BRUCE ASATO / BASATO@STARADVERTISER.COM
HFD’s Fire Rescue helicopter took off from a staging area at Maunawili Valley Neighborhood Park on Sunday.
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The tragic hiking accident in which a young man lost his life in an Olomana ridge fall serves as a reminder, on multiple fronts.
One is that, with the almost overwhelming tourism traffic, a lot of people are heading for trails and parks, all of which need care and upkeep. Senate Bill 2331 seeks to secure needed funding.
The other is that warning signs about the hazards of such difficult, rugged trails in particular can hardly be too pointed about the dangers. Many set out on a hike expecting nothing but a benign close encounter with nature, and they need to be set straight on hazards.
Stop pumping sewage into the ground on Maui
Among the pollutants tainting waters near Maui’s Kahekili Beach is treated sewage — injected into the ground about a half-mile from the shoreline. It’s maddening that instead of stepping up defense against this environmental threat, Maui County is continuing to side-step the matter in court.
Because the underground flow is indirect — rather than a direct ocean dump — Maui County asserts that it doesn’t need a Clean Water Act permit. The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has twice disagreed. And now county officials say an appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court is in the works. The legal push onward is a disservice to taxpayers and the struggling reef.