State Seal

 

DEPARTMENT OF LAND AND NATURAL RESOURCES

 

News Release

     LINDA LINGLE              

           GOVERNOR

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________

                                                                                                                                                                                               

                                                                                                                                              PETER T. YOUNG, CHAIRPERSON

                                                                                                                                              Phone: (808) 587-0401

                                                                                                                                              Fax: (808) 587-0390

                                                                                                                                             

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________

For Immediate Release: March 1, 2006

  

DLNR To Hold Public Hearing On Permit Application
For Artificial Reef South Of Keauhou Bay, Kona

HONOLULU— The Department of Land and Natural Resources (DLNR) will hold a public hearing to receive testimony on a Conservation District Use Application (CDUA) for an artificial reef using a decommissioned naval vessel to be located in waters 90 to 130 feet deep, approximately 2.5 miles south of Keauhou Bay and half a mile offshore of Paaoao Bay.

The public hearing will take place at 6 p.m., Friday, March 3, 2006, at the Sheraton Keauhou Bay Resort and Spa, 78-128 Ehukai Street, Kailua-Kona, in the Keauhou II Room.

The applicant is the West Hawaii Artificial Reef Foundation (WHARF), a 501 (c) 3 non-profit corporation based in Kailua-Kona, and headed by Jim Passon, President. The foundation is proposing to create the first artificial reef on the West Hawaii coastline on three acres of submerged land by sinking a former ammunition ship, the 511 foot long Mauna Kea, currently moored in California.

The artificial reef is intended to provide habitat for coral and fishes, and for use by recreational scuba divers, including commercial scuba charters, and fishermen seeking open and semi-open water game fish and reef fish.

A copy of the application, the project's environmental assessment and maps of the general location of the area under consideration are available for inspection at the Office of Conservation and Coastal Lands, DLNR in Honolulu at the Kalanimoku Building, Room 131, 1151 Punchbowl Street, Honolulu, Hawaii, and at the DLNR-Land Division, Hilo State Office Building, 75 Aupuni Street, Room 204, and at the Holualoa and Kealakekua Public Libraries in West Hawaii.

Disabled individuals planning to attend the hearing are asked to contact the DLNR at the above address or phone Dawn Hegger at 587-0380 at least 24 hours in advance of the public hearing to indicate if they have special needs which require accommodation.

# # #


For more information, media contact:
Clifford Inn
DLNR Education and Outreach Coordinator
Phone: (808) 587-0407
Clifford.G.Inn@hawaii.gov