By Kathryn Bender, Star-Bulletin
Concrete structure marks
a rock quarry in Mokuleia.
Landis Lum, who signs his e-mail "M.D.", is curious about a "blue-green pond with multiple rectangular wooden things" deep in the jungles on the Ewa end of Dillingham Field in Mokuleia. He suggested hiking up a cliffside or hanging off a glider to see the site more clearly. Pshaw. The Star-Bulletin WatDat Response Team dusted off its Indiana Jones gear and plunged deep into the jungle to determine what's dat. Army mines
its ‘pond’ business
The "pond" is actually a large, water-filled quarry mined by the Army for crushed rock to fill in rice fields for an airfield. The quarry is not visible from the highway, and it's on privately managed land leased from the government. In other words, no trespassing!
A large reinforced concrete structure on the hillside was built by Army engineers as a rock crushing station. When Hawaiian Bitumuls, who had leased the site from the government, left it more than a decade ago, they tried to demolish the station, but the thing was too tough. The remains are visible from the highway.
A TV news story a couple of years ago claimed that toxic chemicals were being dumped in the quarry water, and showed a pile of mysterious blue barrels on property nearby. The barrels are actually empty Coca-Coca containers, and were being used as fishing floats.
The rectangular things in the water are actually made of PVC pipe and netting, part of a fish farm in the quarry. The farm is not operating; a recent flood raised the level of the quarry six feet in two hours, and silted it so badly the fish choked. The farm is being repaired.
Burl Burlingame, Star-Bulletin
