Ala Wai Canal
dredging on holdTwo permits must be granted
before work can be completed
Dredging of the Ala Wai Canal, which has proceeded smoothly for nine months, will be on hold next week pending permits for its final phase.
At issue is the Kapahulu end of the canal, where the muck on the bottom has low levels of toxic chemicals from pesticides and leaded gasoline that disqualify it for ocean dumping.
Since work began in August, 184,000 cubic yards of material have been dredged from the canal -- about 14,000 cubic yards more than was expected. All of that has been dumped 3.8 miles offshore at an Environmental Protection Agency-approved site, as planned.
But the estimated 1,815 cubic yards of polluted material in the Kapahulu end of the canal (less than 1 percent of the total project) must be disposed of differently, requiring two permits from the state Department of Health that have not yet been granted.
A Clean Water Branch permit is near completion, officials said, but a Solid and Hazardous Waste Branch permit regarding burial of the material -- after it is specially processed -- at Honolulu Airport's reef runway will require a public hearing.
The hearing may be held sometime in June, said Steve Chang, Solid and Hazardous Waste Branch chief.
The Department of Land & Natural Resources, which is supervising the $7.4 million project, has canceled an informational meeting about the Kapahulu work that it had set for Monday, said Deborah Ward, department spokeswoman.
The department will make a presentation at the permit public hearing instead.
The stabilizing and burial of the dredge material has been questioned by some who fear that method might allow the pollutants to escape in the future.
"I want to support Kalihi folks, to make sure it doesn't harm any fishing sites or cause any other problems," said state Sen. Les Ihara (D, Kaimuki-Kapahulu-Ala Wai).
Ihara noted that Waikiki residents' fears that the dredging would be smelly and loud have proved to be groundless. He said he hopes that at the public hearing "the technical and science people can explain to the satisfaction of the residents in the Kalihi area" how the work will be done.
"We were planning on starting next week" on the Kapahulu end of the project, said Neil Williams, project manager for American Marine. "We thought we were going to be through (with the entire project) about the first week in June," he said.
As it is, American Marine workers, who have been working long days and six-day weeks, will take some time off, Williams said.
However, if the downtime extends too long, the delay will have "a major financial impact," and the company will request additional payment from the Department of Land & Natural Resources, Williams said.
Built in 1925, the canal was last dredged was in 1978.