Waters off Lahaina tested for pollutants after fire | News, Sports, Jobs

August 23, 2024

Tova Callender of the West Maui Ridge-to-Reef Initiative helps with water sampling in the ocean off Lahaina on Wednesday. DLNR, West Maui Ridge-to-Reef Initiative and Hui O Ka Wai Ola teamed up to test for pollutants in the water after the Aug. 8 fire. Photos courtesy DLNR

Preliminary water testing in the nearshore waters off Lahaina are showing that physical parameters, like temperature, pH level, salinity and dissolved oxygen, are currently in normal ranges after the Aug. 8 fire, according to the state Department of Land and Natural Resources.

“We have ongoing concerns that pollutants from the fire will make their way into the ocean at some of the drainage outfalls or from storm drains,” said Russell Sparks, an aquatic biologist with the DLNR Division of Aquatic Resources, who began taking ocean water samples on Wednesday. “For years we’ve done regular monitoring, but now we’re including testing from the fire zone. We’ll be sending samples off to researchers who will be looking more in detail at some of the heavy metals and other volatile chemicals that are associated with fires.”

Sparks, Tova Callender of the West Maui Ridge-to-Reef Initiative and Liz Yannell of Hui O Ka Wai Ola teamed up Wednesday to take ocean water samples at numerous locations along the fire impact area.

The research will look at volatile organic compounds and semi-volatile organic compounds.

Tova Callender (left) of the West Maui Ridge-to-Reef Initiative and Liz Yannell of Hui O Ka Wai Ola test water samples taken from the ocean off Lahaina on Wednesday.

“We have more of a chance of finding SVOC in the water because these compounds don’t disperse as quickly,” Yannell explained. “Big things that end up in the ocean can leach chemicals into the marine environment.”

Sparks added that water can flow quickly into the ocean because of Lahaina’s system.

“Due to the old infrastructure of Lahaina, storm water does not flow into settling basins or modern infrastructure, so it flows as quickly as possible into the ocean,” he said. “So, that’s a huge concern with the amount of potentially toxic substances on the land now.”

Sparks said that Lahaina’s rebuilding process will be an opportunity, with input from the community, to think about modernizing stormwater mitigation to protect Maui’s coral reefs and other marine wildlife.

For 10 years, Callender, her organization and other conservation partners have been working to reduce erosion and sedimentation from the West Maui Mountains into the ocean, focusing on a drainage of one watershed north of Lahaina, out of the fire area.

“Certainly, this gives us an opportunity to do a re-start on all kinds of things,” Callender said. “This includes the agriculture areas above Lahaina and other communities, as well as improving best practices for storm water management from the ridges to the reefs of West Maui.”

Sparks also pointed to the quick deployment of temporary measures to restrict pollution from entering the ocean.

He said virtually every stormwater drain in Lahaina is now surrounded by a waddle, which is a barrier to reduce water into drains.

Sparks plans to work with the Maui County Public Works Department to deploy even better methods of keeping polluted water out of the ocean.

Tova Callender (left) of the West Maui Ridge-to-Reef Initiative and Liz Yannell of Hui O Ka Wai Ola test water samples taken from the ocean off Lahaina on Wednesday.

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