• Kapaia fire • Kamehameha Schools Kapaia fire Kaua‘i’s solid waste problem is in focus thanks to a fire at Kapaia, and a judge’s recent ruling. Over 500 tons of clay tiles and other construction and roofing rubbish is being
• Kapaia fire
• Kamehameha Schools
Kapaia fire
Kaua‘i’s solid waste problem is in focus thanks to a fire at Kapaia, and a judge’s recent ruling.
Over 500 tons of clay tiles and other construction and roofing rubbish is being hauled out of Kapaia Valley to the landfill in Kekaha. You usually don’t see a mass of rubbish in one spot outside of the dump of that size.
Some of the rubbish reportedly comes from the reroofing of the Hyatt Regency Kaua‘i, and if so, has made a trip from Po‘ipu to north of Lihu‘e and now backtracked all the way to Kekaha. That’s a lot of truckloads going back and forth on our highways.
There were hopes that the tile could have been ground up and used as a foundation for a road, recycling the material, rather than dumping it. But due to environmental and health concerns that was not possible.
The haulers are also citing the hours the dump at Kekaha is open as a deterrent to hauling the rubbish in one trip.
This story points out that more control is needed when large amounts of solid waste is involved. It appears the tiles were in Kapaia for a while and drew the attention of the nearby community when a fire started, fueled not by the tiles but by palettes and other construction debris.
With the ongoing boost in construction on Kaua‘i, and the movement of more residents who contribute to the amount of trash generated on Kaua‘i, the solid waste problem is only going to worsen.
This issue was a key one in the 2002 election. Solid waste answers are needed sooner than later and plans for new ways to eliminate waste through energy conversion, or by locating a new dump site, need to be expedited before the situation becomes a crisis.
Kamehameha Schools
In the middle of the debate over allowing non-Native Hawaiian students into Kamehameha Schools system is a young student.
Protesters have a good argument, especially ones with sons or daughters who have been waiting years for acceptance into Kamehameha Schools, only to see a judge force a non-Native Hawaiian student to be admitted. However, consideration for this young student from Kapa‘a is needed as he begins his school year as a boarding student at a school where there are many who aren’t rolling out the welcom mat for him.
