Aloha and Welcome
Purpose
This site is intended as a resource for those interested in removing noise pollution from the country environment of the Big Island. If your life has been negatively impacted by noise you will find information, movies, links and downloads that will be helpful in attacking the problem.
As cited from the Noise Pollution Clearinghouse:
The air into which second-hand noise is emitted and on which it travels is a "commons," a public good. It belongs to no one person or group, but to everyone. Polluting the commons is not a right. Our effort to reduce noise pollution is similar to other efforts to reduce pollution and reassert our collective stewardship over the commons. Whether the issue is second-hand smoke, elevated mercury levels, or ground level ozone, the strategy is to protect the environment and our health and well-being by creating an ethic of the commons. People, businesses, and organizations, therefore, do not have unlimited rights to broadcast noise as they please, as if the effects of noise were limited only to their private property. On the contrary, they have an obligation to use the commons in ways that are compatible with or do not detract from other uses.
Off Highway Vehicles (OHVs) ATVs and dirt bikes)
People have begun to operate ATVs (also known as Quads or Four Wheelers) along with dirt motorcycles in rural and agrcultural areas to the extent that the very lifestyle of residents in these areas are ruined. More citizens need to be involved to:
1. Pressure the county to act on complaints and to cite property owners who permit the noise activity
2. Establish State of Hawaii sound level standards, similar to those in force in California, for OHVs, and provide for local law enforcement of these standards.
3. Facilitate the creation of State or County Vehicular Recreation Areas to provide the opportunity for Off Highway riding for ATVs and dirt bikes.
Boom Cars/Boom Houses
High powered stereo equipment which amplifies the bass notes to the extent they can carry hundreds of feet are increasingly contaminating the soundscape of may areas. There is no escape, whether the unwilling recipient is in their car, outdoors or even in their own home. These low frequency sounds are felt as much as heard and are potentially harmful to humans and animals.
**********Click here for slide presentation on ATV problem************