Waimanalo loads up rubbish

Prisoners were among the 600 or so people who took part in the Waimanalo cleanup Saturday, clearing trash from streams, fields and roadsides. Deborah Booker • The Honolulu Advertiser

By Eloise Aguiar
Advertiser Windward O'ahu Writer

WAIMANALO — One thousand tires, 300 automobile batteries and 75 junk cars were among the trash removed by some 600 volunteers in Waimanalo on Saturday in one of the biggest cleanup efforts in the area since 1988.

So much rubbish was collected that the city expects to take the rest of the week to pick it all up.

On Saturday, rain drenched workers all morning long but they refused to stop working and the cleanup swept through this Windward beach and farm community.

"It was beyond anybody's comprehension," said Mabel Ann Spencer, one of the coordinators with the Waimanalo Clean Up Coalition. "It was overwhelming, but because it had such wide community support, it was wonderful."

Church groups, homestead alliances, farmers and businesses and individuals from teens to kupuna all participated, giving their time, using their equipment, paying for lunch after the work and for gasoline needed to run the equipment.

The total tonnage was so large that the coalition and the city had to revamp their strategy in the middle of the day, said Spencer.

Instead of collecting the trash at various curb collection sites and removing it that day, they decided to take much of it to Waimanalo Bay State Park. Tons of trash were stockpiled there, and the city cleared that area on Sunday, she said.

But other trash awaiting pickup is still stacked throughout the community.

Yesterday, about 40 piles of debris were scattered over a two-mile stretch of Hihimanu Street. The piles were neatly sorted by contents, including tires, pieces of telephone poles, metal scraps, wood and cans of paint, along with gray plastic bags full of smaller pieces of trash.

A huge amount of junk sits in front of the Convenience Refuse Center, a city trash collection drop-off. The city is removing the last of the bulky items this week, but residents should not add to the remaining piles, Spencer said.

Residents should call the city's Bulky Item Pickup — 262-8346 from Waimanalo — to schedule a pick-up time.

A complete list of all the trash collected and disposed of hasn't been compiled yet, but the numbers will be significant, said state Rep. Joe Gomes, R-51st (Waimanalo, Keolu Hills, Lanikai, Enchanted Lake).

"We were so incredibly successful that we couldn't get everything out," Gomes said.

A crew of local residents plans to go out again Saturday to remove more of the collected trash, Gomes said.

There have been numerous cleanups in Waimanalo, but this latest effort was the largest since a Hawaiian Home Lands cleanup in 1988, Spencer said.

The latest project was a learning experience that will help in future cleanups, said Liz Martinez, another coalition coordinator.

Martinez focused on derelict automobiles, which were strewn throughout the community in stream beds, on farms and by the side of the road.

"The generosity of the farmers and the people who had tractors and front-end loaders was outstanding," Martinez said.

Now, the coalition will refocus its energy on keeping the area clean and apprehending offenders who leave the junk rather than disposing of it properly, Spencer said.

"We're going after the people that dump," she said. "If there are violators out there that continue to abuse our roadways and environment, we're going after them. We're not going to stand for any more abuse."

Reach Eloise Aguiar at eaguiar@honoluluadvertiser.com or 234-5266.