Group vows crackdown on illegal dumping
By Eloise Aguiar
Advertiser Windward O'ahu Writer
KAILUA — For decades, Kapa'a Quarry Road has been a dumping ground, with people leaving everything from household goods to automobiles and construction materials on the otherwise picturesque stretch between Kalaniana'ole Highway and Mokapu Saddle Road.
Now, a newly formed group vows to stop the dumping with policing and prosecution.
"We want people to know that a special-duty police officer will be hired to monitor the road and catch illegal dumpers," said Shannon Wood, organizer of the Kapa'a Quarry Road Working Group. "And we are going to prosecute them to the fullest extent of the law."
The group plans to employ other measures as well, including education, beautification and legislation, Wood said.
It also will seek grants for remediation, raise money for security and request more community involvement, Wood said.
"It's not a one-shot thing," she said. "We're here, and we're working on resolving a multitude of problems."
The group consists of about 30 Kailua residents, Kapa'a Quarry Road property owners, community groups and businessmen. They are working in conjunction with the city and with Sen. Melodie Aduja, D-23rd (Kane'ohe, Kahu-ku), co-chairwoman of the interim Senate Waste Management Committee.
University of Hawai'i students are studying dumping patterns to try to determine who is dumping what, and when, Wood said. The information will help the group determine when to post its hired guards.
Group member John King said various businesses and individuals have committed $11,000 for police patrols. Some $3,000 to $4,000 more tentatively has been promised, said King, president of All Pool & Spa, which is off Kapa'a Quarry Road.
From decades ago when the road led to a municipal landfill and an automobile junkyard, too many people have perceived the area as a dump site, group members said. Back then, people wouldn't bother to go the last half-mile to the landfill and would leave their trash on the side of the road. At times, the road resembled an obstacle course as trash spilled onto the pavement.
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The junkyard long has been cleaned out and the landfill closed, but the reputation remains, King said.
Businesses and residents near Kapa'a Quarry Road say a lingering perception of the area as a place to leave trash has led to persistent illegal dumping, which a group has pledged to battle through policing.
"Everybody thinks of it as a dump road," King said. "We gotta get that changed."
Today, the road leads to several businesses, the city transfer station where people can take trash, and a green-waste facility.
The group is considering asking the city to keep the transfer station open longer or to provide bins for people when it is closed.
Beautification projects are being planned, and some of the businesses are clearing the view plane to the marsh and landscaping areas to make it more pleasing, said group member Steve Nimz. There's also talk of clearing the area under the monkeypod trees at the Mokapu end of the road and planting grass and placing benches there.
The theory is if it's beautiful, people will be less likely to dump, said Nimz, president and part owner of Hawaiian Earth Products, which is located off Kapa'a Quarry Road.
Nimz said he is sure the dumpers are only a handful of people, and if the public would help by taking down license plate numbers when they see dumping, it would help the group clean up the area.
Larry Leopardi, director and chief engineer of the city's Department of Facility Maintenance, believes the worst offenders are small hauling operators who charge very little because they know they'll leave the trash along the road.
The city picks up illegally dumped trash all over the island, he said, but Kapa'a Quarry Road has more than its share.
Leopardi said education is key to a long-term solution.
"We feel by the city just picking it up, what we're doing is rewarding the illegal behavior," he said.
Group member Kathy Bryant-Hunter said the group is fortunate to have many of the stakeholders and businesses in the quarry area involved, because residents alone couldn't resolve the problem.
"The idea of posting guards and doing studies is only happening because those businesses will underwrite it," said Bryant-Hunter, Kailua Neighborhood Board chairwoman. Without them, "we'd be looking at some neighborhood watch program, and frankly I don't know if we'd be able to do that."
Reach Eloise Aguiar at eaguiar@honoluluadvertiser.com or 234-5266.
