Environmental Groups Sue Maui Resort Over Endangered Seabird Injuries
Despite a settlement reached two years ago, Hawaiian petrels continue to be harmed by bright lights at Grand Wailea in violation of federal law, plaintiffs allege.
A new lawsuit is seeking to protect endangered seabirds on Maui from bright lights at the Grand Wailea resort.
Earthjustice filed the in federal district court on Thursday on behalf of Conservation Council for Hawaii and the Center for Biological Diversity. The goal is to force the hotel to dim or otherwise change artificial lighting so that endangered Hawaiian petrels don鈥檛 get attracted to it and end up becoming wounded or exhausted, falling to the ground and getting hurt or killed.
Federal regulators listed the Hawaiian petrel as endangered in 1967. The nocturnal seabird, also known as 鈥榰a鈥榰, has a wingspan of about 3 feet and likes to burrow in high-elevation rocky outcroppings. Adults can live to about 30 years old.
Threats to its nesting habitat have reduced the places where Hawaiian petrels live and give birth in Hawaii. These include Maui’s Haleakala crater, the West Maui mountains, Mauna Kea and Mauna Loa on the Big Island and Waimea Canyon on Kauai, according to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.聽
The dispute over how to stop petrels from dying at the Grand Wailea appeared to have quieted in 2022 after the resort and plaintiffs agreed to a settlement in October of that year. But Jonee Peters, executive director of , said in a news release that petrels have continued to die at the resort since then.
鈥淚t is totally unacceptable for the Grand Wailea to prioritize its corporate profits over the wellbeing of our native seabirds,鈥 Peters said.
A Grand Wailea spokesman said the hotel, a Waldorf Astoria resort, was disappointed by the lawsuit.
鈥淕rand Wailea is wholeheartedly committed to protecting and nurturing Maui鈥檚 rich biodiversity, which is why we have worked tirelessly alongside local experts to implement best-in-class measures to ensure the safety of these seabirds. We have been and will continue to act in full accordance with the terms set forth in our earlier agreement,” Dylan Beesley, senior vice president with Bennett Group Strategic Communications, which handles public relations for Grand Wailea, said in a statement. 聽
Three grounded fledglings have turned up at the resort since the settlement was signed, plaintiffs say, and it鈥檚 possible others may have died from dehydration, starvation, injuries and attacks by predators such as cats, mongoose and rats.
The deaths violate the Endangered Species Act which prohibits the hotel from harming petrels 鈥渦nless it first secures and then complies with a permit to ensure its activities will not push the species closer to extinction,鈥 Earthjustice attorney Leina鈥榓la Ley said in the news release.
She noted in an interview that the largest breeding colony of Hawaiian petrels is on Haleakala and that the Grand Wailea is directly downslope from one of the birds’ preferred flight paths.
Injuries and deaths of endangered Hawaiian seabirds are not isolated to the Grand Wailea.
Legal and regulatory battles have been waged on Kauai, Oahu, the Big Island and elsewhere on Maui over bright lights from facilities including parking lots, stadiums, airports and utility lines. Besides petrels, artificial light has contributed to sharp declines in Hawaii鈥檚 threatened population of and endangered .
In 2022, Maui County adopted an ordinance to reduce the amount of artificial light in a move to protect migrating seabirds and sea turtles who also get disoriented by the light, confusing it with moonlight used for navigation.
All outdoor lighting fixtures, except for neon, must limit short wavelength content to no more than 2% of blue light, according to the bill. Mercury vapor must not be used for new outdoor lighting fixtures.
The bill鈥檚 effective date was July 1, 2023, with a three-year phase-in period to give businesses and others time to comply. Earthjustice was among the organizations that testified in support of the ordinance.
Read the complaint here.
Civil Beat’s coverage of Maui County is supported in part by a grant from the Nuestro Futuro Foundation.
Civil Beat鈥檚 coverage of environmental issues on Maui is supported by grants from the Center for Disaster Philanthropy and the Hawaii Wildfires Recovery Fund, the Knight Foundation and the Doris Duke Foundation.
