It’s been more than two weeks since the transfer of Lahaina fire debris began.
About 400,000 tons of non-hazardous debris are being trucked from the temporary site in Olowalu to the Central Maui Landfill. The project is scheduled to continue over the next five months.
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Lt. Col. Adrian Biggerstaff told residents at last week's Lahaina community meeting that the operation has gone smoothly so far, and good progress has been made.
“We're just around 10% complete, and it's largely thanks to your support, your patience and all the people up here have been helping us plan this for the past six months," he said. "Some of you are probably breaking out your phones, your calculators, or pulling the fingers out and trying to do some addition. You're like, 'OK, they have 18 weeks left and they're done.' It's not quite that clean."
"We've had a really good run with good weather, good support, good long days. Sun is going to be setting, shorter periods of the day, not as much time on the roads, so it is not going to be this smooth the entire way. So please don't think this is a linear path to the end. We will have less productive weeks, but your continued support is very much appreciated.”
Officials have said operations are limited to daylight hours to ensure the safety of all involved.
Fifty trucks are working seven days a week to transport the fire debris on the 19-mile journey to the final disposal site.
Workers ask for continued patience as delays along the route are to be expected.
