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Ceatech
USA seeks expansion permit for Kauai shrimp
farm
By
Steven Stein - THE GARDEN ISLAND
KEKAHA — A
Kekaha shrimp farm that filed for bankruptcy
last year will soon
restart its operations, but not without
the reservations of local environmentalists.
Hawai‘i’s Department of Health
is in the process of finalizing a National
Pollution Discharge Elimination System permit
request to expand Ceatech USA Inc.’s
West Kaua‘i shrimp farm, according
to state officials.
Dr. Gordon LaBedz, former chair of the Surfrider
Foundation, a non-profit organization that
works to protect the ocean, and Bruce Pleas,
a Westside surfboard maker running for mayor,
have appealed the permit request.
“What are they doing dumping billions
of gallons of raw shrimp (fecal matter) into
the ocean?” Pleas said.
If shrimp waste gets into coastal waters,
the scent would attract sharks to Kini Kini
Point and Majors Bay, popular surfing locations,
said Pleas.
He
added that when the plant was fully operational,
ocean water in the area turned a “dirty
green” due to the refuse.
Under the proposed expansion, the farm would
have 44 acres of shrimp ponds, generating
25 million gallons of waste.
According
to LaBedz, Ceatech’s two
holding ponds, each about one acre, aren’t
large enough to clean the waste.
“A small mainland city of 500,000
people would dump that much,” LaBedz
said. “Twenty-five-million gallons
a day is a significant discharge.”
Concerns
with the shrimp farm extend beyond waste
disposal. Don Heacock, Kaua‘i
district aquatic biologist with the state
Department of Land and Natural Resources,
said the basic methods used by Ceatech are
flawed.
“We need to be practicing sustainable
farming systems so we don’t discharge
nutrient-rich effluent into our pristine
coastal waters,” Heacock said. “We
have abandoned the way of our great-grandfathers.
We end up with waste that isn’t utilized
by anything else.”
Instead of focusing on a single crop, Heacock
argued farms should promote an integrated
farming system based on multiple crops.
Although the NPDES permit should be approved
within a week, DOH officials said it was
amended to address environmental concerns.
State officials added that everyone who expressed
concerns with the permit proposal will get
a response.
The
pending approval of the permit may prove
to be a turning point for Ceatech’s
foundering fortunes.
In April 2004, the state Department of Agriculture
placed the farm under quarantine due to an
outbreak of the white-spot syndrome virus.
Ceatech was forced to kill 20 million infected
shrimp.
Although WSSV poses no harm to humans, it
is fatal for shrimp and other crustaceans,
and can also damage coral reefs.
Another
outbreak of WSSV is unlikely, however,
according to state officials. “Everything
looks clean at this point,” said Dr.
James Foppoli, the state veterinarian. “I
think there’s every chance that (Ceatech)
will have a successful operation.”
After the outbreak of WSSV, Ceatech, which
was already struggling financially, reported
losses between $1 million and $2 million,
and was forced to file for bankruptcy.
Sunrise
Capital, lead by Kelvin Taketa, president
and CEO of the philanthropic Hawai‘i
Community Foundation, purchased Ceatech in
June 2005 for $426,000.
Sunrise Capital officials did not return
phone calls yesterday.
At
its peak, Ceatech was the largest aquaform
shrimp operation in Hawai‘i, employing
40 people.
Source:
The
Garden Island
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