Senators, I come before you today to speak on behalf of my daughter Sharkey Schaefers, who drowned in 2004 while attempting to rescue a friend who had fallen into a poorly built and improperly maintained rainwater pond.

Sharkey would have turned 9 last month if the developers and builders in our Pearl City neighborhood had not favored cost savings over the safety of a human life or consideration for the environment. Sadly, Sharkey’s story is not an isolated one. Families all across the country mourn loved ones whose lives were tragically shortened in rainwater ponds -- structures that are propagating at such alarming speeds that they are now estimated to number in the tens of thousands.

David Kern, Gul Ahmed, Donald Roberson, Nate Addison, Aaron Steel, Adam Huffaken, Ryshad Drake, Michael Shedd, Biruthan Nadarajah, Labian White, Aubrey Nicole Murphy and Cory Erving, who was basketball hero Dr. J’s youngest son.

These names represent a small percentage of those across the country, both children and adults, whose lives along with my daughter’s have ended in these basins. Some of you may have read about these deaths and seen pictures of grieving loved ones in the media, but it’s easy to do nothing when these deaths are not in your backyard.

I’m here to remind you that one of these tragedies happened in our community. It happened on federal land, but it’s a tragedy with undeniable ties to Hawaii. Sharkey was a true keiki o ka aina, who had spent half of her young life in Hawaii, and her father and I contribute to the state’s income tax and property tax coffers. And, I shouldn’t have to remind you that this is a small island community with a limited number of contractors who go back and forth between state and federal jobs.

My daughter’s death could have been prevented. Those responsible for the construction of the pond were well aware of the hazardous conditions that this particular rainwater basin presented. Developers knew that the drain pipe that they put into the basin was 89 percent clogged, but choose not to fix it because they said that “the cost to fix it outweighed the liabilities.” Developers also chose to reduce costs by eliminating fencing from their design even though they knew that this pond would be located in a neighborhood where young children lived.

I am not anti-development. I believe that many developers when given the choice will do the right thing, but some will not. The state cannot allow developers to balance their books by taking safety out of the equation, because when they do someone, like my daughter, is going to pay the ultimate price.

It’s time to clean up our back yard. Unregulated and poorly maintained rainwater detention and retention ponds pose a serious health and safety risk, particularly to Hawaii’s children. Rainwater ponds are designed for water drainage management, not recreation. These ponds are often aesthetically pleasing to the eye, so steps must be taken to ensure that people, especially young children, and animals are not attracted to these bodies of water. In addition, rainwater ponds are often deceptive by design, which makes them inherently dangerous. Retention ponds, often called wet ponds because they are designed to permanently hold water, can be deceptively deep.

Many, like the one my daughter died in, have a steep drop at the water’s edge. Detention ponds, which are meant to hold storm water for short periods of time before piping the water into surrounding wetlands or natural water beds, may pose an even greater risk because people may not be aware that they even exist until it is too late. Requiring safety measures such as signage and fencing, establishing buffer zones to separate these ponds from places where children are likely to play and setting maintenance standards would go a long way toward making these ponds safer for our community.

While I believe that human costs provide the most compelling support for the need to legislate Hawaii's rainwater drainage systems, there are also solid environmental reasons. Drainage ponds are often filled with toxic chemical runoff from surrounding lawns and buildings. They must be monitored so that environmentally toxic sludge and sediment do not build up inside them. If they are not maintained, these ponds may also become breeding grounds for disease carrying mosquitoes and other pests.

They may also have potentially adverse affects on water quality, groundwater, cold water, fisheries, or wetlands. While in some cases rainwater ponds are necessary for flood control, they are not considered the most proactive drainage solution for our environment. The most progressive green developers across the country now prefer to use porous asphalt or underground rainwater systems, which are better for the environment and pose less of a safety risk for citizens.

Now that I have shared my family’s tragedy and outlined my concern for Hawaii’s people and environment, you must decide what you will do with this information. Just like my daughter, who stood on the banks of a flooded pond and watched her friend struggling, you have a life or death decision to make. Let me remind you that even though the risks were great, my daughter Sharkey didn’t hesitate to jump in and save a life.

My daughter was the most amazing person. She was funny, brave and very, very sweet. She had the biggest heart in the world and she always did what she felt was the right thing to do. She made the ultimate sacrifice for a friend. I’m deeply saddened that it took the death of my child to shed light on this dangerous situation. Passing SB 2844 reduces the risk that any other child in the state of Hawaii would ever have to do that again.

Critics of this bill have objected to potential costs, without producing figures. My answer to that is shame on them. Developers are going to pass the cost onto citizens or their clients who should be willing to pay a little more for safety. We have to pay for auto safety inspections, seatbelts in cars, car seats for children, bicycle helmets and protective pads. Citizens pay when the state puts in cross walks and safety lights and many of us voluntarily pay for car alarms and house alarms. So I’ll pose this question to cost critics, “If it were your child’s life at stake, how much would you be willing to pay to keep that child safe?”

There’s also been some talk about golf courses. I spent two years polling engineers, environmentalists, contractors, government agencies, lawmakers, state and city planners and safety organizations from all over the United States to come up with the best common sense approach to rainwater pond risk mitigation. None of us thought to consider golf courses when drafting this legislation. I think we were short-sighted because while drowning deaths have occurred on golf courses, ordinarily these commercial ponds are better maintained and do not pose the same risk factors as other rainwater systems. Let’s save a golfer the embarrassment of having an alarm ring every time he or she hits the ball into the water and amend the bill to exempt golf courses from rainwater system legislation.

That being said, I urge you to take this opportunity to pass this groundbreaking legislation which shows the United States that Hawaii cares about our children and our environment. Hawaii has one of the highest drowning rates in the county and must take immediate action to improve safety for citizens as well as improve the state’s image as a safe as well as pleasurable visitor destination and place to live. Passing a law that regulates these systems and monitors them for safety is necessary to ensure the safety of Hawaii’s citizens and to protect the environment. Since Pearl City was Sharkey's home, and Hawaii’s economy depends upon a safe and pristine environment, I think that it is fitting that this state should set the standard for future federal legislation.

Right now, Senators, you are standing on the banks of the shore looking at a problem brewing in the water. What are you going to do?

HawaiiReporter.com reports the real news, and prints all editorials submitted, even if they do not represent the viewpoint of the editors, as long as they are written clearly. Send editorials to mailto:Malia@HawaiiReporter.com

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