That application was once again deferred during the Dec. 6 meeting after the commission failed to come to an easy consensus.
Fuke said the well, which draws from the Maunakea aquifer, located below the Mauna Loa aquifer, will limit its water extraction to 200,000 gallons per day.
To reconcile these purposes, Bunn said the county has to examine the value of the proposed use of the resource against potential other uses, but added that much of the aquifer’s water is unused and simply flows into the ocean.
Hilo resident Cory Harden opposed the project on environmental grounds, saying the well would compromise the health of the watershed, while the bottling plant will introduce more than half a million tons of plastic per year into the environment.
Fellow resident Kamaki Rathburn delivered an impassioned statement in opposition of the project, explaining that the bottling process will be unavoidably loud, will produce fumes and will release ozone into the atmosphere.
“They can only come in if they’re invited.” After public testimony, Replogle filed a motion to deny the application for the permit, arguing that water commodification has proven to be detrimental to the public in cases such as Flint, Michigan, where public water has been contaminated by lead for years, while multinational corporation Nestle bottles water from the surrounding Great Lakes with impunity.
Although a majority of commissioners voted to deny the application, without a quorum of four, the motion failed.
Aguinaldo said he would be in favor of the resolution if Piilani Partners can include sufficient community recompense, but Replogle advised that he likely will vote against the project again next month.
Along with the Special Management Area use permit matter, the commission also deferred a request for a time extension to allow Piilani Partners to comply with rezoning conditions for the site.
However, the commission did approve a request by Piilani Partners to revoke a previous Special Management Area use permit for the location, which was granted in 1992 to allow the construction of a never-developed fish processing plant.

PORTSMOUTH — Two former Air Force officials believe contaminated water at the former Pease Air Force Base — and even deteriorating nuclear missiles — could have caused what they believe are an unusually high number of birth defects or still-born babies here in the early 1980s.
Retired Air Force Lt. Col. Perry Forgione said he served at the former Pease Air Force Base from 1980 to 1983.
“I lived in base housing with my family and I can tell you on a monthly basis someone from the hospital came and tested the water in base housing,” Forgione, who served with the 509th Bombardment Wing, said during the recent 157th Air Refueling Wing’s listening session at the Pease Air National Guard base.
Forgione started conducting research and determined that one “out of 500 children here at the time in 1980 were born with birth defects and we couldn’t figure it out.” Forgione believes contaminated water caused the defects.
Retired Air Force Lt. Col. Bob Egan also spoke and said in 1979 when he began serving at the Air Force base, “we all knew about this stuff.” He served at Pease Air Force Base from 1979 to 1983 as a shift commander.
Egan also served as a senior nuclear weapons convoy commander at Pease, and told the crowd they were “around the nukes all the time.” Nuclear weapons were stored in the base’s 62-acre Weapons Storage Area, which is located at the end of Arboretum Drive in the wildlife refuge.
Shortly before Egan was transferred off base he heard “that the SRAMs (short-range attack missiles) were having problems,” he said.
Egan later learned “it was probably radiation that caused the problem.” He also added that when he served at Pease “we all knew about the water” problems.
“I get it that was the middle of the Cold War (and) you didn’t want a lot of problems,” Egan said.
But he urged Air National Guard and Air Force staff to address the problem.

However, these same chemicals have leached into two nearby Portsmouth supply wells and are making their way into the municipal water supply and into our homes.
Not all chemicals are harmful.
In the case of PFAS, however, the evidence points overwhelmingly to the fact that these compounds are harmful to human health, even at extraordinarily small concentrations.
It is clear that the EPA’s current provisional health advisory for PFOA and PFOS is inadequate and leaves the public vulnerable to potentially life-altering consequences of exposure.
The work conducted by the federal public health agency concluded that acceptable risk levels for exposure to PFOA and PFOS are seven to 10 times lower than the risk levels that the EPA used to calculate the current drinking water health advisories.
For example, New Jersey and Vermont have both developed drinking water guidelines well below the EPA’s health advisory.
Dangerous chemicals were deposited for years and are now contaminating nearby water supplies.
The consequences of these activities are expensive.
The Coakley Landfill Group has spent $17 million in remediation to date; the Portsmouth taxpayers’ share of that figure comes to $8.5 million and counting.
A healthy population depends on safe, clean drinking water.

RALEIGH, NC (WECT) – Leaders at Cape Fear Public Utility Authority will review a proposed agreement reached between the NC Department of Environmental Quality, Cape Fear River Watch and Chemours over the company’s discharge of GenX and other compounds into the water supply.
The utility also plans to comment to NCDEQ regarding the proposed consent order announced this week.
The full release from CFPUA says: "Cape Fear Public Utility Authority was not part of any negotiation or discussion related to the draft consent order that NCDEQ released Wednesday.
While the draft document appears to address some important issues surrounding future PFAS contamination, it does not appear to consider or address how downstream utilities and their customers have been affected and the possible lingering effects of the broad spectrum of PFAS contamination.
We have not received a response from NCDEQ concerning our November 13 email transmitting a report by UNCW researchers describing additional PFAS compounds they identified in the Cape Fear River.
The proposed consent order would require Chemours to provide permanent drinking water for residents with water wells that have GenX levels above 140 parts per trillion and pay a $12 million civil penalty.
By Dec. 31, 2019, install a thermal oxidizer to control all PFAS from multiple process streams, demonstrate PFAS reductions at an effectiveness of 99.99 percent efficiency and a 99 percent reduction facility-wide for GenX emissions compared to the 2017 baseline level.
Submit and implement a plan for sampling all process and non-process wastewater and stormwater streams to identify any additional PFAS.
Notify and coordinate with downstream public water utilities when an event at the facility has the potential to cause a discharge of GenX compounds into the Cape Fear River above the health goal of 140 parts per trillion.
"This is the largest fine ever by DEQ: 99% reduction in emissions, health study funded by Chemours, safe water for people around the plant whose wells are spoiled, groundwater remediation and more.” Public comments on the proposed order will be accepted until Dec. 21 and can be submitted electronically to comments.chemours@ncdenr.gov or mailed to Assistant Secretary’s office, RE: Chemours Public Comments, 1601 Mail Service Center, Raleigh, NC 27699-1601.

A state water safety committee met on Monday for the first time this year, just five days before its recommendations were due to the Legislature.
The Charleston Gazette-Mail reports the West Virginia Public Water Supply System Study Commission was established in 2014 after a chemical spill at Freedom Industries contaminated drinking water for 300,000 people in the Charleston area.
Committee members told the paper they endorsed the recommendations from an independent water protection study at their meeting.
But they also complained they had little time to read the report.
Angie Rosser is executive director of the West Virginia Rivers Coalition.
Digital Access for only $0.99 For the most comprehensive local coverage, subscribe today.
#ReadLocal Recommendations in the independent report include changes to the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection’s spill hotline and using language like "drinking water protection" instead of "source water protection."
and dust off this report and it’s like, ‘This recommendation about improving the spill report was right here?
Why didn’t it get implemented?’"
The state’s Infrastructure and Jobs Development Council has estimated that $17 billion is needed to correct West Virginia’s water infrastructure issues.

A state water safety committee met on Monday for the first time this year, just five days before its recommendations were due to the Legislature.
The Charleston Gazette-Mail reports the West Virginia Public Water Supply System Study Commission was established in 2014 after a chemical spill at Freedom Industries contaminated drinking water for 300,000 people in the Charleston area.
Committee members told the paper they endorsed the recommendations from an independent water protection study at their meeting.
But they also complained they had little time to read the report.
Angie Rosser is executive director of the West Virginia Rivers Coalition.
Premium content for only $0.99 For the most comprehensive local coverage, subscribe today.
#ReadLocal Recommendations in the independent report include changes to the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection’s spill hotline and using language like "drinking water protection" instead of "source water protection."
and dust off this report and it’s like, ‘This recommendation about improving the spill report was right here?
Why didn’t it get implemented?’"
The state’s Infrastructure and Jobs Development Council has estimated that $17 billion is needed to correct West Virginia’s water infrastructure issues.

Nation Panel seeks report in 6 months Vijay Mohan Chandigarh, December 15 Amid the snow-capped mountains holding the continent’s largest reserves of fresh water, most of the men tasked with guarding the Himalayan frontier do not have access to clean drinking water and are dependent on polluted sources.
Only 18 per cent of the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) Force’s Border Outposts (BoP) have access to potable water from pipelines or bore wells, Parliament’s Standing Committee on Home Affairs has revealed.
“The committee is surprised to observe that in 82 per cent of the BoPs, drinking water is obtained from rivulets and springs which are polluted and at some places the level of contamination is alarming,” the committee said in its report tabled in Parliament on December 12.
Responsible for peacetime management of the 3,488-km long boundary with China, the ITBP has 176 BoPs located at altitudes ranging from 9,000-18,750 ft.
The 89,000 strong force has 32 out of its 56 service battalions deployed on border guarding duties in Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Sikkim and Arunachal Pradesh.
The remaining battalions are on internal security and anti-Naxal duties or are rotated for rest and recuperation.
To remove contamination, a system of boiling water for five minutes is in practice and a “sufficient” number of water filters and RO units have been provided at BoPs.
While deep or low bore wells have been installed at formations where feasible, the ITBP has developed a concept of a permanent integrated BoP building for high altitude areas which are centrally heated structures containing all amenities, including inbuilt bore wells.
Pointing out that clean drinking water is a fundamental right of every person, the committee has asked the ITBP to make proper provisions for clean and safe drinking water at all BoPs immediately and submit a special report in this regard within six months.
The committee also found that only 24 per cent of the BoPs have regular electricity supply while the remaining 76 per cent are dependent on generators that generally run for 1-2 hours in the morning and 3-4 hours in the evening.

Cuttack: People in Jobra area in Cuttack are living in constant fear of another jaundice outbreak alleging that the local administration has failed to address drainage and drinking water problems in the locality.
According to sources, the leakage in the water pipeline is resulting in contamination and the local residents and the corporator of the area have directly blamed Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), which is undertaking drainage works, for the water contamination.
The leakage in drinking water pipeline has caused an artificial pond in the area.
The situation has turned more serious with drain water mixing with the drinking water supply, sources added.
“There was leakage in the drinking water pipeline around one and a half months back.
Another resident, Samaresh Ray said “The leakage happened after digging by JICA, which did not even repair it.
There is water and dirt on the road.
Our area is Jaundice and dengue-prone so there is fear of the disease spreading in the area.
JICA has now passed on the responsibility of repairing the pipeline to the Public Health Engineering Department (PHED).” Susanta Kumar Ghadei, Executive Officer of PHED, Cuttack said “If we repair the pipeline, it will not be permanent as JICA work is continuing and the hole dug by them continues to exist.
The water pipes are getting disturbed this way.”

FOUNTAIN, Colorado – The firefighting foam used by Peterson Air Force Base contaminated the drinking water for residents nearby, and a study by University of Colorado researchers found that after decades of exposure, nearby residents have extremely high levels of toxic PFCs in their blood.
Researchers began studying blood level test results since we reported on it last year.
According to a report released Thursday, researchers found that residents in the Fountain Valley had a medial level of PFHxS (Perfluorohexanesulfonic acid) that is more than 10 times higher than the national average (14.8 ug/level compared to 1.4 ug/ml.)
Thursday evening, a water coalition is hosting CU researcher Dr. John Adgate and other researchers for a talk about the results.
That’s taking place at 6:30 p.m. at First United Methodist Church, 1003 N. Santa Fe Ave. in Fountain.
The researchers will be measuring biological markers of exposure and health indicators in about 200 people who consumed contaminated water, according to a news release issued Thursday.
It stems from a nine-month study conducted by the U.S. Air Force that says firefighting foam used at Peterson Air Force Base contaminated the groundwater and soil with poly- and perfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs).
The organization says little information is known about the effects of PFASs on humans in areas with water contaminated by film-forming foams.
“This research will contribute to our understanding of the factors driving this unique exposure and how it may affect long-term health,” said Dr. John Adgate, chair of ColoradoSPH’s Department of Environmental and Occupational Health and principal investigator of the study.
Carbon filtration systems and alternative water supplies were implemented in early 2016 after the contamination was discovered.

CDM Smith, the consultant hired by Newark to study how the city was treating its water, submitted its draft report in October but shared its initial findings with three officials as early as February, records show.
In repeated statements this year, Newark officials assured residents the lead issue only affected a limited number of homes.
It wasn’t until October that Newark acknowledged problems with corrosion control at its Pequannock plant and announced it was distributing 40,000 water filters to residents.
"In October, we found it was a widespread problem,” Mayor Ras Baraka previously told reporters.
“Once we got a full report that this was not an anomaly, that this wasn’t, 12, 14, 20 homes that are affected by this … we began to go right into what we thought we should do the minute we found out it was a widespread problem.” City spokeswoman Crystal Rosa deferred to a statement on the February email from CDM Smith on Tuesday and did not provide additional comments from city officials.
Smith added that when the study was complete, Newark “responded with immediate action, distributing water filters to residents within two weeks of receiving the draft report.” The city’s response to the lead issue has not violated any federal standards.
But the NRDC filed an emergency motion on Saturday, asking a judge to order Newark to distribute filters to all residents, including those in the East Ward, not just those with lead service lines or lead fixtures.
City officials have repeatedly denied that Newark’s East Ward is affected by the drinking water crisis stemming from lead contamination, but the data shows that’s not true.
Learn more: https://t.co/h2wgEgdUjN — NRDC 🌎 (@NRDC) December 10, 2018 The NRDC said the city has known since at least 2016 that water from the Pequannock and Wanaque systems were blending, meaning that the inadequately treated water from Pequannock could be affecting residents in the East Ward.
The new corrosion treatment is expected to take 6 to 8 months to take effect.