Ko‘olina Beaches back to open?

"that's a filled blood vile"

KO‘OLINA BEACHES, SAFE TO SWIM AGAIN?

...an update....

Just yesterday, Sunday, the State of Hawaii issued a statement that Ko‘olina and the portions of the Waianae coast that were contaminated by medical waste, is now safe to swim at. The beaches are now completely open to the public, and open to the 1000‘s of NFL Pro Bowlers and families who will be traveling to Hawaii in the following days.

Personally, my opinion, is the timing of this statement seems a bit too convenient and the beaches are still not safe to swim at.

In the past week, Oahu had been hit by a handful of extreme downpours which caused extensive flooding on the west side of Oahu. Farms were wiped out, roads were flooded, and most notably, portions of garbage landfills were washed downstream. The Waimanalo Gulch Landfill which sits on the mountain directly above Ko‘olina, doubles as the disposal site for our States medical waste. This medical waste, by the floods, made its way downstream, to the ocean, and then washed ashore, littering the beaches of Ko‘olina and the Waianae coastline.

Found on the shoreline were used hypodermic needles, used test tubes, and filled blood viles. Consequently, the State immediately closed the beaches down to swimming and fishing.

In the days that followed, the State of Hawaii sent a handful of small crews to pick up the medical waste that washed ashore. Their small crews unfortunately did not work diligently enough as residents of the area were still able to easily find medical waste along the shoreline. The State also issued a statement saying that the medical waste was sterilized and decontaminated, so the public was not in any true medical danger.

Really? How can filled blood viles be decontaminated? Isn‘t medical waste supposed to be incinerated?

Much of the cleanup at Ko‘olina was done by the resort itself, and not the State. Volunteers, not the State, cleaned up most of the Waianae coastline. The State of Hawaii though has taken credit for the cleanup.

What troubles me that although the shoreline may be free of medical waste, is the shoreline actually safe to swim at? Although the medical waste would float to the top of the water, is there a possibility that the huge surf we experienced during the storms could have embedded the medical waste into the sand below? Before opening the beach, shouldn‘t the State send divers in to clean the reefs and sandy bottoms of these popular swimming holes? Shouldn't there be some type of dredging going on here?

These were found at the cove adjacent to the cove that we use.

My opinion. The beaches at Ko‘olina may still not be safe to swim at. I wouldn't believe the reports by the State that claim they are. Their safety statement was purely a political one to make sure the Pro Bowl would stay in Hawaii for years to come.

Picture taken one day after the medical spill...

For weddings though, the cove in which I perform our weddings is still safe to use. In fact, in the day following the medical waste spill, we had a wedding there! There were no signs of any medical waste at the cove which I frequent. But at the cove next door, the beach was littered with needles, blood viles, you name it. So rest assured, that we can still have your wedding there if you choose to. I just wouldn't go swimming in the ocean around that area anytime soon.


Steve Young

The Wedding Guy Report
http://www.dreamweddingshawaii.com