HONOLULU (AP) — The billionaire who purchased most of the Hawaiian island of Lanai will be inheriting a water dispute that has already gone before the state Supreme Court without a final resolution. HONOLULU (AP) — The billionaire who purchased
HONOLULU (AP) — The billionaire who purchased most of the Hawaiian island of Lanai will be inheriting a water dispute that has already gone before the state Supreme Court without a final resolution.
The Hawaii Intermediate Court of Appeals returned the case back to a circuit judge last month. A group called Lanaians for Sensible Growth is challenging developer Castle & Cooke’s irrigation of the Manele Bay golf course with water from the island’s high-level aquifer.
The legal dispute has spanned more than two decades.
In June, Oracle Corp. CEO Larry Ellison purchased 98 percent of the island’s 141 square miles.
Castle & Cooke lawyers say the golf course is crucial to providing jobs.
But the group says the case is about protecting underground water sources.
