Kokua Line June Watanabe

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City and state split oversight of stream

Question: Which state or city department is responsible for removing bulky items discarded into Nuuanu Stream waters? Currently, dumped bulk items have been observed -- more easily at low tide -- on the Diamond Head-side stream bank between Nimitz Highway and King Street and on the mountain-Ewa corner-side stream bank of the Hotel Street Bridge spanning the stream. They are mostly discarded shopping carts, metal folding chairs and other metal items. At the bridge corner location, there were about six to eight metal carts underwater on the stream bank. These won't be easy to retrieve. And God knows what has been dumped into the unseen deep waters.

Answer: Nuuanu Stream in the vicinity of Chinatown is under city jurisdiction, except for the stream makai of Nimitz Highway, which is under state jurisdiction.

The city Department of Facility Maintenance's Road Maintenance Division is responsible for removing the shopping carts that were dumped into the stream in the area you described, said Larry Leopardi, chief of road maintenance.

"We will send a crew to remove the carts," he told us last week.

In the future, call the city Clean Stream Hotline, 768-7890, to report such debris.

"Irresponsible actions such as the dumping of rubbish and debris ... into our streams is a big problem which occurs islandwide, not only in Chinatown," Leopardi said.

We asked if volunteers might be able to help in the cleanup, as has happened during community cleanups in other areas.

In this case, Leopardi said it was better to let city crews do it because of safety concerns and the high walls limiting access.

Free Phones

Hawaiian Telcom says it has begun distributing free corded phones to residential land-line customers on Molokai and will move to Lanai in July (see "Kokua Line," April 17).

Details on distribution, as well as coupons to redeem the phones, will be announced later this summer for customers on Oahu, Maui and the Big Island. Information also will be posted on www.hawaiiantel.com.

As part of its approval of Hawaiian Telcom selling its directory publishing business last year, the state Public Utilities Commission ordered that part of the profits go toward giving free corded phones to residential customers.

Auwe

To the driver of a black pickup truck who recklessly entered the H-1 freeway at the Lunalilo onramp the afternoon of May 27. You do not have the right of way, especially if you don't signal that you want to enter the freeway. Your obvious disregard for the safety of others was very apparent. If your indicator light is not working, fix it -- it's the law! Erika Engle said in her May 27 column, "Drivers who don't know or ignore rules-of-the-road basics cause crashes." Amen to that. -- Fed Up With Drivers Who Don't Signal