All agreed the decision was a difficult one with one member calling the choice a “lose-lose situation.” Another criticized the administration, saying the council was left out of the site selection process, and now felt pressure to approve or lose funding.
Maui County Mayor Richard Bissen “promised” Thursday that Olowalu will not be the final site for the estimated 400,000 cubic yards of fire debris to be removed from the Lahaina burn zone.
The petition from a family on Olowalu Village Road says even temporary storage of these substances from the Aug. 8 wildfires “poses great risk of causing irreversible damage to soil, water, air, the ocean and people.”
In preparation for Phase 2, in which the US Army Corps of Engineers will support the Maui County Consolidated Debris Removal Program, USACE will conduct night work for 18 nights (excluding Christmas) at the temporary debris containment site being constructed in Olowalu.
The County of Maui has submitted a request to the state Board of Land and Natural Resources to utilize land in Olwalu near the closed landfill as a final disposition site for disposal of fire debris from the Aug. 8 wildfires.