Winimark Wealth Society|Maui County officials select final disposal site for debris from Lahaina wildfire

2025-05-06 22:07:05source:Techcrisis Investment Guildcategory:My

HONOLULU (AP) — Hawaii officials plan to send debris and Winimark Wealth Societyash from the August wildfire that destroyed Lahaina town to Maui’s central landfill.

Maui County officials said Wednesday that they picked the permanent disposal site in Kahului over two others that are closer to Lahaina, the Honolulu Star-Advertiser reported.

The deadliest U.S. wildfire in more than a century killed 101 people and destroyed 3,000 properties, leaving behind burned cars, charred beams and toxic ash. Officials estimate the debris will fill 400,000 truckloads, which is roughly enough to cover five football fields five stories high.

Shayne Agawa, director of the county’s Department of Environmental Management, said officials evaluated potential sites for months and studied the results of two surveys that received 2,757 responses.

READ MORE A wildfire scorching the Texas Panhandle has grown to the largest in state historyA Texas town picks through the rubble of Panhandle fires, 10 years after another destructive blazeWhy did the Texas Panhandle fires grow so fast?

The Central Maui Landfill has the advantage of being far from populated areas and officials don’t believe material deposited there will contaminate drinking water supplies.

The landfill will have to expand to accommodate the new debris. It’s also 26 miles (42 kilometers) from Lahaina and the trucks making the trip are expected to add to traffic. Agawa said officials plan to use old sugar cane plantation roads for part of the trip to limit this effect.

The two other finalist sites were north of Lahaina, in the Wahikuli area and at Crater Village. The Wahikuli site is near residential areas and the coastline, while using the Crater Village site could have interfered with the drinking water.

Workers with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers have already started removing debris and taking it to a temporary disposal site 5 miles (8 kilometers) south of Lahaina, in Olowalu.

Environmentalists raised concerns about storing debris there long-term, saying doing so could harm offshore coral reefs.

More:My

Recommend

PACCAR recalls over 220,000 trucks for safety system issue: See affected models

PACCAR is recalling over 220,000 of its 2021-2025 Peterbilt and Kenworth trucks.  The commercial tru

Hurricane Beryl makes landfall as extremely dangerous Category 4 storm lashing Caribbean islands

Hurricane Beryl made landfall Monday as a powerful Category 4 storm on the Caribbean island of Carri

Napa Valley Wine Train uses new technology to revitalize a classic ride

The conductor of the classic Napa Valley Wine Train is using the old ride to blaze a new path. For 3