Posted on: Thursday, June 24, 2004
Sand Island park to remain closed for another month
By Curtis Lum
Advertiser Staff Writer
Repair work on a ruptured sewage line at Sand Island could be completed by next week, but it will be at least another month before the state recreation area will be reopened because of restoration work at the park.
Jeff Widener • The Honolulu Advertiser Repair work began immediately, but was delayed because special parts had to be custom-made on the Mainland. When the parts arrived last month, one of the plugs for a 78-inch line was damaged and had to be sent back.
City spokeswoman Carol Costa said yesterday that the work is nearly complete. On Friday, inspectors from Sea Engineering Co. will don special air hoses and walk the length of the repaired pipeline, which crosses beneath the harbor.
Costa said the inspection should take from three to four days.
"The divers will go down and verify that everything's A-OK with that line and it's ready to open," she said.
But portions of the park had to be torn up during the repair work and will have to be restored, she said. The work includes new sprinklers and sidewalks and will take at least a month to complete, Costa said.
"Everybody has been asking, 'Can you get it open for July 4th?' " she said. "We cannot do that. What they've asked us to do will take longer than until July 4th."
Deborah Ward, Department of Land and Natural Resources spokeswoman, said state officials are hopeful that the park could reopen by August or Labor Day at the latest. The park is one of the state's most popular recreation areas and campgrounds, Ward said.
"We get calls just about every day asking when the park will be open," Ward said.
"It's unfortunate that this happened, and we're just glad that the city has been working diligently to correct the problem, and they'll be putting the park back the way it was, and that we'll be able to reopen as soon as we possibly can. Everyone misses it.
Reach Curtis Lum at 525-8025 or culum@honoluluadvertiser.com.
The Sand Island park has been closed since March 4 when a 66-inch pressurized main that feeds into the Sand Island Wastewater Treatment Plant broke. About 2 million gallons of raw sewage spilled at the park and into Honolulu Harbor.
A road block has been set up at the entrance to the park, which has been closed since a massive sewage spill in March.
