Posted on: Friday, July 12, 2002

Ala Wai dredging: Let's get on with it

It'll be noisy, smelly and obtrusive, but it's got to be done.

The year-long dredging of the Ala Wai has provoked a barrage of worries ranging from inconveniences to hardships as the American Marine Corp. removes 170,000 cubic yards of nasty material to deepen the canal from less than 6 inches in some places to 6 to 12 feet.

Sure, the muck will stink as it comes out of the water. Sure, the workboats will get in the way of paddlers. And, yes, the dredging will be noisy — well into the night or even all night long, if the contractor receives permission.

There are any number of half-measures that can reduce the impact. For instance, the company says the sediment will smell less if it sprays water on it rather than letting it dry in the scows that will carry it under the Ala Wai bridges to the ocean.

It's also important that no toxic materials be dumped at sea, but instead go into remediation treatment. That's especially true of the last area to be dredged, at the Kapahulu Avenue end of the canal.

But the fact is there's little that will keep the dredging from being an unpleasant imposition overall. Perhaps the lesson to be learned from all this is not to wait nearly a quarter of a century before the next dredging.