...SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY NOW IN EFFECT UNTIL 6 PM HST WEDNESDAY...
* WHAT...East winds 15 to 25 kt, except north wind in Maalaea Bay.
* WHERE...Oahu Leeward Waters, Kaiwi Channel, Maui County
Windward Waters, Maalaea Bay, Pailolo Channel, Alenuihaha
Channel, Big Island Leeward Waters and Big Island Southeast
Waters.
* WHEN...Until 6 PM HST Wednesday.
* IMPACTS...Conditions will be hazardous to small craft.
PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...
Inexperienced mariners, especially those operating smaller
vessels, should avoid navigating in these conditions.
&&
Cynthia is an award-winning journalist who returned to Hawaii as an Anchor/Reporter/MMJ from Houston. She is a graduate of the University of Hawaii with a B.A. and M.B.A. DM her on IG @CynthiaYipTV to share stories.
High levels of lead contamination have been discovered along the Pu'uloa shoreline in Ewa Beach on O'ahu.
HONOLULU (KITV-4) -- In January and February 2022, the Surfrider Foundation Oahu Chapter obtained samples of the sandy soils from the oceanside of impact berms and the beach area directly seaward of the Puʻuloa Range Training Facility (PRTF) in ʻEwa Beach. These areas are vulnerable to coastal erosion.
The samples were tested by Hawaii Analytical Laboratories, LLC. The results show lead concentrations of up to 14,000 mg/kg -- over 17 times the accepted public health levels for industrial areas, and 70 times the accepted level for residential areas. The Hawai’i Hazard Evaluation and Emergency Response Office has established a lead standard of 200 mg/kg in residential areas and 800 mg/kg in industrial areas.
“These high lead concentrations are extremely concerning,” said Keili McEvilly, Surfrider Foundation Oahu Chapter Coordinator. “This is a public health issue for all beachgoers and ocean users as well as a threat to the coastal environment.”
Mike Plowman is a retired Naval Aviator who has lived most of his life in Iraquois Point and Ewa Beach. He and calls this community home with his wife and two young children.
Mike Plowman, a volunteer with Surfrider Foundation, says "this stretch of shoreline is my home beach for my whole life and I want to see it preserved...to maximize actions we can keep erosion from happening and keep toxic chemicals from going in the water. The worse case is that one of my children ingests some of this lead and they develop health problems.”
Others on the beach told KITV-4 they are also concerned about their health risk but, one fisherman says, he is not at all worried about being exposed to lead.
For over a century, PRTF has been used as a rifle and pistol range. The impact berms at PRTF run adjacent to the beach and now have high levels of lead from the bullets fired at them.
The highly contaminated soils at PRTF are cause for concern, especially due to the proximity of public recreational areas, Oahu’s EPA designated Sole Source Aquifer, the City and County of Honolulu’s (CCH) Puʻuloa Beach Park, residential neighborhoods on either side of the firing range, and the fragile coral reef ecosystem.
KITV4 reached out to the Navy for comment, but have not yet received a response.
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Cynthia is an award-winning journalist who returned to Hawaii as an Anchor/Reporter/MMJ from Houston. She is a graduate of the University of Hawaii with a B.A. and M.B.A. DM her on IG @CynthiaYipTV to share stories.
