Maui’s toxic debris could fill 5 football fields 5 stories deep. Where will it end up?

LAHAINA, Hawaii — Hinano Rodrigues remembers being 4 or 5 years old and carrying a bucket across the highway to the ocean in the Maui community where he still lives.

At sunrise he accompanied his grandmother to a reef at low tide, where she picked black snails, spiny lobsters, and spiny sea urchins from the rocky outcrops. In Hawaiian, she instructed him to break off a branch of kiawe, a type of mesquite, to extract an octopus hiding in a hole.

Rodrigues, 71, learned the value of ahupuaa, a Hawaiian system of dividing the land from the mountains to the ocean, with residents of each area living off the land and water within it.

But now the area where he lives and where his ancestors have always lived – the Olowalu ahupuaa – is also home to a temporary landfill used to dispose of debris from the deadly forest fire which decimated the historic nearby town of Lahaina last summer, destroying thousands of buildings and killing 102 people. It’s enough debris to cover five five-story football fields, including soil contaminated with lead and arsenic.

A controversy over whether the site is truly temporary — and where the debris might ultimately end up — has sparked a fierce legal battle, with tens of millions of dollars at stake, not to mention a priceless ecosystem rich in coral, manta rays and other marine life just off the coast.

“Why would you put opala in a clean place like this?” Rodrigues asked, using a Hawaiian word for trash.

Dealing with debris after major forest fires is always a logistical challenge. After the Campfire 2018 With 85 people killed and most of the town of Paradise, California, burned down, more than 300,000 trucks were needed to haul the debris to three different landfills, said Cole Glenwright, deputy incident commander for the debris-clearing operation. The entire process took about a year.

It takes much longer on Maui, given the environmental concerns, how long it has taken to clear destroyed lotsconcerns about Native Hawaiian cultural sites and disputes over ownership of a potential permanent site for the debris.

The temporary landfill in Olowalu is a former quarry on state land and is close to Lahaina, making it a convenient choice to quickly store the debris being cleared so the city could rebuild. Officials believe the dry climate will reduce the risk of spreading contamination, and they say they have taken many precautions, including using thick lining and stormwater controls to contain runoff.

According to a U.S. government report, officials analyzed samples of soil, groundwater and surface water and found no evidence of released contamination. quarterly report released in July.

But the site is right above a coral reef and some residents fear an ecological disaster if pollution enters the water.

The site’s exploitation also threatens sacred Hawaiian shrines and altars and desecrates ancient Hawaiian burial sites, according to a lawsuit filed by two people who don’t want the rubble at Olowalu. One of the plaintiffs is Manoa Ka’io Martin, whose ancestors live nearby. The other is farmer Eddy Garcia, who worries about contamination of the food he grows, including taro, bananas, pineapples and star fruit.

As demands mount to remove debris from Olowalu, Maui County is attempting to seize a former private quarry near the island’s Central Maui Landfill to use as a permanent landfill.

That has led to a new legal battle, as the company that owns the land, Komar Maui Properties, refuses to give it up.

Komar bought the land in 2015 with plans to build a private landfill, but the company says permitting issues have stalled development. The company is challenging the county’s attempt to seize the property through eminent domain — a process that allows governments to take private land for public use, with fair compensation to the owner. A federal judge has blocked the county from immediately taking possession while the lawsuit plays out.

Andy Naden, general counsel and executive vice president of Komar Investments, the parent company of Komar Maui Properties, said the county only moved to seize the land after it learned that the Federal Emergency Management Agency would pay “landfill fees” associated with disposing of the Lahaina debris — fees typically paid by the weight to landfill owners. Maui County charges a tip allowance of nearly $110 per ton for municipal solid waste.

“FEMA is going to dump 400,000 tons into this hole,” Naden said. “That’s $44 million that the federal government is going to give to whoever has the hole.”

Shayne Agawa, director of Maui’s Department of Environmental Management, disputed that, saying his department has long been interested in acquiring the land as part of plans to expand the adjacent public landfill.

Agawa, who lives in Olowalu, said the county doesn’t want the debris to remain at the temporary site. But no backup plan has been devised in case the court prevents the county from seizing Komar’s land. Officials are looking at other nearby properties, he said.

To address cultural concerns, Maui officials consulted with county archaeologist Janet Six, and FEMA had one of its historical consultants assess the site. Six told The Associated Press that she could not rule out the presence of ancient cultural sites or burial grounds, but noted that the area had previously been disturbed by mining. FEMA concluded that no historic properties would be affected.

The lawsuit filed by Garcia and Martin alleged that the construction and operation of the temporary landfill actually damaged or desecrated the sites by exposing them to toxic materials, which violated Martin’s spiritual practices.

Garcia said he feels uneasy when rumbling trucks carry debris along the road next to his farm. He fears that a heavy rainstorm will cause toxins from the debris to contaminate the food he grows.

The pair dropped their lawsuit after the county announced plans for the permanent site in central Maui, but their attorney is considering their next legal steps while the debris sits in Olowalu.

“I feel like they want to make it permanent and just say, ‘Sorry, we can’t move it to the other location,’” Garcia said.

Complicating the issue further is that the ashes or bones of fire victims may be mixed in with the debris. Raenelle Stewart’s 97-year-old grandmother died in the fire. Stewart often wonders whether the ashes the family received contained all of her remains. The remains from the fire should be stored nearby, she said.

“I think they should designate a place for it in Lahaina,” she said. “I don’t think it’s so toxic that the earth can’t handle it.”

Randy Awo, a retired administrator for the state Department of Land and Natural Resources, is a Native Hawaiian resident of Maui. He would prefer to have the debris shipped out of state — an option officials rejected as too expensive.

Awo called concerns about remains “a sacred subject” and said he did not want to be insensitive to families who have lost loved ones. But, he added, the community also needs to protect Maui’s limited land.

“When our environment is exposed to toxins that threaten life itself,” Awo said, “we have to start making decisions that take both aspects into consideration.”