tested on Hawaii beaches next month to determine its efficacy.

“The machine will be operated by the students initially, but the machine will belong to us,” said Bill Gilmartin, research director for the Hawaii Wildlife Fund.

Megan Lamson, program director for the Wildlife Fund, said extricating microplastics — plastic fragments 5 millimeters or less in diameter — from sand is a very slow process. Workers take a sample of beach sand into a mixing tray, add seawater, and wait as the less dense plastic waste rises to the top of the water.

The machine operates by the same principle, but much more efficiently. The HoolaOne uses vacuums and pumps to gather sand and seawater more quickly and expel the clean sand back to the beach free of plastic contaminants.

Microplastics are an especially insidious form of plastic pollution due to their extremely small size. The tiny plastic fragments — which can be pieces of larger plastic debris or items like microbeads that are engineered to be extremely small — are consumed unwittingly by sea life, and can become trapped in their digestive systems, leading to health problems not only in the animals that eat the plastic, but in any animals that eat them as well.

So, what's up with that terracore?

[terracore]

People on the mainland who buy premium bottled water aren't going to go to the store and pass by the Evian and not buy it because some leftists are afraid of Hawaii companies making money.

This plant isn't going to create any plastic that isn't going to already exist. It's just shifting the water tap from places like France (Evian) to Hawaii. Both have long distance commutes (fuel) and use plastic.

I don't think I'm the one is who short sighted.

I didn't watch the video, did anybody in the "against" column argue to put the water in some other container, like a biodegradable one, or did they just argue against "industry"?

[glinda]

I don't know.. wasn't there.. didnt watch the vid... but will observe.. your excuse falls short.. Hilo can find all sorts of other industries if we want. No need to add to the planet's woes just to make a buck.

[Chunkster]

"Hilo can find all sorts of other industries if we want."

All sorts? What, pray tell? Please name something (or several somethings since you said "lots") that would be viable and get past the NIMBYs, the obstructionist county zoning/permitting apparatus, the extreme elements of the environmentalists, and the other pitfalls of doing business here.

And FWIW, I agree that plastic bottles are a problem. Blocking a relative small plant in East Hawaii won't solve it though.