NEWS BRIEFS

• TRAFFIC ALERTS: Here are the planned lane closures on Highway 11 for December 6 through December 12, courtesy the Hawaii Department of Transportation:

1) VICINITY OF VOLCANO TO KAPAPALA RANCH
Alternating single lane closures on Volcano Road (Route 11) in both directions between Milepost Markers 45.6 and 39.5 in the vicinity of Volcano to Kapapala Ranch, Monday, December 8, through Thursday, December 11, from 8:30 a.m. to 3 p.m., for roadway pavement reconstruction.

• KA’U CHAMBER ENDORSES TWO PROJECTS – The Ka`u Chamber of Commerce membership decided to endorse to projects during its annual meeting in Discovery Harbor, according to a recent Ka’u Calendar report. The first project is Ocean View’s second potable water well in Ocean View. The second is the Heritage Center of Ka`u, which will be located makai of Highway 11 and will serve as a Ocean View-side gateway visitor center. The next two videos show the two projects have been discussed at different Hawaii County Council meetings in recent months.

• NEXT KA’U CDP MEETING – The Ka‘u CDP Steering Committee meets again on Saturday, December 13, at 10:00am, at the Na’alehu Community Center. Its a continuation of the meeting that started on October 14 and was continued to October 28 and November 15. The committee hopes to conclude “discussion of and Recommendations for the September 2014 ‘Working Draft’ of the Ka‘u CDP” as well as a “Review of and Recommendations for the Proposed Approach to Community Review of the Draft CDP.” More info at www.kaucdp.info.
• BIG BEACH CLEANUP – The Hawaii Wildlife Fund recovered 4.5 tons of net and line from the Kaʻū coast on Friday, ending its 2014 marine debris season. This media release has the details.

On Friday, the Hawaii Wildlife Fund (HWF) ended its 2014 marine debris season loading net and line into a container for shipment to Honolulu. The HWF team loaded about 4.5 tons of net into a 40’ trailer provided by Matson Navigation’s “Ka Ipu ‘Āina” program. Megan Lamson, Marine Debris Project Coordinator for HWF, said “Most of the net and line was recovered from the southeast Kaʻū coast.” The container will be shipped to Oʻahu, where Schnitzer Steel will chop it into pieces and then it will be burned at the Covanta H-Power plant. This Nets-to-Energy partnership was arranged by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Marine Debris Program to keep the material out of the landfill and create electricity with it. Since 2005, HWF’s tally for these net and line shipments is about 75tons.

Lamson said, “This container shipment is only a fraction of the total debris we’ve collected from the Hawaiʻi Island shoreline. This year, winds and currents brought in different proportions of marine debris — less net and line, and a higher percentage of other floating debris, including fish traps, buoys, crates, tires, boat pieces, and an extensive list of normal household items.” While HWF works with other groupson the island gathering debris from multiple sites, their main focus is on the Kaʻū coast where more debris washes ashore than any other place in the main Hawaiian Islands. The organization began this work in 2003 and in recent years has been removing an annual average of 15-20 tons for a total to date of about 173 tons. The HWF marine debris cleanup work is supported with a grant from NOAA. But, Lamson said “We have other local partners that also help with in-kind donations and funding and we have a large group of volunteers that are critical to the overall effort. The container loading, for example, would not be possible without the tractor assistance provided by JD Services, LLC.”

She said “We organize community cleanups about every other month and dozens of volunteers show up to these events. Our volunteers are an enthusiastic mix of regulars and first-time collectors and are greatfun to work with; we recognize them as our most effect tool in our marine debris removal efforts.” The next large cleanup event in Kaʻū will be held on Saturday, February 7th. To volunteer or for more information on HWF’s other activities see wildhawaii.org or contact kahakai.cleanups@gmail.com or (808) 769-7629.Hawaiʻi Wildlife Fund media release on Dec. 7, 2014

From the Hawaii Wildlife Fund: “Group image of the net loading team with the container of nets in the background. L to R (with affiliations): Megan Lamson/HWF, Nohealani Ka’awa/DLNR-DOFAW, Stacey Breining/HWF, Ryan Levita/HWF, and Kallie Barnes/HWF.”

From the Hawaii Wildlife Fund: “Ryan Levita and Stacey Breining (with HWF) hard at work during the net loading with the JD Services, LLC. skidsteer and operator in the backdrop.”