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Letters
This Weeks Letters
THANKS FOR KANAHA

April 21, 2005

Kanaha is no place for scrap metal processing (See “Big Squeeze,” Apr. 7 and “Explosive,” Apr. 14).EYour average car, truck, and 4x4 contain many fluids. They are to be removed if the vehicle is to be crushed and baled.EThe removal process is not simply pulling a plug and letting gravity do the work.ELines need to be purged with compressed air. There will always be residual fluids trapped in cavities throughout the car. When the vehicle is crushed and baled, these fluids could be set free, dripping out of machinery during the process.



When it rains, these fluids can be flushed to the ground, into Kanaha Pond and the water table—exactly the opposite of what any environmental agency or Department of Health would authorize.



Many of these vehicles will be dripping with fluids upon arrival at the site due to the fact that the crushing process was already started on the highway via an accident. In this condition, proper removal of fluids may not be possible.



Location of the facility and the methods to prevent contamination is the issue, not which company gets the contract. Under these circumstances, zoning is a non-issue. It comes down to location, location, location. The people, who can change the zoning by a vote of yea or nay do so and the deal is done. It’s called intelligent long-term planning.



From all over Maui, tow trucks will be dragging in abandoned vehicles, some full of garbage and weeds. Cars will have windows open or broken setting up a perfect environment for mosquitoes and rats.



The pile of scrap metal will need to build up to a volume that proves economical to bring a barge to Kahului Harbor to haul the scrap away. The more compact the vehicle and the rate in which vehicles are brought in, will determine how long the pile sits.



If there were to be a fire at this harbor area, it would put at risk Maui Electric, the fuel storage tanks, etc. The fire and toxic smoke blowing towards the populous of Kahului and Wailuku would not be described by the Fire Department as “negligent.” It would be described as “catastrophic.”







AND MA’ALAEA



This paper’s attention to the problem of Ma’alaea tour boat operators dumping human feces, urine and disinfectants in our ocean for decades is much appreciated (See “More Pumping, Less Dumping,” Jan. 13 and “Trying to Save Life,” Feb. 3).



The one operator which promised to haul the waste away for treatment, failed to follow through on most of its operation. This is the largest operator out of Ma’alaea and claims to promote responsible ecotourism. Pumping is the immediate and relatively inexpensive solution and should be implemented now. We all agree that pressure should be put on the government to upgrade the facilities at the harbor.



For anyone intending to take an ocean tour, please consider the problem and ask your captain to “pump, don’t dump.”







CORRECTION



The phone number for Las Pinatas of Maui in our Apr. 7 story “A Family Affair” should have been listed as 877-8707.