This story is co-published with ProPublica, a nonprofit newsroom that investigates abuses of power. The Honolulu Star-Advertiser is a member of the ProPublica Local Reporting Network.
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Hawaii’s beaches are disappearing as major islands have lost nearly a quarter of them in the last century. The culprit? Seawalls and other barriers erected by wealthy homeowners.
The Honolulu Star-Advertiser and ProPublica have developed an interactive, web-based app that compiles 20 years of shoreline exemptions in a searchable map of properties that got permits to keep existing shoreline structures or build new ones.
View the interactive: http://808ne.ws/propublicabeachloss



Honolulu officials have granted an exception to the state’s beach protections, clearing the way for a controversial multimillion dollar renovation of a century-old seawall at a property owned by the chair of the Obama Foundation.

Hawaii’s beaches are public land, which officials are obligated to protect and preserve. But a state agency has repeatedly allowed homeowners, including surfer Kelly Slater, to use tactics that protect property while speeding up the loss of beaches.
Sophie Cocke is a reporter with the Honolulu Star-Advertiser. She has covered government and politics in Hawaii for the past decade. Please get in touch at scocke@staradvertiser.com if you have information you want to share about seawalls or other shoreline hardening structures.
Ash Ngu is a journalist, designer and developer with ProPublica’s news apps team.
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