Officials reconvene in Lahaina to discuss progress on recovery

Wednesday evening saw the renewal of weekly disaster recovery meetings at the Lahaina Civic Center after a two week break. About 100 residents and 70 online viewers tuned in via the county’s Facebook page, to partake in the near two hour meeting to hear updates on recovery efforts in Lahaina town.

Representatives from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the Army Corps of Engineers, Red Cross, and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) gave updates on various elements of recovery efforts from drinking water, properties and houses cleared and complete, debris removal, to housing. The agencies additionally fielded just over a dozen questions from the public on a variety of subjects.

Several community members expressed frustration with recovery efforts and aired their grievances to officials in attendance.

“We still dumping, illegally dumping sewage,” one resident named Jeremy said. “Where is all this crap going? I know we lost 300 homes, but we still got a bunch of crap that has to go somewhere.”

“Pretty much every answer has been, umm, that’s a possibility, or we don’t know yet,” one resident said who was greeted with applause after speaking. “We’re not allowed to do that as community members…In the Mayor’s recovery plan it says that this recovery is a community lead effort. I don’t see much tangible evidence of that.”

The EPA was represented by Incident Commander Dawn Ison, who gave an update on the process to obtain clean drinking water.

“The EPA has been providing drinking water and wastewater support to

the county of Maui, and the state of Hawaii since last August,” Ison started to start her update on the recovery process. “Our missions have been focused on drinking water, wastewater specifically under emergency support function 3.”

Ison laid out a two step process the EPA is following to achieve clean drinking water, and reiterated that the EPA is working hand and hand with the state and county. Ison also stated the EPA’s wastewater mission has been completed on the island and now their efforts will be concentrated on drinking water.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers was represented by Recovery Field Office Commander Col. Eric Swenson who gave an update on the debris removal process and the 510 houses that have been cleared of debris up to today.

Swenson was optimistic about the number of houses that have been cleared and reaching the Corps goal of completing debris removal by January 1, 2025. He also praised the recent opening of the new King Kamehameha III Elementary School temporary replacement campus.

“I know that all of you are trying to recover from the worst tragedy of your life, and knowing that your kids are in a safe learning environment and you now have some more time to put your lives in order and to rebuild your lives is really important for healing,” Col. Swenson said of the new school in Lahaina. “We’re honored to work with FEMA on this and put this school together for this community.”

The next disaster recovery meeting will be next Wednesday at 6:30 p.m. at the Lahaina Civic Center.

The Maui News / MATTHEW THAYER photos U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Col. Eric Swenson listens to a question posed by Wahikuli resident Pam Silva before the start of Wednesday evening’s weekly disaster recovery update meeting at Lahaina Civic Center.

Lahaina Advisory Team member Kim Ball speaks during the question and answer portion of Wednesday’s meeting at Lahaina Civic Center. He said he has been asked by displaced residents if some of the weekly meetings could be held on other parts of the island where it would be easier for them to attend.

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Recovery Field Office Commander Col. Eric Swenson outlines Lahaina debris removal efforts Wednesday, saying 510 properties have been cleared to date.

The Maui News MATTHEW THAYER photo Environmental Protection Agency Incident Commander Dawn Ison gives an update on efforts to ensure Lahaina’s water supply is safe from contaminates.