RE: Proposed Plan, Barbers Point Sanitary Landfill, Naval Facilities Engineering Command Hawaii Solid Waste Management Facility, Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Kalaeloa, Oahu, Hawaii. Ancient Hawaiian Wetlands - Navy Chemical Dump - Threatens Ewa Leeward Shores - Groundwater Flow Patterns Are Very Important.
Dear Captain Richard D. Hayes III, Ms. Denise Emsley,
Comments drawn from numerous sources, including Red Hill, where understanding groundwater flow in the Ewa Plain ancient limestone reef is critical in the investigation of contamination of the shoreline and reef.
Comment:
Under CERCLA, the Navy is responsible for the investigation and cleanup of contamination resulting from its past operations. Based on the results of investigations at the site, the Navy’s overall strategy for the response action is to protect current and future receptors(?) from
exposure to waste material and limit exposure to surface soil at the site. (What about subsurface groundwater flow exposure into the beach and reef ecosystem?)
While most parties agree that groundwater generally flows from the mountains towards the ocean, there are specific geologic characteristics in the Ewa Plain area that may cause some groundwater to flow in directions other than directly towards the ocean. Understanding these geologic features is essential in determining the direction of groundwater flow in the Ewa Plain area. At this time, a much better understanding of the area’s karst geology is needed.
Comment:
The spatial distribution of COPCs in surface soil (0 to 6 inches below ground surface [bgs]) correlated well with areas where little to no landfill cover material was present or where municipal solid waste material (e.g., plastic, charred wood) was observed directly below the compost material, most likely as a result of erosion caused by the 2009 flooding. (This shows that covering with dirt is a useless measure that only lasts until the next big windstorm and heavy rain flood. Further, it begs the question of where did all the flood water go- and it obviously went below ground and into the sea since there has never been ANY liner placed beneath all of toxic waste since 1946.)
A UH Water study done in 2009 for Oahu states that a coral quarry site with high volume karst water flows is the absolutely WORST possible place for a waste dump.
Hydraulic conductivities: On the high end are coral gravels and reef limestones. These coral reef remnants have the highest hydraulic conductivities of any formation in Hawaii with estimated values as high as 30,000 ft/d based on tidal response analysis (Oki et., 1996).
This means a back and forth flow of ocean water deep underground and why there are values
as high as 30,000 ft/d based on tidal response analysis. It means decades of continuous on going ocean pollution. Just piling dirt over it only hides the problem and does nothing to mitigate it.
The result: Ocean fisheries being killed off. Potential life threatening conditions for beach goers, fishermen, limu pickers, seals, turtles, reef fish. Not enough study (in fact NONE that we are aware of.)
This Navy karst dump site has never had a liner, with many materials dumped in the bottom of a coral quarry with a ground water table at the quarry bottom. There has never been any analysis of the karst water transport system or what effect this likely has had on the Nimitz and White Plains beach areas, fisheries, seals, birds, F&W wildlife preserve, etc.
NavFac and apparently the State of Hawaii Department of Health wants the public to believe Option 3 "contains" all this toxic waste it but it cannot possibly because there is no bottom sealer- just the daily subsurface karst tidal water flushing system pulling the finer particles and chemicals to the ocean, especially after heavy rains.
Over the dirt layer cap, they also plan to plant native vegetation to stop soil erosion. What native vegetation would survive on a cap--unable to spread their roots down to the karst? What introduced vegetation would survive without watering or would it just depend on rainfall? It gets extremely hot out there followed by extremes of heavy storm downpours. Neither kiawe or Johnson grass-California grass, can survive on a cap of poor soil without water, and most native plants require rooting into the karst limestone (not gravel.) The first heavy rain will wash the soil cap away again and then we'll more money studying the soil erosion problem again.
A local water scientist, PhD (name omitted for protection) stated “There is a tidal signal (pulse wave) that travels in underground about a mile” and a half twice a day due to tidal change (in Ewa).
“The karst is very permeable and very transmissive”
“Talk to drillers who can describe drills dropping as they bore down…”
Unfortunately having actual knowledge of the subsurface karst water system, caves and water channels is a highly protected secret in order to allow large scale land development and waste dump sites without having to take any cultural or environmental responsibilities.
PHOTOS Below show the chemical dump site's natural, cultural history and ecology more complicated than just simple localized chemical dump. This seal is on the karst limestone beach directly below the navy toxic waste site. The subsurface toxic water is flowing right to here:
Karst cave near East Kapolei rail station. It appeared to have been filled up with
dirt during the Ewa plantation era and then subsequent water flow over decades washed the
dirt away down inside, reopening the cave chamber, which is how this picture was taken.
Comment:
The Navy report says: Although the HHRA concluded that exposure to contaminants
in surface soil does not pose unacceptable risk to human health or the environment based on current industrial use, the potential chemical and physical hazards directly posed by the contents of the landfill (e.g., municipal sanitary wastes, construction and demolition debris,
and bagged asbestos), were not assessed in the HHRA. Therefore, exposure to these materials was considered in selection of the Remedial Action Objectives (RAOs) developed for the site.
(This all means next to nothing to the average citizen and does nothing to make anyone feel safer or that actual hazards are being actually mitigated.)
Comment: COMMUNITY PARTICIPATION
The Navy encourages the public to gain a comprehensive understanding of the site and the activities that have been conducted there. State agencies have provided input by reviewing and commenting on written reports and documents. The Navy has provided information to the community by posting reports and related documents in the information repositories for the site. (Almost no one in the community has ever had clue as to the “written reports and documents” that are supposed to be on file in the library. Especially if they were never even aware of this dump site previously which is in an extremely REMOTE wild area of the former Naval Air Station that almost no one has ever been to before.)
Some of the public, mostly children, have been past this site is directly adjacent to a Fish & Wildlife endangered species preserve where school children are regularly taken to observe and care take the rare native plants and Opae Ula native shrimp which live in the same underground coral reef brackish water that the site has been directly polluting. No one would have ever told them they are downwind and sampling water possibly contaminated by a remote, gated toxic waste disposal site.
The fact that the original NavFac announcement was done as “under the radar” as possible with anyone at all in the community aware of it really seems to be in the style we have seen before where things are done just for the purpose of establishing a technical record of announcement but no interest in recording actual public comments that may be critical or questioning. Usually the same individual or group is brought in to provide the desired comments the Navy wants.
At the Ewa Beach Library presentation information provided by NavFac was surprisingly naive and inaccurate regarding the well known cultural and historic systems of underground karst cave and channel water flows into the Ewa shore, beach, reef and ocean areas.
Further, the statement was made that Ordy Pond has no hydraulic connection with the ocean which is contradicted by numerous EA and EIS documents produced over a decade for other local projects. It is believed this statement may be a result of a poorly produced Army Corps of Engineers categorization that never actual studied the pond but just made a very narrow and uninformed desk assessment. We have brought this to their attention in past years but they have never bothered to make a new, well informed analysis which seems to indicate the popular land developer agendas on the Ewa Plain.
This is a complete attempt to fly this under the radar and avoid any public comment, or next to zero as possible –the reason is they don't want to address the fact that this has been going on for 14 years in what is an identifiable natural karst pond and wetlands and ancient Hawaiian habitation area. It was identified as wetlands and ancient Hawaiian sites in the major 1999 Tuggles research down for the closing of the Naval Air Station Barbers point.
The area is the location of an ancient Hawaiian karst pond as seen in 1928 and later NASBP air photos . Air photos show it is has perennial surface water features and is historically a wetlands area that attracts migratory and endangered bird birds of many kinds. Surface water features that contain water at all times throughout the year.
Above, Photos of native migratory birds known to flock and nest at Ewa Plain wetlands and seasonal water features sometimes only six inches deep depending on storm rainfall.
Thermal Desorption Treatment of PCB-Contaminated Soil. Former Naval Air Station Barbers Point. Oahu, Hawaii. Department of the Navy.
An estimated 26,306 cubic yards of PCB-contaminated soil from 100 sites at various Navy installations on Oahu were sent to the site for treatment. Soil from 21 sites totaling more than 5,600 cubic yards had been excavated and processed through the NAVFAC Kalaeloa site (2003- to ?)
PCB Contaminated soils from military bases all over Oahu, including Kaneohe MCBH where there have been lawsuits filed.
PCBs, or polychlorinated biphenyls, are industrial products or chemicals. PCB contamination is high in the Housatonic River and New Bedford Harbor in Massachusetts. PCBs were banned in the U.S. in 1979 amid suggestions that these chemicals could have unintended impacts on human and environmental health.
The North American producer, Monsanto Company, marketed PCBs under the trade name Aroclor from 1930 to 1977. No one will say what else was stockpiled or dumped as toxic waste at the site which has ben operated since 1946.
The commercial production of PCBs started in 1929 but their use has been banned or severely restricted in many countries since the 1970s and 80s.
Dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (DDT), DDT and other pesticides had been shown to cause cancer and that their agricultural use was a threat to wildlife, particularly birds. DDE is dichlorodiphenyldichloroethylene-breakdown product of DDT.
DDD (DDT) is dichlorodiphenyldichloroethane
Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are a class of chemicals that occur naturally in coal, crude oil, and gasoline. They also are produced when coal, oil, gas, wood, garbage, and tobacco are burned. Cancer is a primary human health risk of exposure to PAHs.[43] Exposure to PAHs has also been linked with cardiovascular disease and poor fetal development.
Total petroleum hydrocarbons (TPH) is a term used to describe a large family of several hundred chemical compounds that originally come from crude oil.
Recent studies found that high levels of lead and other heavy metals on the surface were exposed by recent rains.
Current Red Hill Lessons:
Comment #1, General Comment on Regional Groundwater Flow. Additionally, the Navy data summary should consider the findings presented in: The description on page 19 Mink, J., 1980. State of the relationship between the Groundwater Resources of Southern Oahu. Published Board of Water Supply
Comment #2: Physical Boundaries of the Study. Data collection and summary needs to include the entire modeling domain. Therefore, the study area boundary be defined as from the point of the dump to the shore, submarine outlets, and into the reef.
One of the critical questions that the AOC process is meant to answer is "What risk do the chemical dump operations at the Kalaeloa Facility pose to shore and reef area traditional food sources?" Answering this question will require properly understanding the nature of the connectivity between the Kaleloa dump and Ewa Shore and Leeward Sectors affected by daily and seasonal tidal flows.
There was never any discussion in this project about the ancient karst coral reef which is extremely permeable and especially after winds and rain storms has caused toxic chemicals from this site to wash down into the adjacent public beaches, swimming and fishing areas which includes the Hawaiian practice of picking limu (algae) for eating- usually raw.
Comment# 3: The Navy provides some extensive past activities the information is not presented in a usable and generally understandable fashion nor does it seem to be complete. The monitoring locations may not be sufficiently placed or at depth to actually monitor deep subsurface ground water flow.
The dump site is used by many migratory birds. They have been gradually bulldozing over it but water keeps appearing. It's an ancient karst water pond but they always deny it.
1928 air photos and overlays.
Comment #4: Groundwater Characteristics.
The Navy has stated in the Red Hill monitoring that a high degree of accuracy and precision is needed to define the hydraulic gradients in the area but does not present existing data such as groundwater elevation measurements over the entire model domain from the dump site to the shore, submarine water outlets and reef.
Comment #5: The buried toxic waste is not contained by covering it with dirt or a berm to contain water within it. While in theory the storm water and process water runoff could influence groundwater flow, there is nothing currently included to describe available data to test this hypothesis.
Karst ponds and underground channels act as storm drains during heavy rains. The 1999 US Navy BRAC Tuggles archeology reports show this dump site as an ancient Hawaiian habitation area- supporting wetlands (Taro) and had a large nearby freshwater pond. That would have made this an important local habitation area with nearby abundant ocean food resources.
Comment #6: Takasaki and Mink (1985); "Evaluation of Major Dike Impounded Ground-Water Reservoirs, Oahu, Hawaii" USGS Water Paper 2217; should be included in the list of referenced reports. https://pubs.er.usgs.gov/publication/wsp2217
Comment #7: The claim they held a meeting Tuesday, May 23 at the Kapolei High School staff meeting room at 7 PM, after placing an ad in the back someplace of the daily Honolulu newspaper. A major well known military feature writer said he could not find this ad and had to ask me what the Navy was proposing to do.
People not aware of the original project and comment period (later extended by request.)
Elected leaders of the Neighborhood Board # 34
Hawaii Community Development Authority (Governor Appointed leaders)
State Senator(s) of the district and surrounding areas
State Representative(s) of the district and surrounding areas
City Council Members of the district and surrounding areas
Adjacent Neighborhood Boards (downstream of potential PCB run-off)
Hawaiian Cultural leaders in the Ewa area
Emailing the NavFac PAO office an email auto-response message: I will be out of the office Wednesday, May 31, returning on Monday, June 26. For emergencies, please call the Command Duty Officer. Doing this I was able to contact an officer on the duty deck who said he would look into it.
How can NAVFAC be accepting public comment on this critical community issue through 22 June 2017, when the NAVFAC PAO email line is bouncing back the following auto-response message: I will be out of the office Wednesday, May 31, returning on Monday, June 26.
They claim they had a meeting at Kapolei HS in the faculty staff room with a court reporter ready to take testimony. But nobody was aware of this that we could find.
Not one person in the entire community was informed about this Project Plan, including either of the two local neighborhood boards which is where nearly all community projects are presented and questions answered. No one with the Hawaii Community Development Authority were this Navy parcel is located was aware of this plan or the claimed public meeting. A call to all of the local offices of elected officials in the area revealed not one of them or their staff knew about any public meeting.
Many Ewa families use the Nimitz and White Plains beaches on weekends and the Navy rents out cabins on the beach. Many Coast Guard live and work there as well at the base.
No doubt 99.9% of Ewa community has ever had any idea what was going on inside this gated dumpsite compound compound and what is going on in there that may affect their children’s health and the traditional, cultural food ecosystem there.
Here's what you likely don't know:
Thermal Desorption Treatment site of PCB-Contaminated Soil, PCB, DDT, Asbestos, Sludge and other hazardous materials brought in to be burned for nearly two decades, maybe more.
Now, the Navy is leaving and wants it off their books and off their inventory. Is what they plan to do sufficient considering future use, site natural, cultural, ecological geography and history?
Navy Contractor Toxic Disposal Plan
Stockpiling of Asbestos, PCB and other toxic chemicals for 14 years (or more) without any analysis of heavy rains washing the materials down subsurface karst ancient coral reef waterway channels into the Leeward beach shorelines used for camping, fishing, parties, endangered seals, turtles, limu, etc.
Recent studies found that high levels of lead and other heavy metals on the surface were exposed by recent rains. They very likely have been washing into the shoreline beaches and fisheries for 10-15 years at minimum.
This site is directly adjacent to a Fish & Wildlife endangered species preserve where school children are regularly taken to observe and care take the rare native plants and Opae Ula native shrimp which live in the same underground coral reef brackish water that comes directly wind borne and via subsurface water from this toxic dump.
US Fish & Wildlife Educational Center Wildlife Preserve
US Fish and Wildlife scientist points towards mountains to show where the water comes from that mixes with the ocean tide. The water runs right through the Navy toxic waste dump where everything toxic has been dumped for 75 years at the bottom of the Navy’s WW-II coral quarry pit.
Opae Ula Hawaiian Fresh Water Shrimp close to being on Endangered Species List
Karst ponds and underground channels act as storm drains during heavy rains.
The Navy wants to treat the site by covering it up with more soil, but environmental logic and natural karst system water flow says that's not enough.
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June 7, 2017 EPA letter to Navy
The Regulatory Agencies have thoroughly reviewed these documents and have determined that the Navy continues to demonstrate insufficient understanding of the expertise and level of effort necessary to develop technically defensible environmental assessment and modeling deliverables required by the AOC.
We continue to encourage the Navy to perform an investigation that can withstand critical scientific scrutiny.
Based upon the Regulatory Agencies' experience working on other similar large scale environmental projects with significant stakeholder and public interest, the Navy does not appear to have the appropriate personnel directing this work.
The Navy continues to fail to implement an effective iterative approach to data collection and analysis that is typical of large groundwater investigation and modeling projects.
The Navy should perform an iterative investigation that concurrently investigates and analyses existing and new field data to yield a better understanding of environmental conditions around the facility.
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A Kapolei landfill is more hazardous than initially thought as clean up options, costs vary
Ewa Plain Karst Water System as also found worldwide
Surface water is found nearly year around at navy toxic waste dump site because the site is WW-II coral quarry at groundwater –ocean tide level.
Interview with (former) HCDA director Tony Ching,
William Cole, Honolulu Star-Advertiser
State plans to use sinkhole site to study the area’s past
“Ordy Pond to me is a very unique parcel, and its value really is for research,” said Anthony Ching, HCDA’s executive director.
A 2014 study published in American Antiquity by J. Stephen Athens, Timothy M. Rieth and Thomas S. Dye said Ordy Pond “has some almost unique characteristics” in that coring samples can be used to obtain high-resolution chronological and environmental information dating to and beyond the earliest human habitation on Oahu. Using plant remains analysis, the authors concluded colonization may have occurred between A.D. 936 and 1133.
UH described Ordy Pond’s 44 feet of aquatic sediment as the “best-preserved, continuous, high-resolution Holocene sedimentary record in the Hawaiian Islands, and probably in the central Pacific.”
This site is an identifiable ancient natural karst pond and wetlands and ancient Hawaiian habitation area. It was identified as wetlands and ancient Hawaiian sites in the major 1999 Tuggles research down for the closing of the Naval Air Station Barbers point.
1999 Naval Air Station, Barbers Point, Hawaii, BRAC Disposal and Reuse of Land
“Ordy Pond is hydraulically connected with the ocean.
The water level fluctuates with the tide.”
https://books.google.com/books?id=gfY3AQAAMAAJ&pg=SA3-PA5&lpg=SA3-PA5&dq=Ordy+Pond&source=bl&ots=dLuc8rgrqW&sig=Y1SFBkg9tlxVs9OjIgC3Ec7FrDE&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjNmcPr4JHVAhXFilQKHUfuDwsQ6AEIWDAL#v=onepage&q=Ordy%20Pond&f=false
https://books.google.com/books?id=gfY3AQAAMAAJ&pg=SA3-PA5&lpg=SA3-PA5&dq=Ordy+Pond&source=bl&ots=dLuc8rgrqW&sig=Y1SFBkg9tlxVs9OjIgC3Ec7FrDE&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjNmcPr4JHVAhXFilQKHUfuDwsQ6AEIWDAL#v=onepage&q=Ordy%20Pond&f=false
2004 Board of Water Supply
The only (known) surface water feature at Kalaeloa is Ordy Pond. The pond hydraulically connects with the Pacific Ocean and its water surface level fluctuates with the tide.
http://oeqc.doh.hawaii.gov/Shared%20Documents/EA_and_EIS_Online_Library/Oahu/2000s/2004-06-23-OA-FEA-KALAELOA-REDEVELOPMENT-TRANSMISSION-MAINS.pdf
http://oeqc.doh.hawaii.gov/Shared%20Documents/EA_and_EIS_Online_Library/Oahu/2000s/2004-06-23-OA-FEA-KALAELOA-REDEVELOPMENT-TRANSMISSION-MAINS.pdf
2003 FEA Army Guard, Kalaeloa
The only (known) water feature at Kalaeloa is Ordy Pond. The pond hydraulically connects to the Pacific Ocean and its water surface level fluctuates with the tide.
http://oeqc.doh.hawaii.gov/Shared%20Documents/EA_and_EIS_Online_Library/Oahu/2000s/2003-06-08-OA-FEA-HI-ARMY-NATL-GUARD-KALAELOA.pdf
http://oeqc.doh.hawaii.gov/Shared%20Documents/EA_and_EIS_Online_Library/Oahu/2000s/2003-06-08-OA-FEA-HI-ARMY-NATL-GUARD-KALAELOA.pdf
2014 DEA Kalaeloa Heritage Park
The pond’s surface area is approximately one acre. Like all anchialine ponds, it is hydraulically connected to the ocean, and the water level fluctuates with the tide.
http://oeqc.doh.hawaii.gov/Shared%20Documents/EA_and_EIS_Online_Library/Oahu/2010s/2014-07-08-OA-5B-DEA-Kalaeloa-Heritage-Park-Station.pdf
http://oeqc.doh.hawaii.gov/Shared%20Documents/EA_and_EIS_Online_Library/Oahu/2010s/2014-07-08-OA-5B-DEA-Kalaeloa-Heritage-Park-Station.pdf
Thermal Desorption Treatment of PCB-Contaminated Soil.
Former Naval Air Station Barbers Point. Oahu, Hawaii.
Department of the Navy.
An estimated 26,306 cubic yards of PCB-contaminated soil from 100 sites at various Navy installations on Oahu were sent to the site for treatment. Soil from 21 sites totaling more than 5,600 cubic yards had been excavated and processed through the NAVFAC Kalaeloa site (2003- to ?)
PCB Contaminated soils from military bases all over Oahu, including possibly Kaneohe MCBH where there have been lawsuits filed.
Navy Dump Site Used By Migratory and Endangered Hawaiian Birds
The Navy dump site still has many visits by migratory birds, ducks. They have been gradually bulldozing over it but water keeps appearing. Nearby is an ancient karst water pond but the Navy always denies it as they also deny the hydraulic connectivity Ordy pond has with the ocean tides.
Wild ducks and Hawaiian ae‘o (Stilt) are seen at the site. The Stilt was listed as an endangered species in 1967 under the Federal Endangered Species Act
US Fish & Wildlife Hawaiian ae‘o (Stilt) photo from another Hawaii wetland site
What Chemicals Have Been Stockpiled There?
PCB- Short for polychlorinated biphenyl. A family of industrial compounds used as lubricants, heat-transfer fluids, and plasticizers. The manufacture and use of PCBs has been restricted since the 1970s because they are very harmful to the environment, being especially deadly to fish and invertebrates, and stay in the food chain for many years. Most of the toxic materials came from WW-II and 50's-60's era Oahu military bases. PCB's are found in old electric power transformers as dielectric and coolant fluids. PCBs as definite carcinogens in humans. The maximum allowable contaminant level in drinking water in the United States is set at zero.
The North American producer, Monsanto Company, marketed PCBs under the trade name Aroclor from 1930 to 1977. The commercial production of PCBs started in 1929 but their use has been banned or severely restricted in many countries since the 1970s and 80s.
Dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (DDT), DDT and other pesticides had been shown to cause cancer and that their agricultural use was a threat to wildlife, particularly birds. DDE is dichlorodiphenyldichloroethylene-breakdown product of DDT.
DDD (DDT) is dichlorodiphenyldichloroethane
Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are a class of chemicals that occur naturally in coal, crude oil, and gasoline. They also are produced when coal, oil, gas, wood, garbage, and tobacco are burned. Cancer is a primary human health risk of exposure to PAHs.[43] Exposure to PAHs has also been linked with cardiovascular disease and poor fetal development.
Total petroleum hydrocarbons (TPH) is a term used to describe a large family of several hundred chemical compounds that originally come from crude oil.
Also: residual sewage sludge (and what ELSE? we don't know)
Navy admits lapses in Red Hill flow studies By William Cole June 24, 2017
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and state Department of Health sent a June 7 letter criticizing the Navy for providing too little information on water flow modeling to determine where previously spilled fuel might end up, even though the Navy has spent almost two years on the environmental investigation.
A better understanding of groundwater flow patterns is a critical step in the investigation of contamination at Red Hill, the EPA said on its website.
“While most parties agree that groundwater generally flows from the mountains to the ocean, there are specific geologic characteristics in the area around Red Hill that may cause some groundwater to flow in directions other than directly towards the ocean,” the EPA said.
Ground water and contaminants migrates underground through karst channels to the
shore and into the sand, tide pools, limu and reef fish food chain
UH Hawaii water study: On the high end (worst for waste storage) are the coral gravels
and reef limestones (which what the Ewa Plain is). These coral reef remnants have the highest hydraulic conductivities of any formation in Hawaii with estimated values as high as
30,000 ft/d (feet a day) based on tidal response analysis (Oki et., 1996).
Other professional hydrology research shows that the twice a day tide change can be
measured up to a mile inland beneath the Ewa Plain.
All of the toxic chemicals are either absorbed by the native birds, shrimp and plants, or they get flushed into the nearby reef and ocean.
Opae Ula (Holocaridinea rubra)
These amazing native shrimp survive under extremely harsh and polluted
conditions under the Ewa Plain Karst and prove that the entire subsurface
which hasn't had ALL its karst water ways and caves destroyed by developers
AND is a physically and hydrologically connected estuary for aquatic life.
The Large Ewa Karst Cave Destroyed By Developers
After A Quick Archaeology Look
A sizeable phreatic dissolution cave accidentally opened in 1973 during quarrying
Kalaeloa Harbor operations ("Site B6-139") was an ''unmodified wet sink-cave".
Quarry operators deliberately tried to fill this cave before 1977 archaeological and palaeontological salvage studies (Sinoto, 1978, p. 45) but it was too large. . . the west sink(cave) contains well-formed stalagtites (sic) and stalagmites, some of which are subsurface.
Dredging for the new barge harbor destroyed the most notable cave known in the Ewa Karst
Dredging for the new barge harbor destroyed the most notable cave known in the Ewa Karst
without it even receiving a name (Figures 4,5). For unclear reasons, it was rarely even termed
a cave and was variously referred to as a "flooded sink", a "wet sink (cave)", etc. It quickly
became famous in palaeontological circles because of its content of bones of extinct birds.
Then it was destroyed in order to construct the farthest reaches of the barge harbor.
They also noted water level fluctuations of 40cm (16 inches) even though the cave is almost 2 km from the shore. However it was left to archaeologist Aki Sinoto to provide details about the cave. He termed it "a unique flooded sinkhole'', and found that it measured 11 m in diameter.
Fresh to brackish water filled 2/3 of parts of the cave. A nocturnal marine isopod, blue-green algae, and minute red shrimp (Holocaridinea rubra) were observed but the primary finding was the rich deposit of intact bones of subfossil and-extinct birds (Sinoto, 1978).
FINAL REPORT – MAY 2007 CENTRAL OAHU WATERSHED STUDY
Page 68: An interesting ecosystem to note within the Ewa Plain is a network of karsts (pit caves, or sinkholes). They could also be termed phreatic caves, which develop below the water table.
The Ewa Karst is the largest of several karsts on Oahu, but possibly the least studied. There are approximately 12,000 acres of exposed reef from Kahe Point to Puuloa, preserving the remains of ancient plants and animals, particularly shells, extinct birds, and two bats, of which one is new to science. Page 58: The U.S. Geological Survey Ewa Quadrangle shows numerous sinking streams and closed depressions within the karst, some manmade.
Page 70: Some remaining sinkholes of the Ewa Karst are home for öpae ula (Halocaridina rubra), tiny brackish water shrimp. A natural sinkhole with these shrimp is found near Chevron’s Rowland’s Pond preserve. Two to three artificial ponds were dug by the Division of Aquatic Resources (DAR), two of which filled back up with water.
The “Possible Northern Extension” of the Ewa Karst is where the Ewa Plantation intentionally used water sluices (which is well documented) to wash hillside soils down to cover the Karst. In many areas in Ewa the Alluvial soil is only a few feet deep.
2.9.5.9 Karst Protection: In 2001, the Estate of James Campbell erected a substantial chain-link fence to protect eight acres of karst with at least 100 sinkholes from destruction by nearby quarry operations. Some other areas, “B6-137” and “B6-22” have been fenced due to efforts by former Bishop Museum vertebrate zoologist Alan Zeigler.
Page 234: Receiving surface and ground waters are both susceptible to contamination from these pollutants. Contaminants can reach ground water quickly through fractured rock formations or sinkholes in karst areas, such as that found in Ewa. Ground water is more sensitive to contamination in these areas because runoff may pass directly into the subsurface with little if any infiltration through the soil, a process that typically filters at least some pollutants.
Footnote 58: Association of Hawaiian Civic Clubs, “Resolution No. 01-3, Commending the Estate of James Campbell for their Protection of the Ewa Karst Sink Holes,” November 10, 2001, 42nd Annual Convention of the Association of Hawaiian Civic Clubs at Honolulu, Hawai`i,
Navy admits lapses in Red Hill flow studies By William Cole June 24, 2017
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and state Department of Health sent a June 7 letter criticizing the Navy for providing too little information on water flow modeling to determine where previously spilled fuel might end up, even though the Navy has spent almost two years on the environmental investigation.
A better understanding of groundwater flow patterns is a critical step in the investigation of contamination at Red Hill, the EPA said on its website.
“While most parties agree that groundwater generally flows from the mountains to the ocean, there are specific geologic characteristics in the area around Red Hill that may cause some groundwater to flow in directions other than directly towards the ocean,” the EPA said.
WW-II Construction At Ewa Field Revealed Many Large Karst Caves
REFERENCES
EPA letter to Navy re Red Hill: https://www.epa.gov/sites/production/files/2017-06/documents/red-hill-aoc-6-7-ltr-data-summ-data-gap-2017-06-07.pdf
(10 pp, 5 MB, 06/07/2017) Letter from U.S. EPA, Region 9 and State of Hawaii Department of Health Re: Regulatory Agencies’ comments on “Existing Data Summary and Evaluation Report for Groundwater Flow and Contaminant Fate and Transport Modeling” dated March 5 2017 and “Data Gap Analysis Report, Investigation and Remediation of Releases and Groundwater Protection and Evaluation” dated April 25, 2017.
(4 pp, 599 K, 12/02/2016) Letter from U.S. EPA, Region 9 and State of Hawaii Department of Health re: Conditional Approval of Red Hill AOC SOW Deliverable under Sections 6 & 7 -Work Plan/ Scope of Work, Investigation and Remediation of Releases and Groundwater Protection and Evaluation, Red Hill Bulk Fuel Storage Facility, November 5, 2016 Revision 01
HUMAN AND ENVIRONMENTAL RISK RANKING OF ONSITE SEWAGE DISPOSAL SYSTEMS Final
Robert B. Whittier and Aly I. El-Kadi, December 2009, PREPARED FOR State of Hawaii, Department of Health Safe Drinking Water Branch. Principal Investigator: Aly I. El-Kadi, School of School of Ocean and Earth Science Technology, Department of Geology and Geophysics, University of Hawai‘i at Manoa, Honolulu, Hawai‘i 96822
FINAL REPORT – MAY 2007 CENTRAL OAHU WATERSHED STUDY
Prepared For: Honolulu Board of Water Supply U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
City and County of Honolulu Department of Environmental Services, Prepared By:
Oceanit Townscape, Inc. Eugene Dashiell
"Evaluation of Major Dike Impounded Ground-Water Reservoirs, Oahu, Hawaii" USGS Water Paper 2217; Takasaki and Mink (1985); should be included in the list of referenced reports. https://pubs.er.usgs.gov/publication/wsp2217
Ea O Ka Aina: Hawaiian wetlands for Navy dump
Kanehili News: Ancient Hawaiian Wetlands - Navy Chemical Dump http://kanehili.blogspot.com/2017/06/wetlands-navy-chemical-dump.html
More Suits Filed Over Fears Of Toxic Soil At Marine Corps Base Hawaii
“Since at least 2006, defendants have systematically failed to warn military families of pesticide contamination at MCBH and knowingly and intentionally exposed military families at MCBH to unsafe conditions including higher rates of cancer and other adverse health outcomes without disclosing these risks to military families or taking sufficient steps to protect military families from such risks,”
The concerns about potential soil contamination date to 2006, when Ohana Military Communities (then a subsidiary of Forest City) was demolishing homes and buildings. The developer discovered high levels of organochlorine pesticides left over from termite treatments.
Forest City completed a state Department of Health-approved pesticide management plan, which allowed for higher levels of carcinogenic pesticides than the Environmental Protection Agency generally recommends to remain in the surface soil. It was assumed that military families would not live on the base longer than six years, given the frequency or relocations.
But residents also began to report problems with asthma, cancer and birth defects.
Guam lawsuit says Navy should pay its share of dump cleanup
Guam has filed a lawsuit against the Navy, claiming the service is partially responsible for environmental contamination at a closed landfill once used for municipal and military waste.
In 2002, the U.S. government sued Guam under the Clean Water Act, saying that discharge from the unlined and uncapped landfill was leaking into the Lonfit River and two of its tributaries, the complaint said filed by Guam Attorney General Elizabeth Barrett-Anderson.
This eventually led Guam to agree to close the landfill and shoulder the burden to repair the environmental damage, which included capping the landfill, installing stormwater management ponds, discharge water storage tanks and a sewer line. That work began in 2013 and continues today.
A rare look inside a stalactite rich karst cave on Oahu with sparkly white Calcite
Calcite laden Oahu karst cave subsequently covered over forever by a land fill.
A Kapolei landfill is more hazardous than initially thought as clean up options, costs vary http://www.hawaiinewsnow.com/story/35678630/exclusive-navy-kapolei-landfill-plans-debated
More feedback sought for Navy’s landfill cleanup proposal By William Cole, Honolulu Star-Advertiser, http://www.staradvertiser.com/2017/06/27/hawaii-news/more-feedback-sought-for-navys-landfill-cleanup-proposal/
The Navy is extending the public comment period on a proposal to spend $1.2 million to reduce potential exposure to chemicals at a Barbers Point landfill where asbestos and burned waste were dumped between 1942 and 1997. The surface soil contains antimony, lead and hydrocarbons that exceed state Department of Health standards, the Navy said. The Navy is proposing to add cover material, put in place erosion control measures and add perimeter warning signs at the site.
Under The Radar: Ancient Ewa Freshwater Karst Pond Wetlands- Navy PCB Toxic Waste Dump
1928 Army Air Corps Photo shows ancient karst water pond directly next to Navy toxic waste dump. The area was an identified wetlands and Hawaiian habitation area by Navy BRAC 1999 Tuggles.
The already fragile Ewa Plain ecosystem based on natural clean water will be destroyed.
1928 USGS Map based on Army Air Corps photos and ground reconnaissance
1936 Army Map shows karst pond and wetlands areas.
1938 USGS Map shows the various ancient karst water ponds on the Ewa Plain
Hawaiian habitation site - Wetlands, Navy BRAC 1999 Tuggles Report
Underground water emerges into the reef from Ewa Plain submarine karst caves. These water outlets produced abundant fisheries supporting native Hawaiians, fisheries, natural ecosystems.
This air photo shows a massive reef “blue hole” directly below the Navy chemical dump site.
Hiding this from the public for at least 14 years (and recently revealed 76 years as a waste dump) with an under the radar "public notice" for comment, the Ewa-Kapolei community was shocked and surprised - no neighborhood board notice, no political reps apparently notified - HCDA apparently not notified.
Because of previous bad publicity and a lawsuit on Guam the Navy apparently did not want to bring this issue to the Ewa Community’s attention.
The recent SECOND Navy open house requested by a member of the Kapolei-Makakilo neighborhood board and staged at Ewa Public Library shows that this is a 76 year old dump, begun in 1942 and the only "protective" measure was capping with sand and gravel and later dirt, which all failed after heavy rains.
This dump site has never had a liner, with many materials dumped in the bottom of a coral quarry with a ground water table at the quarry bottom. There has never been any analysis of the karst water transport system or what effect this likely has had on the Nimitz and White Plains beach areas, fisheries, seals, birds, F&W wildlife preserve, etc.
This dump site is in an ancient area known as Kanehili
An open kula land, noted in tradition for its association with Kaupe‘a, and as a place of wandering spirits. Cited in the tradition of Hi‘iaka-i-ka-poli-o-Pele and in historical narratives.
Of the Honouliuli coral plains McAllister (44, site 146) says: ‘…It is probable that the holes and pits in the coral were formerly used by the Hawaiians. Frequently the soil on the floor of the larger pits was used for cultivation, and even today one comes upon bananas and Hawaiian sugar cane still growing in them.’ (Handy 1940:82)
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The Synthesis of Cultural Resource Studies of the ‘Ewa Plain by Dave and Myra Tuggle
Dave and Myra Tomonari-Tuggle of IARII, under a contract with Belt Collins Hawaii, published a Synthesis identifies much of the former Barbers Point NAS (including MCAS Ewa) as Kanehili.
Final Environmental Assessment Disposal and Reuse of Surplus Property at Naval Air Station Barbers Point, O‘ahu, Hawai‘i, August 2011, Department of the Navy, Base Realignment and Closure Program Management Office stated regarding former NAS Barbers Point lands:
“Open Space/Recreation. This land area would be comprised of mostly passive open space land uses and preserve/cultural park space. These parcels contain a relatively high density of cultural and archaeological sites.”
Above – 1941 Marine Ewa Airfield Report of Large Ancient Subterranean Caverns
During the field survey for the Kalaeloa Solar Farm a verbal report from a contractor stated that boring data at the Ewa Field panhandle site revealed a large 9 foot deep hole which had been filled back to level during Ewa airfield construction. This information matches with Ewa Field USMC Command History which stated that the area had numerous "Subterranean Caverns."
We also have both historic military documentation, air photos and ground surveys to document this area as having hundreds if not thousands of karst caves and sinkholes. Some have Hawaiian burials, some have agricultural crops in them. Water can be seen in them after heavy rains.
NAS Barbers Point Traditional cultural properties are NPS National Register eligible...
One kind of cultural significance a property may possess, and that may make it eligible for inclusion in the Register, is traditional cultural significance. "Traditional" in this context refers to those beliefs, customs, and practices of a living community of people that have been passed down through the generations, usually orally or through practice. The traditional cultural significance of a historic property, then, is significance derived from the role the property plays in a community's historically rooted beliefs, customs, and practices.
Sinkholes in the general area were utilized as natural planters for kalo (taro, dry-land variety), temporary shelters, storage features, and sources of water. The Kalaeloa lands were likely to have been planted in ‘ulu (breadfruit), liliko‘i (passion fruit), niu (coconut along the beach area), and two types of mai‘a (banana). Additionally, birds (today extinct or nearly so) were trapped for feathers in or near to the area, including the ae‘o (Himantopus mexicanus knudseni), i‘iwi (Vestiaria coccinea), ‘apapane (Himatione sanguine), and the mamo (Drepanis pacifica).
More contemporary cultural practices taking place in the area have included the gathering of ‘uha loa (Waltheria indica) for traditional Hawaiian medicine and ‘alae (red clay) for coloring salt, medicine, dye, and spiritual purification.
CULTURAL LANDSCAPE REPORT SHOULD BE DONE ON THIS NAVY KARST DUMP SITE – Site meets historic landscape criteria
A Cultural Landscape Report (CLR) is the primary report that documents the history, significance and treatment of a cultural landscape. A CLR evaluates the history and integrity of the landscape including any changes to its geographical context, features, materials, and use.
A CLR will often yield new information about a landscape's historic significance and integrity, even for those already listed on the National Register. Where appropriate, National Register files should be amended to reflect the new findings.
Executive Order 12898 directs federal agencies to make achieving environmental justice part of its mission.
The EO emphasizes the importance of NEPA's public participation process, directing that each Federal agency shall provide opportunities for community input in the NEPA process. Agencies are further directed to identify potential effects and mitigation measures in consultation with affected communities.
Traditional Hawaiian Trails Run through the Dump Site Area
In the Ewa Kalaeloa Cultural Context, from a larger International Archeological Research Institute Cultural Resource Inventory of NASBP, MCAS Ewa, by the (Tuggles, Denfeld, Yoklavich, MAI, 1997) there is put forth that a major feature of pre-Contact and early Contact Honouliuli, was the Kualaka‘i Trail, identified by Lt. Malden in an 1825 map featuring the south coast of O‘ahu. This prominent trail once connected Honouliuli Village to the coastal settlements of Oneula and Kualaka‘i, and would have been crucial to life on the ‘Ewa Plain and its coast.
During the early Western contact era of Kanehili there was first ranching
Wild cattle and domestic cattle and cattle ranches. Kanehili was also once a ranch, and had paniolo horse trails throughout the area to manage the cattle and fences. Staying on fixed trails was very important as the area has vast numbers of sinkholes, some difficult to see in the grass and brush in the Kanehili ranchlands.
In 1942 the area became Naval Air Station Barbers point. WW-II caused a major expansion of the base and the original cattle ranch roads were used to access and construct aircraft runways from coral pits dug into the ancient karst limestone reef. This where the Navy began officially using the ancient wetlands and habitation area as a general base dump.
It is very likely that the probability of encountering subsurface archaeological deposits increases with proximity to where ancient trails, wetlands and pond was located as the sinkholes provided water, planting and burial sites.
The International Archeological Research Institute Cultural Resource Inventory of NASBP, MCAS Ewa, by the (Tuggles, Denfeld, Yoklavich, MAI, 1997) indicates many such archeological sites, trails, habitation sites, burial remains, etc exist in the former Naval Air Station.
In the Environmental Assessment done for the nearby DHHL Ka Makana Ali`i Cultural Impact Assessment (CIA) by Pacific Legacy states: "interviewee also recalls the existence of at least one ahu (shrine) in the general area, which was dedicated to agriculture. This ahu ‘aina was made of stacked waterworn basalt boulders and cobbles, likely collected from a nearby stream bed, that stood up to five feet tall and possibly as wide as it was tall with a circular plan view. On these ahu, devotees, including the interviewee, would leave offerings to show appreciation for these natural resources and respect for the divine."
Likely Discovery of New Sinkholes, Caves, Hawaiian burials or Disassociated Iwi Remains
The Ewa Kalaeloa Cultural Context, from a larger International Archeological Research Institute Cultural Resource Inventory of NASBP, MCAS Ewa, by the (Tuggles, Denfeld, Yoklavich, MAI,
1997) states: (Native Hawaiian) Burials- High potential for discovery of additional remains in dunes, habitation and untested sinkholes that may have been covered by base construction.
Cultural Deposits - High potential for discovery of cultural deposits in dunes, habitation and untested sinkholes in areas with demolished surface features.
Haven spoken with various well regarded archeologists they all agree that the last real cultural history and archeology study of the Kanehili area, which was done in 1999, is way out of date. There is still the great likelihood of many archeological sites which have been overlooked, especially below ground caves and sinkholes, which could likely contain iwi.
Horse riders at Barbers Point stables describe many sinkholes throughout the area and the reason why they must stay on proscribed trails when riding.
Past USMC Ewa Field Command History describes karst caves as large as railway box cars.
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Chapter 200 - Environmental Impact Statement Rules HAR § 11-200
"Effects" or "impacts" as used in this chapter are synonymous. Effects may include ecological effects (such as the effects on natural resources and on the components, structures, and functioning of affected ecosystems), aesthetic effects, historic effects, cultural effects, economic effects, social effects, or health effects, whether primary, secondary, or cumulative.
"Environment" means humanity's surroundings, inclusive of all the physical, economic, cultural, and social conditions that exist within the area affected by a proposed action, including land, human and animal communities, air, water, minerals, flora, fauna, ambient noise, and objects of historic or aesthetic significance.
"Environmental impact" means an effect of any kind, whether immediate or delayed, on any component of the environment.
Under the EIS Rules “impacts” are far broader and more inclusive than “significant impacts” as defined under HEPA. The EIS Rules define “impacts”/“effects” as including “primary, secondary, or cumulative” effects. “Secondary impacts” are defined as follows:
"Secondary impact" or "secondary effect" or "indirect impact" or "indirect effect" means effects which are caused by the action and are later in time or farther removed in distance, but are still reasonably foreseeable. Indirect effects may include growth inducing effects and other effects related to induced changes in the pattern of land use, population density or growth rate, and related effects on air and water and other natural systems, including ecosystems.
"Cumulative impacts” are defined as follows:
“Cumulative impact” means the impact on the environment which results from the incremental impact of the action when added to other past, present, and reasonably foreseeable future actions regardless of what agency or person undertakes such other actions. Cumulative impacts can result from individually minor but collectively significant actions taking place over a period of time. HAR § 11-200-2.
Secondary and cumulative impact analysis occurs in three significant steps under the EIS Rules: (1) when applying for an exemption, (2) when preparing an EA, and (3) when preparing an EIS. If this analysis is missing or lacking, the permit granting authority must deny the requisite request by the applicant.
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SECNAVINST 4000.35A, Section 4.b
Protection of the nation's heritage is an essential part of the Department of the Navy (DON) mission - defense of the people, territory, institutions and heritage of the United States. According to SECNAVINST 4000.35A, Section 4.b, "The DON is a large scale owner of historic buildings, districts, archeological sites, ships, aircraft and other cultural resources.
Protection of these components of the nation's heritage is an essential part of the defense mission, and the DON is committed to responsible cultural resources stewardship." SECNAVINST 4000.35A establishes policy and assigns responsibilities within the Department of the Navy for fulfilling legally required cultural resource requirements.
KANEHILI CULTURAL AND ARCHEOLOGICAL REFERENCES
2001 Identification of Native Hawaiian Traditional Cultural Properties, Navy Region Hawaii. Prepared for the Department of the Navy. International Archaeological Research Institute, Inc.
1999 Cultural Resource Management Plan: Naval Air Station, Barbers Point. Prepared for Department of the Navy, Pearl Harbor, Hawaii under contract with Belt Collins Hawaii, Honolulu, Hawaii. International Archaeological Research Institute, Inc., Honolulu.
1997 (Tuggle, J.S. Athens, J. Ward, and David Welch) Environment, Vegetation Change, and Early Human Settlement on the ‘Ewa Plain: A Cultural Resource Inventory of Naval Air Station, Barbers Point, O‘ahu, Hawai‘i. Part III: Paleoenvironmental Investigations. Prepared for Belt Collins Hawaii. International Archaeological Research Institute, Inc., Honolulu.
1997 The ‘Ewa Plain. Hawaiian Archaeology 6:8-36.
1997 Synthesis of Cultural Resource Studies of the ‘Ewa Plain, O‘ahu. Prepared for Belt Collins Hawaii and the U.S. Navy. International Archaeological Research Institute, Inc., Honolulu.
1996 (Tuggle, S. Wickler) A Cultural Resource Inventory of Naval Air Station, Barbers Point, O‘ahu, Hawai‘i; Part II: Phase II Inventory Survey of Selected Sites. Task 2b: Archaeological Research Services for the Proposed Cleanup, Disposal and Reuse of Naval Air Station, Barbers Point, O`ahu, Hawai`i . Prepared for Belt Collins Hawaii. International Archaeological Research Institute, Inc.
1996 Cultural Resource Management Plan: Naval Air Station, Barbers Point, O‘ahu, Hawai‘i. Task 3d: Archaeological Research Services for the Proposed Cleanup, Disposal, and Reuse of Naval Air Station, Barbers Point, O‘ahu, Hawai‘i. Prepared for Belt Collins Hawaii. International Archaeological Research Institute, Inc.
1995 Archaeological Inventory Survey for Construction Projects at Naval Air Station, Barbers Point, O`ahu, Hawai`i. Prepared for Belt Collins Hawaii and the U.S. Navy. International Archaeological Research Institute, Inc., Honolulu.
1995 (Tuggle and C. Erkelens) Interpretive Trail Development Study, NAS Barbers Point. Appendix F, in H. David Tuggle, Archaeological Inventory Survey for Construction Projects at Naval Air Station Barbers Point. Prepared for Belt Collins Hawaii. International Archaeological Research Institute, Inc., Honolulu.
1995 A Cultural Resource Inventory of Naval Air Station, Barbers Point, O‘ahu, Hawai‘i: Part I: Phase I Survey and Inventory Summary. Archaeological research services for the proposed cleanup, disposal and reuse of Naval Air Station, Barbers Point, O‘ahu, Hawai‘i (Task 2a). Prefinal report prepared for Belt Collins Hawaii, Honolulu. International Archaeological Research Institute, Inc., Honolulu.
1994 Cultural Resources of Naval Air Station, Barbers Point: Summary, Assessment and Research Design. Prepared for Belt Collins Hawaii and the U.S. Navy. International Archaeological Research Institute, Inc., Honolulu.
1991 Archaeological Survey of Two Demonstration Trails of the Hawaii Statewide Trail and Access System. Prepared for Na Ala Hele Statewide Trails and Access Program, Department of Land and Natural Resources. International Archaeological Research Institute, Inc., Honolulu.
The Navy remediation plan actually only covers a small part of this dump site area
Subsurface ground water traveling through the karst springs up through the coral quarry pit and moves water throughout the Navy dump site and into the nearby beaches, reef and ocean. The daily tides also move water back and forth underground twice a day.
Overlay shows a 1928 air photo on the closed former naval air station and the
adjacent ancient karst water ponds.
The 1928 air photo also shows the very distinctive submarine water outlets which created highly prolific coastal sealife and fisheries which all feed in the rich freshwater nutrients - today this is all being killed off and turned into an underwater desert
Top circle shows ancient karst pond. Today the water floods into the Navy quarry site
Water stands nearly year around because the entire area was a known wetlands before
the WW-II base was built and also noted in Navy NRAC and 1943 Army engineer maps
WW-II Navy quarry site floods with periodic subsurface water after heavy rains
Navy seeks comment on waste mitigation plan
- Honolulu Star-Advertiser 16 Jun 2017 By William Cole wcole@staradvertiser.com
The Navy is seeking public comment on a proposal to spend $1.2 million to reduce potential exposure to chemicals at a Barbers Point landfill where asbestos and burned municipal waste were in trash dumped between 1942 and 1997. Surface soil contains antimony, lead and hydrocarbons that exceed state Department of Health action levels, the Navy said. The Navy is proposing to add cover material, put in place erosion control measures, add perimeter warning signs and conduct a review every five years at the industrial site in an old coral pit south of Runway 11 at Kalaeloa Airport.
Under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act, also known as Superfund, the Navy is responsible for the investigation and cleanup of contamination resulting from its past operations.
Karst Systems Covered Under US Clean Water Act
"An unbroken surface or shallow sub-surface hydrologic connection to
jurisdictional waters may be established by a physical feature or
discrete conveyance that supports periodic flow between the wetland
and a jurisdictional water. Water does not have to be continuously
present in this hydrologic connection and the flow between the wetland
and the jurisdictional water may move in either or both directions.
The hydrologic connection need not itself be a water of the U.S. A
shallow subsurface hydrologic connection is lateral water flow through
a shallow subsurface layer, such as may be found in steeply sloping
forested areas with shallow soils, soils with a restrictive horizon,
or in karst systems."
jurisdictional waters may be established by a physical feature or
discrete conveyance that supports periodic flow between the wetland
and a jurisdictional water. Water does not have to be continuously
present in this hydrologic connection and the flow between the wetland
and the jurisdictional water may move in either or both directions.
The hydrologic connection need not itself be a water of the U.S. A
shallow subsurface hydrologic connection is lateral water flow through
a shallow subsurface layer, such as may be found in steeply sloping
forested areas with shallow soils, soils with a restrictive horizon,
or in karst systems."
A major karst cave site in Ewa in the 1970's was being destroyed by workers when the opening grew so large work finally had to be stopped and archaeologists were called in. After a fairly quick examination and some photos it was destroyed. Pre-Western contact Oahu has many, many native Hawaiian stories of very large sea caves and coral water channels. Schools of mullet were well known to pass under Oahu from places such as Hawaii Kai to Kailua's Enchanted Lakes via underground lava tubes connected to karst cave entrance portals.
The Ewa Plain covers the southwestern corner of the island of Oahu, Hawaii. The coastal portion of the Ewa Plain is overlain by reef limestone material deposited during numerous past high stands of sea level. The uppermost limestone layer is called the Upper Limestone Aquifer (ULA).
Deep karst waterway channels flow underground through the entire Ewa Plain
Mike Lee: Mountain water and rain fall streams flow directly through the Ewa Plain ancient
coral reef and into the shore and reef system, affecting the health and pollution of these traditional native Hawaiian resources which are also the basis for Oahu's marine ecosystem.
coral reef and into the shore and reef system, affecting the health and pollution of these traditional native Hawaiian resources which are also the basis for Oahu's marine ecosystem.
KARST: What Is It and WHY Is It Called That?
Karst is actually very wide spread all over North and South America as well as worldwide.
Karst is actually one of the most important natural systems on the planet. Native Hawaiian culture made very great use of karst terrain and the ecosystems it created in the islands.
The international community has settled on karst, the German name for Kras, a region in Slovenia partially extending into Italy, where it is called "Carso" and where the first scientific research of a karst topography was made.
Karst landforms are generally the result of mildly acidic water acting on weakly soluble bedrock such as limestone or dolostone. The mildly acidic water begins to dissolve the surface along fractures or bedding planes in the limestone bedrock. Over time, these fractures enlarge as the bedrock continues to dissolve. Openings in the rock increase in size, and an underground drainage system begins to develop, allowing more water to pass through the area, and accelerating the formation of underground karst features.
The carbonic acid that causes these features is formed as rain passes through the atmosphere picking up CO2, which dissolves in the water. Once the rain reaches the ground, it may pass through soil that can provide much more CO2 to form a weak carbonic acid solution, which dissolves calcium carbonate.
Near the coast the brackish ground water floats
on saline water as a Ghyben-Herzberg lens
on saline water as a Ghyben-Herzberg lens
A location near Barbers Point where the surface karst layer was cut like a knife using a large powerful quarry saw shows a cross section of ancient life that may have included human or
ancient bird bones, ancient seeds long extinct and other important pre-history clues.
Receiving surface and ground waters are both susceptible to contamination from these pollutants.
Contaminants can reach ground water quickly through fractured rock formations or sinkholes in karst areas, such as that found in Ewa. Ground water is more sensitive to contamination in these areas because runoff may pass directly into the subsurface with little if any infiltration through the soil, a process that typically filters at least some pollutants.
The Ewa Karst is the largest on the island of Oahu
William R. Halliday The Cave Conservationist February 1998
It covers at least 50 km2 in the southwest corner of the island of Oahu. It is a semitropical
littoral karst formed on porous, permeable algal and coralline reef deposits formed during
at least three high stands of sea level.
From present sea level these formations rise to an altitude of about 20 m. Tidal fluctuations
extend inland from the shore line but freshwater at least 10 m deep has been found within 2 km of the shore, floating on salt water in the form of a Ghyben-Herzberg lens.
The U.S. Geological Survey Ewa Quadrangle shows numerous sinking streams and closed depressions within the Ewa Karst.
Despite its impressive extent and archaeological and palaeontological values, the Ewa Karst is almost entirely unknown to karstographers and speleologists.
The U.S. Geological Survey Ewa Quadrangle shows numerous sinking streams and closed depressions within the Ewa Karst.
Despite its impressive extent and archaeological and palaeontological values, the Ewa Karst is almost entirely unknown to karstographers and speleologists.
In 1955, the late Harold S. Palmer (Professor of Geology at the University of Hawaii) told
me he had seen a meter-long stalactite said to have come from a cave in the Ewa Karst.
An entire bountiful ecosystem and cultural heritage
being destroyed by developers
Off the Ewa shore are the numerous huge circular holes in the still
living reef where vast amounts of upland fresh water has run through the
ancient Karst reef and out into the sea through underground caves.
These huge fresh water outlets create excellent fishing grounds and
feed nutrients into the sea that create ideal spawning conditions.
These once fantastic ecosystems fed native Hawaiians for a thousand
years however the waters are increasingly being diverted, cut off and
polluted by up stream development on the Ewa Plain.
Fresh spring water is especially important in the propagation of plant and sea life and the food chains they create- from limu on up to large pelagic fish.
Surface and ground waters are very susceptible to contamination from pollutants.
Contaminants can reach ground water quickly through fractured rock formations or sinkholes in karst areas, such as that found in Ewa. Ground water is more sensitive to contamination in these areas because runoff may pass directly into the subsurface with little if any infiltration through the soil, a process that typically filters at least some pollutants.
The health of the reef and wetlands directly sustains Oahu's marine life.
5.4.1 Surface Water
There is no natural surface water flow through the project area and no evidence of channels where water would have flowed in the past. The highly permeable soil and rock allow storm water to percolate into the ground. Due to the flat topography, runoff collects in natural sinkholes for infiltration into the subsurface. Navy BRAC (Tuggle, 1997).
There is no natural surface water flow through the project area and no evidence of channels where water would have flowed in the past. The highly permeable soil and rock allow storm water to percolate into the ground. Due to the flat topography, runoff collects in natural sinkholes for infiltration into the subsurface. Navy BRAC (Tuggle, 1997).
John Bond, President
Kanehili Cultural Hui,
PO Box 75578,
Kapolei, Hi. 96707
