Agreement reached over restroom by Lester Chang – THE GARDEN ISLAND HA‘ENA — State and county leaders and kanaka maoli — the indigenous people of Hawai‘i — have reached an agreement allowing for a new restroom at the Ha‘ena State
Agreement reached over restroom
by Lester Chang – THE GARDEN ISLAND
HA‘ENA — State and county leaders and kanaka maoli — the indigenous people of Hawai‘i — have reached an agreement allowing for a new restroom at the Ha‘ena State Park and the protection of the bones of ancient Hawaiians in surrounding areas.
The agreement between the state Department of Land and the National Tropical Botanical Garden, the Hui Ho‘omalu I ka Aina and the Hanalei Watershed Hui calls for a new “constructed wetland system” to replace a septic tank and leachfield serving the existing restroom.
The agreement prompted the kanaka maoli, whose ancestors are buried under the restroom and in sand dunes around portions of the coastal park, to withdraw a petition to intervene in the DLNR plans to demolish the old restroom and build a new one with a new waste disposal system.
The planning commission approved the group’s request during a meeting at the Lihu‘e Civic Center on Tuesday.
“This is huge. It is a success story,” said Maka‘ala Ka‘aumoana, who heads Hanalei Watershed.
“The state was willing to listen and work with the community, and they say nothing they are going to do is going to disturb the bones any further,” Ka‘aumoana said Friday.
Ka‘aumoana, who attended the Tuesday meeting, said the commission was astounded by how quickly a potentially explosive issue was deflated. “The commission was thrilled that the issue could be resolved in six months,” she said.
The groups applauded the new system to be built by the state because it will prevent effluent from reaching underground burials or bones of ancient Hawaiians, known as kupuna iwi.
The DLNR welcomes the accord because it can now continue to move forward in its bid to build a new restroom to comply with the Americans With Disabilities Act of 1990.
The DLNR is seeking planning commission approval of its request for a Special Management Area Use permit to demolish and build a public comfort station.
Ka‘aumoana said the new system, when completed, could be a model for other government parks.
The issue of protecting the iwi came when the DLNR applied for the county permit, prompting the kanaka to force the state to address the issue of effluent reaching burial sites, Chipper Wichman, chief executive officer and NTBG director, said before the commission hearing.
Once the new system is up, effluent from the septic system will be sent to wetlands located away from the existing leachfields.
Through the new system, plants will cleanse the effluent, which can be transformed into irrigation water, he said.
Wichman said the kanaka maoli only backed away from intervening in the DLNR application process because the agency “committed itself to building the subsurface system.”
Wichman said, however, he found befuddling a DLNR decision in early 2000 or so to replace a cesspool with a septic tank system when leaders suspected iwi could be found under the comfort station and in surrounding areas.
No state DLNR officials were immediately available to explain why that decision was made.
Had NTBG not put up $10,000 initially to demonstrate the workability of the system, it might still be in the talking stages, if even that, Ka‘aumona said.
“NTBG deserves a great deal of credit for providing the $10,000,” she said. “People were thinking outside of the box.”
• Lester Chang, staff writer, can be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 225) or lchang@kauaipubco.com.
