Cultural Impact Assessment: Anahola and ʻAnini Beach, Kauaʻi
SWCA Environmental Consultants is preparing Cultural Impact Assessments (CIAs) and Ka Paʻakai Analyses for the proposed Inter-Island Middle Mile submarine fiber optic cable project, designed to bring fast, reliable broadband to rural areas across the Hawaiian Islands. This project will establish ten cable landing sites, including three on Kauaʻi, benefitting the communities of Kīlauea, Wailua, Anahola, Kekaha, Waimea, and the Hawaiian Home Lands communities of Anahola, Moloaʻa, Waimea, and Kekaha.
The Anahola cable landing site is planned to be located within the Anahola Hawaiian Home Lands at the northeast side of the intersection of Pilipoli Road and Ehukai Road, within the ahupuaʻa of Anahola in the moku of Koʻolau (TMK) parcel (4) 4-8-003:021. The fiber optic cable (FOC) will be brought ashore via a horizontal directional drilled passage beneath the beach, with a manhole set back from the shoreline serving as the connection point between the submarine and terrestrial FOC.
The ʻAnini Beach cable landing site is planned to be located at ʻAnini Beach Park, within the ahupuaʻa of Kalihikai in the moku of Haleleʻa (TMK) parcel (4) 5-3-005:005. The submarine fiber optic cable (FOC) will be brought ashore via a horizontal directional drilled passage running beneath the beach, with a manhole set back from the shoreline serving as the connection point between the submarine and terrestrial FOC.
To assist with the CIAs and Ka Paʻakai Analyses, SWCA is seeking community input regarding cultural knowledge of the areas, including past and present land use, place names, cultural traditions, gathering practices, and any concerns the community might have related to cultural practices within or in the vicinity of the project areas. SWCA invites the kōkua and manaʻo of individuals with knowledge of the area’s cultural resources. Please contact SWCA at hawaiiculturalconsultation@swca.com or (808) 646-6309 for more information or to share insights. Your input will help ensure this project properly considers cultural practices and concerns.
Notice Of Section 106 National Historic Preservation Act: Mauna Loa Renewable Energy Project
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and US National Science Foundation (NSF) propose a renewable energy project at the NOAA Mauna Loa Observatory (MLO), located at 11,200 ft altitude on the north slope of the Mauna Loa Volcano, about 5.8 miles from the crater and 2.3 miles from the boundary of Volcanoes National Park. The proposed project is a collaboration between NOAA and NSF to immediately restore power to the NSF’s Mauna Loa Solar Observatory (MLSO) and power the entire site with onsite renewable energy.
NSF proposes to place a temporary 30 kW solar panel array on the ground surface adjacent to the NSF’s MLSO building on the site to restore solar observations. After the Mauna Loa Access Road reopens, NOAA proposes to install and incorporate NSF’s temporary panels into a 500 kW solar panel array with 300 kW battery backup. This permanent solar array and battery backup system would make the entire MLO facility net-zero and off-grid for energy. These arrays would be built on previously-disturbed land on the NOAA MLO site.
The Area of Potential Effects is within the 8-acre MLO property. The renewable energy systems will be located at the following latitude and longitude coordinates: 19.53573 N, 155.5761722 W. We welcome any information on historical and cultural sites within the project area. Please contact Christine Smith, NOAA Global Monitoring Laboratory, (303) 909-0375, 325 Broadway, R/GML1, Boulder, CO 80305, christine.smith@noaa.gov. Please respond within 30 days of this publication.
Seeking Lineal Descendants: Kawaihae, Hawaiʻi Island
The Bernice Pauahi Bishop Museum is seeking to identify lineal descendants, Native Hawaiian Organizations, and other interested parties for consultation regarding items from the Kawaihae, Honokoʻa Cave Complex, also known as Forbes and Mummy caves, located on the island of Hawaiʻi.
If you believe you are a lineal descendant of individuals associated with these sites, represent a Native Hawaiian Organization, or have cultural or historical knowledge relevant to this area, we invite you to participate in the consultation process. To express your interest in consulting, please contact the Bishop Museum by November 30, 2024, at pulama.lima@bishopmuseum.org or by phone at 808-848-4144.
Burial notice: Waikīkī, Oʻahu
NOTICE TO INTERESTED PARTIES IS HEREBY GIVEN that human skeletal remains were identified by Cultural Surveys Hawaiʻi, Inc. during additional archaeological inventory survey testing for the Ala Moana Boulevard Tower Project, Hilton Hawaiian Village, Waikīkī Ahupuaʻa, Honolulu (Kona) District, Oʻahu, TMKs: (1) 2-6-009:004–006 and portions of 007, 009, and 013.
Per Hawaiʻi Revised Statutes (HRS) Section 6E-43 and Hawaiʻi Administrative Rules (HAR) Chapter 13-300, these remains are previously identified. Based on context, they are over 50 years old and reasonably believed to be Native Hawaiian. They are within Land Grant 3162 to H.A. Widemann (or Widdemann), later to John Ena, in Kālia ʻIli.
Human skeletal remains were previously identified during initial archaeological inventory survey testing in 2022, and notice was published in this newsletter in July 2022.
The project proponents are Park Ala Moana LLC and Hilton Hawaiian Village Beach Resort & Spa. The contact person is Ivan Lui-Kwan, Starn O’Toole Marcus & Fisher, 733 Bishop Street, Suite 1900, Honolulu, Hawaiʻi 96813 [Tel: (808) 537-6100].
The project proponents currently envision relocation of these previously disturbed remains to a suitable preserve area; however, a burial treatment decision (preservation in place or relocation) will be made based on consultations, per HAR Section 13-300-33.
All persons having knowledge of the identity or history of these human remains are requested to contact Ms. Regina Hilo, SHPD Burial Sites Specialist, at 601 Kamokila Boulevard, Room 555, Kapolei, Hawaiʻi 96707 [Tel: (808) 692-8015, Fax: (808) 692-8020, Email: Regina.Hilo@hawaii.gov] within thirty (30) days of this notice.
