Human waste woes lead
to Waipio camping banA lack of toilets in the Big Isle
valley creates some health concerns
HILO >> When you put 200 people on a remote beach with no toilets, you have a sanitation problem. That's what happened Memorial Day in the Big Island's Waipio Valley, the state Department of Health says.
Responding to a single complaint, officials from the Health Department documented numerous locations with exposed human waste soon after Memorial Day, said Health Department spokeswoman Janice Okubo. The steep-walled valley lies about 50 miles northwest of Hilo.
Beachfront landowner Kamehameha Schools was given notice that it must correct the problem, Okubo said. In response, Kamehameha banned overnight camping at the beach until further notice.
Kamehameha officials were not available for comment, but Hawaii County Councilman Fred Holschuh said he made a site inspection with officials on July 24.
Toilets used to be available at the beach, Holschuh said. With no trash collection, people just filled the toilets with trash until finally someone set them on fire.
The problem is the "horrendous hill" people have to descend into the sheer-walled valley, Holschuh said.
The county-owned, one-lane road into the valley descends the 840-foot-high valley wall in just 4,000 feet. The result is road grades as steep as 25 percent. Only four-wheel-drive vehicles are supposed to use the road.
So even if Kamehameha put portable toilets in the valley, getting a vehicle in and out to service them would be difficult.
Another thought is to put a gate at the top of the road, but the road is public and about 60 people live in the valley.
Holschuh said he knows surfers voluntarily clean up a lot of trash and haul it out of the valley. "Human waste is different story," he said.
A meeting of various officials with the community group Waipio Circle is set for 9:30 a.m. Sept. 6 at the ILWU hall in Honokaa to deal with the problem.
State Health Department
