Editorial: Get tougher to protect shoreline

In Hawaii, both state and county laws prohibit shoreline hardening, whether that is building a seawall, installing heavy barriers or putting boulders, unless a property owner receives an exemption.

Dumping concrete directly onto sand at the shoreline is also definitely not allowed. However, that’s exactly what happened in front of a Sunset Beach home at 59-147 Ke Nui Road, where the property owner allegedly poured concrete, installed rebar and laid heavy plastic tarps in an apparent effort to protect the house from being undermined by the ocean.

Neighbors contacted the state Department of Land and Natural Resources (DLNR) to report the unpermitted concrete pour while it was in progress. But no enforcement authority appeared, though a notice of alleged violation was issued some days later. A Sept. 28 inspection by the DLNR’s Office of Conservation and Coastal Lands (OCCL) documented concrete, rebar and other materials in front of the house and the neighboring property, both owned by the same man.

It’s estimated that coastal hardening on Oahu has contributed to the loss of about one-quarter of the island’s beaches. However, as the Star-Advertiser’s reporting has exposed, agencies charged with protecting the coastline rarely enforce laws that prohibit the practice, despite its destructive impact. This must change.

The state and county governments must make protecting the coastline a priority, resolving to identify and halt or remediate violations with all possible haste. This will require action on multiple fronts, including a focused effort, commitment to coordinate between agencies and across jurisdictions, and better funding for enforcement.

The calls for action are growing louder as shorelines erode, and more structures and roads start crumbling. Officials must heed them.

North Shore residents who fear the impact of unpermitted coastal hardening on beaches and shorebreaks nearby are raising the alarm and sharing information on social media. Experts warn that Oahu has already lost about one-quarter of its beaches to shoreline hardening, and that figure could rise to 40% in little more than 25 years, by 2050.

Chip Fletcher, a coastal geologist at the University of Hawaii-Manoa and an expert on Hawaii’s coastlines, is calling on the state attorney general to step in and step up action against those who violate shore-protection laws. Hardening the shoreline destroys the public beach, he said, questioning whether Hawaii is experiencing “a crisis of enforcement” in failing to prevent or effectively penalize such actions.

Fletcher also suggests the state and county consider placing responsibility for all aspects of beach management with one agency, rather than have the split responsibilities that exist now. That’s worth pursuing.

For example, the property owner at 59-175-B Ke Nui Road had constructed a deck with boulders stacked underneath that served as a shoreline hardener. DLNR’s OCCL referred the situation to Honolulu’s Department of Planning and Permitting (DPP), which issued a notice of violation in July, well after the work had begun — but months later, no fines had been issued.

Michael Cain, who leads OCCL, told the Star-Advertiser that his small office struggles to keep up with shoreline violations. OCCL brings enforcement actions to the state Land Board; then, the process often gets tied up in years-long legal battles. Meanwhile, the shoreline hardening remains in place.

“Folks that I talk to have referred to that stretch of (Sunset Beach) shoreline as the Wild West when it comes to coastal zone management,” Fletcher noted. “It raises the question, ‘Is there a better government approach?’”

There must be, and it behooves all involved to devise a more efficient and enforcement-driven one.