382 Abandoned Cars on DHHL Maku’u Land

[HereOnThePrimalEdge]

382 cars and 700 tires were abandoned on DHHL property near Maku’u.  Nobody noticed when it was 100, or 200 cars?  The article is light on details on how the cars got there, or why it was ignored for so long.  It mostly discusses the County of Hawaii’s role in the cleanup.  

I wonder if anyone considered there might be incredibly serious soil and water table pollution from these old rusted cars?  Gasoline, brake fluid, power steering fluid, anti freeze, paint, plastic, etc.  If so, maybe they’d consider forming a group that might, oh I don’t know, protect the aina better in the future?  

https://bigislandnow.com/2020/11/13/over...rom-makuʻu

[Seeb-2]

So now their dumping cars on everywhere in HPP and the county won’t pick them up because it’s a private road

[eightfingers2.0]

Maybe the TMT should have been built on Makuu....

[Obie]

It was an old fashioned recycling center.
I have gotten quite a few parts in places like this.

[kalakoa]

Doesn't sound like "equal protection under the law", maybe let's file a lawsuit?

[HereOnThePrimalEdge]

Maybe the TMT should have been built on Makuu....

When I saw the photo in the article (link in my first post) showing acres of rusted cars and trucks on DHHL property I thought back to some of the arguments put forward by people who protested the TMT.  Especially the proposal that an Hawaiian agency like OHA, or DHHL, etc would best be suited to manage the summit of Mauna Kea.  The idea behind the suggestion was that Mauna Kea summit would be better managed and more effectively protected with direct Hawaiian oversight.

We don't know who dumped all those vehicles on the DHHL property at Maku'u, but we do know the Department of Hawaiian Homelands was the governing body in charge where and when it occurred, that DHHL allowed the illegal dumping to take place and did nothing about it for years, probably decades.  In the end they turned to the County of Hawaii for help in cleaning up the mess.  Like the County of Hawaii brought in workers when the garbage and leftover materials piled up at the Mauna Kea Access Road TMT protest camp.

If a county or state agency has the resources, the people, and the wherewithal for properly maintaining the land, the aina, and Mauna Kea summit is already administered by a state agency, do we really want a less effective, less efficient authority in charge?  Based on this Maku'u dumpsite incident, yet another failing in a long list of DHHL dysfunction and neglect, it's a strong argument against changing the current stewardship on Mauna Kea summit.

[randomq]

I'm told DHHL tore down their old asbestos and lead paint filled offices and dumped the debris on waitlisted agricultural land...

[kalianna]

randomq, other than, "I'm told..." do you have any sources for this or are you just posting a rumor?

[randomq]

I was told by an old-timer homelands resident that witnessed it and claims to have pictures of said debris.

[kalianna]

I was told by an old-timer homelands resident that witnessed it and claims to have pictures of said debris.

Thanks.  Good to know the source.