HONOLULU (AP) — Billionaire Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg has purchased more land in Hawaii.
According to property records, Zuckerberg’s Kaloko LLC bought the 110-acre (44.5-hectare) site on Kauai last month for $17 million from a company owned by the Pflueger family, the Honolulu Star-Advertiser reported.
The purchase includes most of a reservoir that broke in 2006 and killed seven people. James Pflueger was held responsible for the tragedy for his management of the dam, a section of which burst following 40 days of near constant rain.
Pflueger was sentenced by a state judge to seven months in jail in 2014 and was released in 2015. He died in 2017 at the age of 91.
Zucerkberg and wife Priscilla Chang are committed to doing their part of fulfilling legal requirements and promoting safety of the reservoir, said Ben LaBolt, a spokesman for the couple.
Political Cartoons
The reservoir remains unrepaired and on the state’s list of high-risk dams.
The couple plan to extend farming, ranching, conservation and wildlife protection work on the land, LaBolt said. They already had 1,300 acres (526 hectares) on the island.
Copyright 2021 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
