Attorneys have filed a lawsuit to stop Maui County from replacing 4,800 streetlights with LED bulbs that they say would harm seabirds and turtles.

Earthjustice filed the suit Tuesday in state Circuit Court. It alleges Maui’s Department of Public Works failed to complete a legally mandated environmental review before moving forward with the project in partnership with Maui Electric Co.

The LED — light-emitting diode — bulbs that Maui County is installing have high blue-light content that mimics moonlight and could confuse endangered seabirds and turtles, according to Earthjustice attorney Kylie Wager Cruz.

If the county had completed the required environmental review process, including consultation with experts, instead of exempting itself from the process, better alternatives would have been considered, Cruz said.

“It is extremely irresponsible, not to mention blatantly illegal, for the county to try to dodge the mandated environmental review process, which is designed to help the county find more environmentally responsible ways to get the job done,” said Cruz in a news release.

The suit was filed on behalf of the Hawaii Wildlife Fund and Conservation Council for Hawaii. It names Maui Department of Public Works Director David Goode, Maui Mayor Michael Victorino, Maui County and Maui Electric Co. as defendants.

Maui County spokesman Brian Perry said the county had not yet been served with the complaint and could not respond specifically to the allegations.

Maui County began replacing its high-pressure sodium bulbs with LEDs in November as an energy-saving measure.

The first phase, which included the installation on about 1,889 fixtures, was slated to take place along various roadways in Kahului, Wailuku, Waiehu, Kahakuloa, and from Kailua to Hana and Olowalu to Lahaina, through this month. The second phase was scheduled to start early this year in West Maui and on Molokai and Lanai.

“This replacement is being performed to provide greater energy efficiency and safety at a cost savings to our taxpayers and electric ratepayers,” said Perry. “In making these types of decisions, Maui County follows the environmental review process, as well as other applicable rules and laws.”

Maui’s streetlight conversion is in line with other counties in the state, which are also switching to LEDs to improve energy efficiency. Honolulu is also converting about 53,500 streetlights to LEDs, a move that is expected to save the county about $5 million annually.

But Earthjustice said wildlife experts had warned the Maui Public Works Department of the environmental harm caused by the bluish lighting.

Maui County chose LEDs with about 20 percent blue-light content, when ones with less than 2 percent are available, according to the suit. Hawaii County, it noted, is currently in the process of replacing its streetlights with the less-than-2-percent-blue-light LEDs.

Maui’s new LED lights disorient seabirds such as the threatened Newell’s shearwater, endangered Hawaiian petrel and declining wedge-tailed shearwater, the suit alleges. Fledging seabirds circle the lights, then fall to the ground from exhaustion, becoming vulnerable to starvation, predators and cars.

Similarly, turtle hatchlings are also drawn away from the ocean and toward the artificial lights, and become vulnerable to the same threats. A single bright light near a sea turtle nesting beach could misdirect and kill hundreds of hatchlings, the suit said. Adult female turtles also avoid nesting on shores with bright lights, particularly those with high-blue-light content.

“The Hawaiian petrel is critically endangered, with bright lights one of the biggest culprits in its decline,” said Julie Leialoha, interim executive director of Conservation Council for Hawaii, in a news release. “The largest remaining colonies of Hawaiian petrels in the world are on Lanai and Maui. If we don’t protect them here and now, we risk losing this species forever.”

ALLEGEDLY THREATENED

>> Newell’s shearwaters

>> Hawaiian petrels

>> Wedge-tailed shearwaters

>> Hawksbill sea turtles

>> Green sea turtles

Source: Earthjustice