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From the Olowalu Community:

Date: December 21, 2023

To: Mayor Bissen and the Maui County Council

We, as a community, would like to express to you our unwavering opposition to the toxic waste disposal site in Olowalu.

Even the temporary storage of these toxic substances poses great risks of causing irreversible damage to our precious soil, water, air, ocean, and our people.

Culturally speaking, Olowalu, is one of the few places you can still find native Hawaiians, lineal descendants of families that have been here for hundreds of years. It is known historically as a pu`uhonua, a place of refuge. Olowalu is wahi pana, a special place to be treated with great respect, honor and reverence.

 Human and environmental health are at great risk with a landfill in the location where it is proposed. DOH preliminary toxicology reports show that the ash debris contains elevated levels of the following toxins: arsenic, lead, antimony, cobalt, and copper.

·    Long term exposure to arsenic can cause multiple serious complications, including DEATH if not treated immediately (source: Cleveland Clinic).

·    Lead poisoning causes severe developmental and mental delays in children, and can be FATAL. (source: Mayo clinic).

·    Antimony causes respiratory irritation, spots on the skin and GI system, possibly CARCINOGENIC to humans. (Source: ncbi.nlm.nih.gov).

·    Cobalt poisoning causes GI distress, heart failure, cardiomyopathy, tachycardia, shortness of breath. (Source: ncbi.nlm.nih.gov)

·       Copper toxicity from contaminated water causes: gastrointestinal side effects such as abdominal pain, hematemesis, melena, jaundice, anorexia, severe thirst, diarrhea, and vomiting associated with erosive gastropathy.  Altered mentation, headache, COMA, and tachycardia may also accompany GI side effects. “In most severe forms, copper toxicity leads to cardiac and renal failure, hepatic necrosis, encephalopathy, and ultimately DEATH.” (Source: ncbi.nlm.nih.gov)

If any of these toxins got into the environment they could pollute our air, water, and ocean. A flood, a fire, a storm, or an accidental spill could cause runoff or leaching in the area. There are two dry streams, Lihau Stream and Awalua Stream, that run on either side of the proposed landfill site, underground streams that reach the ocean. This is the place where our families swim, surf, paddle and fish. In 2017, Olowalu was named as a Mission Blue Hope Spot. The Olowalu reef is vital to the health of our ocean; it is widely known that Olowalu reef serves as the primary source of coral larvae for the reefs of Lana’i, Moloka’i, and West Maui.

Even with strong environmental protections, we believe the risk to our community is too great. Any risk of harm to our children, this sacred place, or the coral reef is too much risk.

Please reconsider the Olowalu location and send these toxins off our island to the United States, where there are currently landfills that can accept this waste.

We are also in favor of a separate memorial for the victims of the Lahaina fire; this can be created with dignity in a way that Lahaina wishes and separate from the toxic waste. 

Olowalu is our home, we come from this place. We stand against putting a landfill filled with toxic waste in Olowalu. There is too much risk to our community, the ` āina and kai.

Mahalo for hearing what our Olowalu Community is expressing!

 

*send an email or letter to oppose this:

mayors.office@mauicounty.gov

county.clerk@mauicounty.us

 

 

Mahalo,

Olowalu Community

(olowaluhui@gmail.com)