The transport of 400,000 tons of nonhazardous debris from the August 2023 Lahaina wildfire from a temporary storage site in Olowalu to a permanent disposal site at the Central Maui Landfill in Puunene is expected to begin in early June, Maui County announced Friday.
That’s when the permanent disposal site is expected to be completed. The county’s Department of Environmental Management Solid Waste Division is overseeing the project.
Motorists traveling to and from West Maui are advised to plan ahead for slower-than-usual traffic. The county is urging motorists to drive safely and not pass or tailgate the trucks hauling debris.
The volume of debris collected from burned properties in Lahaina is roughly the equivalent of five football fields piled five stories high. The debris transfer will take place during daylight hours seven days a week for about five months, the county said.
To help minimize the impact on traffic, the 50 or so trucks that will be making four round trips daily will use former sugar cane haul roads for a part of the 19-mile route.
The trucks will travel from the Olowalu site along Honoapiilani Highway to Maalaea, then turn onto Kuihelani Highway before using cane haul roads from Waiko Road to the permanent disposal site in Puunene.
There will be no night operations due to safety concerns for workers at both sites.
The county has partnered with the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the state Department of Transportation to conduct the massive undertaking.
In a news release, Maui County Mayor Richard Bissen thanked the state and federal partners and county departments in “helping us reach another significant step in our recovery efforts” and asked for the “continued kokua of our residents and visitors.”
To control dust, workers will lightly wet debris at the Olowalu site before it is loaded into trucks and wrapped in industrial plastic sheeting. Dust-monitoring stations will be located at both sites.
“We are implementing rigorous protocols at every stage of the debris transport process, from Olowalu to the Central Maui Landfill, that will help us get the job done safely and with the utmost respect for the Lahaina community,” said Lt. Col. Adrian Biggerstaff, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Honolulu District commander, in the news release.
The debris from 1,538 residential and commercial Lahaina properties was temporarily stored at the Olowalu site to allow the county time to identify, acquire and construct a permanent site. After extensive input from the community, the Central Maui Landfill was selected in February 2024.
Of the 79 acres acquired, 14 acres was dedicated for the permanent debris site.
“The additional acreage is estimated to provide a decade of additional potential landfill capacity for the island’s future needs, while also supporting environmentally conscious waste management efforts,” the county said in its news
release.
For the site transfer and closure plan, and a map of the hauling route, go to MauiRecovers.org/debris
transfer. The Army Corps of Engineers Debris Hotline is 877-214-9117.
