The nominee to run the state Department of Land and Natural Resources plans to go after the owners of an illegally moored yacht that broke free, leaked fuel and damaged 20 species of coral near a Maui marine life conservation district.
Dawn Chang told the Honolulu Star-Advertiser’s “Spotlight Hawaii” livestream program Monday that she plans to work with the state Attorney General’s Office to seek reimbursement for all costs related to the two-week grounding and removal of the Nakoa yacht and the environmental damage it caused just outside of the Honolua-Mokule‘ia Marine Life Conservation District on the northwestern coast of Maui.
The yacht’s remaining fuel was removed, and a private “tractor tug” company made three attempts to pull it off the reef.
The plan was to tow the 94-foot, 120-ton luxury yacht to Oahu. But when it was
finally pulled from the reef Sunday, the Nakoa began taking on water before sinking 800 feet under the sea.
DLNR said in a statement that the Nakoa also was “listing starboard and riding bow high after being pulled free.”
The Nakoa first ran aground Feb. 20.
The yacht belongs to Jim Jones, who runs Noelani Yacht Charters LLC.
A business website advertises packages for chartered tours aboard the Nakoa starting at $9,801 from Maui.
Chang told “Spotlight Hawaii” that she wants to identify any of the yacht’s owners and pursue reimbursement of all costs related to the two-week salvage operation and the environmental damage.
“We are going to use all available resources … to hold he and whoever owns that vessel accountable,” Chang said.
Neither Jones nor company representatives immediately responded to requests for comment following Chang’s appearance on “Spotlight Hawaii.” He previously told the Star-Advertiser in February that there had been no fuel leak.
Chang praised DLNR staff and other agencies that responded and said that they represent the reason she wants to lead the agency responsible for oversight of 1.3 million acres of land.
“The department stepped up and stepped in to make sure that we could continue to protect this important
resource and remove the
vessel,” Chang said. “This is the reason I want to chair DLNR. These are people who take seriously their roles.”
Chang would be the first Native Hawaiian woman to lead DLNR and said she understands opposition to her nomination because of her prior work on behalf of
developers.
She has been speaking with state senators who will vote on whether to confirm her nomination, saying the meetings “have been very cordial. They asked very hard questions.”
Chang was present when Green’s first of 20 Cabinet directors, Ikaika Anderson, was voted down by the Senate Committee on Hawaiian Affairs in front of his mother and grandparents.
“Criticism is part of the process,” Chang said. “What we’re not necessarily prepared for is the impacts that it has on our family.”
The confirmation hearing for Chang’s DLNR deputy, Laura Kaakua, is scheduled for Wednesday before the Senate Committee on Water and Land, but Chang’s confirmation hearing has yet to be scheduled.
If confirmed, Chang pledged to listen to community input before decisions are made before the
Board of Land and Natural Resources and Water
Commission.
“At the heart of a lot of the issues is a mistrust of government,” she said. “We’ve not kept our
promises. We’ve not necessarily engaged the community in a meaningful way where they feel like they’ve not been part of the process. Many of the communities feel like we tell them what we’re going to do. We don’t ask them to help us. What are your suggestions?
“What do they say? The walk is in the talk. … The burden is on us to do this outreach to engage them,” Chang said.
Asked about bills that would expand charging visitors fees to access state parks and trails, Chang said DLNR will take the lead but will need help from the visitor industry to educate tourists — and likely from the Honolulu Police Department and state sheriff’s deputies to enforce violations.
The fees are necessary to help protect Hawaii’s environment, in part, because DLNR needs the “financial resources to do more,” she said.
Visitors are “not intentionally disrespectful,” but need education about environmental dangers and about sacred sites through better signage and visitor industry education, Chang said.
“We have a public-trust duty to preserve and protect the lands, the waters, the ocean and ensure fresh water,” she said.
