Question: Even before this last thunderstorm there was a storm where it was pouring rain and the power went out and there were no traffic lights. It was very hard to see driving. The next day it was obvious that cats were fatally hit by cars the night before. This was on the weekend and I didn’t know who to call.
Answer: Who to contact for disposal of a dead animal depends on where it was found (city or state road) or the size of the animal (if it is to be picked up at a home), said Markus Owens, spokesperson for Honolulu’s Department of Environmental Services. Here is the most recent information, he said.
From roadways:
>> The city cannot collect dead animals from private, state, commercial or military roads.
>> Dead animals on city streets in the Honolulu area (Foster Village to Hawaii Kai) are collected by ENV’s Refuse Division. Call 808-768-3200 Monday through Saturday from 6 a.m. to 2 p.m. After hours and on Sundays, email collection@honolulu.gov. Provide your name, address, phone number and the type and location of the animal. Someone will call you the next work day.
>> Dead animals on city streets in rural areas (outside of Honolulu) and in industrial areas (Mapunapuna and Sand Island) are collected by the Honolulu Department of Facility Maintenance’s Road Division. Each baseyard responds to calls in its jurisdiction. For a map of the baseyards and their phone numbers, go to 808ne.ws/3CBcSZN.
>> Dead animals on state highways are collected by the state Department of Transportation’s Highways Division. Call 808-485-6200, which is answered 24/7. Go to 808ne.ws/2S6Gyn2 for a list of roads under state jurisdiction.
From homeowners:
>> If the deceased animal weighs less than 70 pounds, residents in the Honolulu area (Foster Village to Hawaii Kai) can call ENV’s Refuse Division at 808-768-3200, Monday through Saturday from 6 a.m. to 2 p.m. After hours and on Sundays, email collection@honolulu.gov. In rural areas (outside of Honolulu) contact the appropriate DFM Roads Division baseyard as previously described. Or take the dead animal directly to Waimanalo Gulch Sanitary Landfill. Call 808-668-2985 ext. 110 to schedule an appointment.
>> There is no city pickup from homes if the dead animal weighs more than 70 pounds. The resident can take the animal to Waimanalo Gulch Sanitary Landfill. Call 808-668-2985 ext. 110 to schedule an appointment.
Q: Regarding REAL ID enforcement (808ne.ws/40ITguT), don’t most Oahu drivers already have the gold-star license?
A: Yes, Honolulu County far exceeds the national adoption rate of federally compliant state-issued driver’s licenses or identification cards. As of Tuesday, “91% of active driver’s licenses and state identification cards in the City and County of Honolulu have been upgraded to comply with REAL ID requirements to board domestic flights or enter federal facilities,” and feature a gold circle with a star outline in the center of the upper portion of the card, Harold Nedd, spokesperson for Honolulu’s Department of Customer Services, said in an email.
The adoption rate is higher for driver’s licenses than for state IDs. About 93% of active driver’s licenses on Oahu have the gold star (615,515 of 664,123 licenses in circulation), while 83% of state ID cards have the mark (149,296 of 179,294), Nedd said.
By contrast, only about 56% of driver’s licenses and state IDs in circulation nationwide were REAL ID- compliant as of January 2024, which is one reason the federal government is keeping the enforcement start date of May 7 but allowing agencies to phase in full enforcement through May 5, 2027, if they need to.
Twenty-two states fell far short of the national average, with less than 40% of their licenses or IDs meeting the federal requirements last January.
With a history of REAL ID card-enforcement deadlines being extended, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security didn’t want to postpone again, instead opting to give federal agencies more time to fully enforce the requirements if necessary, while allowing those who serve fewer members of the public — and are therefore less likely to be inundated with customers lacking proper ID — to exercise 100% enforcement from the outset.
The Transportation Security Administration, which staffs airport security checkpoints where passengers must show ID before reaching their boarding gates, said it will require REAL IDs as of May 7 and post any updates about phased-in enforcement on its website, tsa.gov.
Mahalo
Ernie Lau at the Honolulu Board of Water Supply admonishes us to conserve water! So how about we all take shorter showers? The average shower takes about 8 minutes and uses about 16 gallons of water, or about 2 gallons per minute. People can easily take 2-minute showers: 30 seconds to wet their head hair and body, then they can turn the water off while they shampoo their hair and scrub their body with soap, then they can rinse off in 1-1/2 minutes, for a total of 2 minutes and 4 gallons of water used. Thus they can save about 12 gallons of valuable, potable water per shower. So, people, start taking shorter showers! Mahalo to Ernie Lau! — E.M.K., Kapahulu
Write to Kokua Line at Honolulu Star-Advertiser, 500 Ala Moana Blvd., Suite 2-200, Honolulu, HI 96813; call 808-529-4773; or email kokualine@staradvertiser.com.
