A temporary disposal site on Maui that will hold fire debris from Lahaina will not become permanent, Maui County Mayor Richard Bissen said Thursday.
All materials from the wildfire cleanup will be removed from Olowalu once a permanent location is identified and built, Bissen said at a meeting of the Maui County Council’s Disaster, Resilience, International Affairs and Planning Committee.
He also pointed out the challenges of debris removal, which factor into picking a permanent storage site.
"We will continue to review other potential sites for long-term storage and containment. However, with survivors' best interests in mind, halting the progress of the project for the temporary site is not an option," Bissen said.
Most of the steel and concrete left behind by the fire will be recycled. Much of the debris heading for the Olowalu site will be ash and small particles, which state Department of Health tests have confirmed is laden with arsenic, lead and other toxins.
The council is considering Bill 120, which will provide a right-of-entry permit for the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and various contractors to proceed with the temporary site.
Some residents object to using the Olowalu site, and a protest was staged last week.
Environmentalists have raised concerns because it's just 400 yards from the coast, where a reef hosts the largest known manta ray population in the U.S. and serves as a primary source of coral larvae for waters off Lānaʻi, Molokaʻi and West Maui.
Shayne Agawa, the director of Maui County’s Department of Environmental Management, previously described an impermeable liner system for the debris site, as well as sensors to monitor for any leaking.
Bissen said the temporary site is needed so the debris can be removed from Lahaina and residents can return to their properties and rebuild.
“Right now, we have over 12,000 people whose lives have been forever changed by these Lahaina wildfires and close to 7,000 who have been living in hotels for nearly six months,” Bissen said.
Bissen said there is an estimated 400,000 cubic yards of debris that needs to be removed, equivalent to five football fields stacked five stories high. Roughly 133 semi-truckloads daily over a year would be required to remove all the materials from the burn zone.
“I have personally seen the devastation, the land. I've seen it in their eyes, I've seen the pain in their tears. Every day as the challenges press on, the people of Lahaina — our own people — are leaving this island,” Bissen continued.
He called for compassion and unity in the effort to return residents to Lahaina.
A vote and final reading for Bill 120 is scheduled for Jan. 12.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
