Lahaina Harbor's fuel dock reopened this week for the first time since last August's intense fire melted metal and fiberglass, sending hazardous materials into the ocean.
The fuel dock vendor, Pacific West Fuels, started rebuilding a month or two after the fires. West Maui companies that were able to stay in business have been refueling at Ma’alaea Harbor. For Kā’anapali-based vessels, that journey is four hours roundtrip.
"This allows people to be able to come in and have a shorter distance to fuel up so that they can head out to Molokaʻi, out to Lānaʻi," said Meghan Statts, administrator of the state Department of Land and Natural Resources Division of Boating and Ocean Recreation.
But what's the plan to rebuild the entire harbor? The price tag is estimated at $30 million.
"We do have some funds for some of the piers that we are looking to replace. But in some situations, you know, for the dredging, for example, we are going to need to get funds from the Legislature to do that," Statts said.
Hopes that federal funds could speed up the needed dredging were dashed when levels of hazardous material in harbor waters did not meet the FEMA threshold for funds.
Statts said DOBOR has also been working with the state's insurance company to assess the cost of all the damages, plus the lost revenue.
Historic Lahaina town grew around its busy harbor, and there have long been calls for expansion. Boaters say that before the fire, the waitlist for a slip was more than a decade long… in an area where a thousand jobs were tied to charter fishing businesses or snorkeling tours.
Statts said it's a tremendous task to rebuild the destroyed harbor. DOBOR hopes to begin rebuilding the harbor office in September. It had opened just months before the fires. That's among the many projects on the path to reopening the harbor.
"When we can get the dredging done and start building some of the piers, then we'll start moving people back in gradually, as long as we've got, you know, the access," Statts said.
"We're just trying to balance building what should be done, trying to do it in the right way, try to make any possible changes that we can, address for sea level rise. And, you know, perhaps, is putting in floating docks better than putting in a fixed pier? What's going to work best for the facility itself and for the users of the facility? So that's really what we're concentrating on at this time," shr added.
This interview aired on The Conversation on Aug. 6, 2024. The Conversation airs weekdays at 11 a.m. on HPR-1. Sophia McCullough adapted this story for the web.
