Testimonies
Melissa Ka`onohi-Camit
Melissa Ka`onohi-Camit
Watch Melissa's Video Here
"As you all know already. Destin has seizures. It is an ongoing battle he has been dealing with. The more and more we see turbine parts or road work being done in preparation for these monstrous things to be put up. Our anxiety goes higher. That does not help with us trying to continue to live a some what "normal" life. Imagine having the constant reminder that something is coming....something that can potentially harm your child. In fact, harm your whole family, your community and those you care about and love. Infrasound is real, shadow flickers is real. This is just not made up stuff. You're talking about my child's life. He is a good kid and has fought through brain surgery, hospital stays, drownings...oh my gosh you name it! And now....now...gotta fight to live in his own community and to stay with his family? I have prayed and prayed. And the only answer I get....is keep pushing forward, share your story, don't give up. Ku Kia'i Kahuku! PLEASE KAHUKU....rise up for our community. RISE UP for our Keiki. RISE UP for your KAHUKU!!!" - Melissa Ka`onohi-Camit
"As you all know already. Destin has seizures. It is an ongoing battle he has been dealing with. The more and more we see turbine parts or road work being done in preparation for these monstrous things to be put up. Our anxiety goes higher. That does not help with us trying to continue to live a some what "normal" life. Imagine having the constant reminder that something is coming....something that can potentially harm your child. In fact, harm your whole family, your community and those you care about and love. Infrasound is real, shadow flickers is real. This is just not made up stuff. You're talking about my child's life. He is a good kid and has fought through brain surgery, hospital stays, drownings...oh my gosh you name it! And now....now...gotta fight to live in his own community and to stay with his family? I have prayed and prayed. And the only answer I get....is keep pushing forward, share your story, don't give up. Ku Kia'i Kahuku! PLEASE KAHUKU....rise up for our community. RISE UP for our Keiki. RISE UP for your KAHUKU!!!" - Melissa Ka`onohi-Camit
Neva Fotu
Neva Fotu
‘Shadow Flicker’ And Lost Sleep: Are Kahuku Wind Turbines Too Close To Homes?
“Just because it’s legal doesn’t make it right,” said Neva Fotu, a Kahuku resident who can see one of a dozen existing turbines from an armchair in her living room. “That shouldn’t be the law... From Sherwoods to Mauna Kea to rail, nobody is thinking about us,” Fotu said. “It’s money, money, money.
Fotu bought her Kahuku home in 2013, about two years after about a dozen turbines began operating there. Soon after, Fotu said she started experiencing earaches, dizziness, fainting, migraines and trouble sleeping. When the turbines are off, she sleeps better, she said. Nobody wants to live next to them,” said Fotu, one of more than 100 people who have been arrested while protesting the turbines."
“Just because it’s legal doesn’t make it right,” said Neva Fotu, a Kahuku resident who can see one of a dozen existing turbines from an armchair in her living room. “That shouldn’t be the law... From Sherwoods to Mauna Kea to rail, nobody is thinking about us,” Fotu said. “It’s money, money, money.
Fotu bought her Kahuku home in 2013, about two years after about a dozen turbines began operating there. Soon after, Fotu said she started experiencing earaches, dizziness, fainting, migraines and trouble sleeping. When the turbines are off, she sleeps better, she said. Nobody wants to live next to them,” said Fotu, one of more than 100 people who have been arrested while protesting the turbines."
Tara Burlew
Tara Burlew
Kahuku farmer believes wind turbines are the root of her health problems - Thursday, October 17th 2019, 3:41 PM HST by Eliza Larson
Construction of Na Pua Makani wind-farm in Kahuku hasn't started yet but opponents continue to protest near the project site. Health and safety for their community is top-priority, but for one local farmer it's personal. Tara Burlew's organic farm "Pono Produce" sits less than a football field away from the Kahuku Wind Farm. She said her family moved to the North Shore community about three years ago, but ever since she's noticed her health spinning out of control. "I've had a lot of headaches, fatigue, occasionally I feel like this weird vertigo dizziness that comes over," Burlew said. She said she also experiences eye strain when the sun shines through the spinning windmills.
Burlew has seen doctors and has tried glasses but the symptoms continue. Only recently, she said she learned her problems may be connect to the turbines next door. "We all have our health struggles, but when you learn that there could be something, a machine, nearby causing them, its alarming."
Burlew said she recently attended a neighborhood board meeting where the planned construction of eight, new, 568-feet tall turbines was discussed. She explained she heard many other Kahuku residents raise red flags about what the 12 existing wind turbines do to peoples and animals health and their reasons against adding more. She disclosed her husband -- who is on the neighborhood board -- also experiences symptoms. They're now considering moving to another Oahu neighborhood. KITV4 has heard of other residents of Kahuku and surrounding communities who have experienced similar symptoms
Construction of Na Pua Makani wind-farm in Kahuku hasn't started yet but opponents continue to protest near the project site. Health and safety for their community is top-priority, but for one local farmer it's personal. Tara Burlew's organic farm "Pono Produce" sits less than a football field away from the Kahuku Wind Farm. She said her family moved to the North Shore community about three years ago, but ever since she's noticed her health spinning out of control. "I've had a lot of headaches, fatigue, occasionally I feel like this weird vertigo dizziness that comes over," Burlew said. She said she also experiences eye strain when the sun shines through the spinning windmills.
Burlew has seen doctors and has tried glasses but the symptoms continue. Only recently, she said she learned her problems may be connect to the turbines next door. "We all have our health struggles, but when you learn that there could be something, a machine, nearby causing them, its alarming."
Burlew said she recently attended a neighborhood board meeting where the planned construction of eight, new, 568-feet tall turbines was discussed. She explained she heard many other Kahuku residents raise red flags about what the 12 existing wind turbines do to peoples and animals health and their reasons against adding more. She disclosed her husband -- who is on the neighborhood board -- also experiences symptoms. They're now considering moving to another Oahu neighborhood. KITV4 has heard of other residents of Kahuku and surrounding communities who have experienced similar symptoms
Joshua Kaina
Joshua Kaina
‘Shadow Flicker’ And Lost Sleep: Are Kahuku Wind Turbines Too Close To Homes?
"Joshua Kaina had a similar experience. When he was living in Kaneohe, he had no opinion about wind turbines and didn’t pay much attention when protesters started fighting them in Kahuku, he said.That changed when he moved to Kahuku and started experiencing ringing in his ears, nausea, dizziness, poor sleep quality and other symptoms. Like Fotu, Kaina said his sleep quality improves when the turbines are off. With eight new turbines under construction, Kaina said he’s worried about his symptoms worsening. “I live almost 2 miles away from the current turbines,” Kaina said. “The new ones will be about 1,900 feet away from me.”
"Joshua Kaina had a similar experience. When he was living in Kaneohe, he had no opinion about wind turbines and didn’t pay much attention when protesters started fighting them in Kahuku, he said.That changed when he moved to Kahuku and started experiencing ringing in his ears, nausea, dizziness, poor sleep quality and other symptoms. Like Fotu, Kaina said his sleep quality improves when the turbines are off. With eight new turbines under construction, Kaina said he’s worried about his symptoms worsening. “I live almost 2 miles away from the current turbines,” Kaina said. “The new ones will be about 1,900 feet away from me.”
Chai Yoshimura
Chai Yoshimura
“ I want to plant bananas, mangoes, sweet potato, tapioca, taro....My dream is to provide for my family, especially my daughter and her husband and four children. Organic food. Natural food. We were planning to live over here and have the children learn about farming. Now we have twelve turbines operating already over here. And last night when I was here and only a couple of turbines were working, I already could hear the sound. Twelve going and eight more coming in. I’ll be surrounded. I just think how disastrous it will be for me. So my dreams right now are on hold becuase of the possible health effects. AES will build the turbines, collect the subsidies, go home to their comfortable homes...I’m pretty sure they will not live by turbines...and leave us hanging, and we have to go through it against our choice.”
“The worst thing was, they said they had meetings with the farmers....They never had meetings with the farmers who live closest to the turbines, so when I found out about it, I said, “Hey, you guys never met with the farmers.” I got this text. Since you required this meeting, we are going to offer to meet with you. We are going to meet with FARMERS ONLY. I said, “Let me think about it. At this point already, if you meet with us...we need back up.” Then we’ll meet with SOME farmers in groups. “No, we cannot just have some farmers. It’s just not right to just meet with some farmers. Especially, I worry about those that don’t speak the language.” The final text was, It’s ok. We changed our mind. We are going to meet with farmers individually. And that’s the end right now. No meeting. They are going to meet with farmers individually. I am thinking they just want to break us up and clamp us down totally. Most of the farmers here are so scared...They cannot speak up. Their voice cannot be heard, and they will not speak up because of the oppression already. We are really at a loss for what to do. We know the ill effects, it will be there. But there is nobody there helping us. It just feels so hopeless.”
“AES has the right of ingress and egress using our farmers’ road. Before time, we could just go in the road, and we wave “Hi,” and say, “These are my friends,” and we go right in. The next step was, they wanted the ID’s of my friends. OK. Then I have them give ID’s. Now, they are limiting me to the lots I can go to. You can only go to lot 7. I am the representative for the farmers, and now they are limiting my activity. I cannot go to the farmers to check them out? Then after that, when I tried to bring KHON, they let me in, but the guards stopped the KHON car. Right now, I don’t feel safe coming in by myself. To me, they are taking away my rights to use this road, because all farmers have rights to this road. I feel that AES is so afraid that the proximity of the turbines to peoples dwellings is so close that they don’t want to expose to the world that “Hey, you are doing something that is not socially responsible”- Chai Yoshimura
“The worst thing was, they said they had meetings with the farmers....They never had meetings with the farmers who live closest to the turbines, so when I found out about it, I said, “Hey, you guys never met with the farmers.” I got this text. Since you required this meeting, we are going to offer to meet with you. We are going to meet with FARMERS ONLY. I said, “Let me think about it. At this point already, if you meet with us...we need back up.” Then we’ll meet with SOME farmers in groups. “No, we cannot just have some farmers. It’s just not right to just meet with some farmers. Especially, I worry about those that don’t speak the language.” The final text was, It’s ok. We changed our mind. We are going to meet with farmers individually. And that’s the end right now. No meeting. They are going to meet with farmers individually. I am thinking they just want to break us up and clamp us down totally. Most of the farmers here are so scared...They cannot speak up. Their voice cannot be heard, and they will not speak up because of the oppression already. We are really at a loss for what to do. We know the ill effects, it will be there. But there is nobody there helping us. It just feels so hopeless.”
“AES has the right of ingress and egress using our farmers’ road. Before time, we could just go in the road, and we wave “Hi,” and say, “These are my friends,” and we go right in. The next step was, they wanted the ID’s of my friends. OK. Then I have them give ID’s. Now, they are limiting me to the lots I can go to. You can only go to lot 7. I am the representative for the farmers, and now they are limiting my activity. I cannot go to the farmers to check them out? Then after that, when I tried to bring KHON, they let me in, but the guards stopped the KHON car. Right now, I don’t feel safe coming in by myself. To me, they are taking away my rights to use this road, because all farmers have rights to this road. I feel that AES is so afraid that the proximity of the turbines to peoples dwellings is so close that they don’t want to expose to the world that “Hey, you are doing something that is not socially responsible”- Chai Yoshimura
Ku Kia`i Kahuku - "We Are Kahuku" Campaign Testimonies
Ku Kia`i Kahuku - "We Are Kahuku" Campaign Testimonies
Watch the "We Are Kahuku" campaign video created for the group Ku Kia`i Kahuku.