Kahuku resident Kananiloaanuenue Ponciano settled in for a 12-hour shift yesterday at the Ku Kia‘i Kahuku campsite along Kamehameha Highway on the North Shore, the hub for protesters of a planned wind farm.
After meeting with guests who stopped by, she set herself to her next task — getting a propane tank for her portable stove so the protesters could cook dinner.
Ponciano, 34, is president of Ku Kia‘i Kahuku, or guardians of Kahuku, a nonprofit that was started in August by a handful of mothers in someone’s living room. In the early stages, the organization had nine women on its board, but now has several committees working to protest the construction of eight wind turbines by Virginia-based AES Corp. in Kahuku.
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Some Kahuku residents support the wind farm, called Na Pua Makani, but many say the turbines are too large and too close to the community. In addition, they worry the turbines may cause health problems from the noises and shadows they create.
AES says its turbines will not have any ill health effects. The company said it has obtained all regulatory approvals after numerous public meetings and legal challenges.
Last week, the dispute led to the arrest of 55 protesters from Thursday night in Kalaeloa to Friday morning in Kahuku, as protesters tried to stop the transport of massive turbine parts from Kalaeloa Harbor to Kahuku.
Ponciano yesterday emphasized that her organization is peaceful and nonviolent. Signs around the camp state rules for visitors, such as no drugs and no yelling.
People stop by daily to drop off supplies or pick up and wash dishes, Ponciano said. Others have offered services, such as photography and legal counseling, which organizers find helpful because they want their actions to be pono, she said.
“As mothers, we have to make sure we’re an example to everyone,” she said.
Yesterday afternoon, Kahuku couple Jonathan and Ellouise Reed pulled up at the camp next to the Kahuku Agricultural Park to drop off water and a case of Vienna sausages.
Jonathan Reed said the community has been so consumed by the wind farm protest that some didn’t know who the Kahuku football team was playing last night.
“It’s the rural areas that they go towards,” he said. “They don’t realize the support that the country has and the love they have for each other.”
Ponciano said she has been able to lead the organization while being a mother of an 8-year-old son and a 10-month-old daughter because of a strong support system, including her mother, and her husband.
““If we don’t protect it now, things will just keep coming and our kids won’t stand a chance.,” she said.
For now, she and her supporters plan to continue opposing the developer, which is permitted to move turbine parts from Sunday nights to Friday mornings, between 11 p.m. and 5 a.m.
“We do suspect that they’re going to start movement on Sunday,” she said. “We’re not going anywhere.”
