Sunrise Capital - Kauai County settlement agreement

Ken Taylor emailed me what purports to be the agreement between Sunrise Capital, Inc. and Kauai County settling the contested case before the state department of health relating to the county's application for a permit to expand the Kekaha landfill. Sunrise had sought the imposition of permit conditions claiming risks to its shrimp farm posed by the operation and expansion of the landfill. (I've put the document on a free hosting service, so it can be slow to open).

The agreement terminates the contested case and waives Sunrise's right to oppose or contest future expansions of the landfill. Sunrise also agrees to waive and release the county from claims asserting that the Kekaha landfill is the responsible source of the spread of shrimp diseases at Sunrise's shrimp operations - barring negligence or willful misconduct by the county, and providing that county operates the landfill in accordance with "all applicable regulations, protocols, and issued permits." Sunrise also agrees, "to the extent operationally possible," to work with the county in securing a twenty foot buffer area adjacent to the Coast Guard Kokole Lighthouse Road.

For its part, the county agrees to pay $250,000 to Sunrise in the form of reimbersements for completed work by Sunrise related to risk mitigation measures at the shrimp farm and hatchery to protect against diseases. Additionally, the county engineer is to submit to the county council a bill for an ordinance to ban commercial and non-residential raw shrimp from the landfill, and the county is to instruct landfill and transfer station employees to inspect for loads of raw shrimp, to urge disposers to boil raw shrimp before disposing of it, or order disposers to contain raw shrimp in double-bagged sealed containers (similar to the requirements for the disposal of asbestos, dead animals, and offal).