Ewa Hawaii Karst: dangerous for swimmers

Showing posts with label dangerous for swimmers. Show all posts

Wednesday, June 19, 2013

Karst Cave Hiking Adventure: Moili'ili Karst Exploration

http://notsogreathikingblog.blogspot.com/2012/06/moiliili-karst-exploration.html

Rather than go into a long dissertation about how this limestone cave system was created here under the shadow of the Ko'olau Volcano, the short version is that a very long time ago the sea level on O'ahu was much higher and the area near the University of Hawaii was once covered by a coral reef.

As the sea levels dropped the reef was exposed to the air and died. Springs and runoff from the mountains above ate into the limestone layer left by the reef creating a network of caves. Most have either collapsed or been filled in over the years.

These systems are also found other places on the leeward coast. This fantastic link that explains everything about this system in far more detail than I could.

http://www.caves.org/pub/journal/PDF/V60/V60N3-Halliday.pdf

Before we go further, despite what the link says the water in the cave system is anything but clean just from visual observation.

Further, access to the system is tenuous at best and there is a danger of both flash flooding and the possibility of a cave in.

Neither scenario is a good one because there is only one way in and one way out of the cave. No directions and no names and, for the record, I was never there either.

I didn't see much in the way of plant or animal life, just a few roots hanging from the ceiling from trees above and some type of small fish. In fact I'd call it more of a guppy than a fish. Others reported seeing some type of shrimp.

Someone spotted a centipede- something no one was excited to hear about but it made for great conversation about how many more there might be down here, what mutant sizes they would reach, and how their appetite for human flesh would have developed.

While it wasn't much of a hike or trail, I'm glad to have had the opportunity to visit this unique and interesting place. Perhaps someday I'll return but I can assure you, it won't be alone and it won't be anytime soon!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/xjcreations/sets/72157630045534695/

Oahu Karst Cave Photo and Video Links:

The Moiliili Karst Formation http://explorebiodiversity.com/Hawaii/hikes/Moiliili/cavemap.html

http://explorebiodiversity.com/Hawaii/hikes/Moiliili/caveorganisms.html

Moili'ili Karst Cave Exploration http://www.alohafrom808.com/2012/06/moiliili-karst-cave-exploration-june-2012/

Moili'ili Karst Exploration http://notsogreathikingblog.blogspot.com/2012/06/moiliili-karst-exploration.html

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=RrGTMYk5cXI

Moiliili Karst http://easyhikerhawaii.blogspot.com/2012/07/moiliili-karst.html

Mōʻiliʻili Karst (Mōʻiliʻili Water Cave)http://totakeresponsibility.blogspot.com/2012/12/moiliili-karst-moiliili-water-cave.html

Hiking Hawaii: Moiliili (Honolulu, Hawaii) Karst Cave

by Easy Hiker

http://easyhikerhawaii.blogspot.com/2012/07/moiliili-karst.html

Around 4am that morning we were met at our house by two of our good friends who would be joining us. We grabbed our bags and headlamps and half asleep, set off on our drive to Manoa.

We were forced to low and at points crawl, but in just a few short minutes we had reached the cave system.

The water was very clear and the cave, in and of itself, was a very pleasing sight. As we began to make our way further into the cave, the water was about chest high.

The water that was incredibly clear was now becoming murky due to those in front of me stirring up the silt as they trudged along. At points I felt like we were walking in quick sand, but only a few parts were really bad.

Every time one of us grabbed the ceiling of the cave, a ton of rocks would fall.

At one point, shortly after we had entered the cave system, I propped myself up onto a rock. As everyone was talking, the rock I was standing on, suddenly gave way and I went tumbling. My first instinct was to save my DSLR camera (which I did).

A few moments later I realized that I had sliced my right leg open in numerous of spots and was bleeding extremely well.

I thought the cave was spectacular, but had no griped about turning around. We all had a lot of fun on our way back to the entrance but as we got closer to exiting my friend noticed a set of eyes in the distance, staring at us.

My wife hid behind a pillar as my friend tried to duck behind her. After a few minutes of being slightly scared, and extremely paranoid, my other buddy caught up to us and informed us that the eyes were merely the tunnel entrance in the distance, with light shinning through now that it was daylight out.

While the adventure was fairly short, it was filled with laughs and good times with good friends. I am not gonna make a habit of visiting this cave, but I will definetly go back sooner rather than later.

Wednesday, May 22, 2013

Waikiki Ala Wai Canal Is Dangerous, Bacteria Infested Water - Paddle At Your Own Risk

http://www.civilbeat.com/articles/2013/05/22/19076-ala-wai-canal-if-it-makes-you-sick-why-not-shut-down-public-access/

Karen Ah Mai, executive director of the Ala Wai Watershed Association, says she became involved in trying to clean up the canal years ago out of concern for her daughter, a paddler.

“Every mom’s horror story is that their child will overturn their canoe in the Ala Wai Canal,” she said. “And after she did that twice, I said, my God, I need to do something about this because moms have nightmares about their children falling in the Ala Wai Canal.”

Ah Mai also worried that her daughter could get sick simply by swallowing the contaminated water.

“If they should accidentally drink some of that water, I dread to think what would happen to their systems,” she said. “When the kids are paddling during the high school season, we know that most of the kids are going to get an infection.”

Health experts say that the pollutants in the canal can cause skin, ear, eye and throat infections, as well as painful gastrointestinal illnesses. More serious concerns center around bacterial infections that can be resistant to antibiotics.

Paddlers with open wounds are at particular risk.

“You really have to get those cleaned out well because that is a broth of bacteria,” said Dr. Jim Ireland, a kidney specialist and former emergency services director for the city.

But despite the warnings of health experts and the concerns of paddlers and parents like Ah Mai, there’s little support for banning paddling, and in particular, outrigger canoe racing — Hawaii’s state sport and an interscholastic high school sport.

The Ala Wai Canal is one of the best places to practice and race because of its flat, controlled environment.

In the evenings, paddlers gliding along the canal have a view of the thousands of lights that illuminate the Waikiki skyline. And as they head out past the mouth of the canal and into the open ocean they’re greeted with the turquoise Waikiki waters lit by the brilliant hues from the sun setting along the horizon.

Outrigger canoe paddlers say that the Ala Wai Canal is one of the few places to practice around Honolulu that has an exit to the ocean. Waikiki and the beach at Ala Moana have been off limits for years.

US EPA Treats Hawaii Like Third World Basket Case So Clean Water Legal Action Lacking

http://www.civilbeat.com/articles/2013/05/22/19076-ala-wai-canal-if-it-makes-you-sick-why-not-shut-down-public-access/

Environmental attorneys have sued the state in the past in order to force action on water quality. But even they have little inclination to take on the Ala Wai Canal again.

They say there is no federal requirement to shut down the canal. The state is required to come up with a federally approved plan to reduce the bacteria counts, which it hasn't done, and the EPA, which has the power to intervene, hasn't made the state comply, environmental advocates say.

That means the only recourse is to sue the state for failing to comply with Clean Water Act regulations, they say.

Both state and federal officials said the lack of resources is the real problem and that the state health department doesn't have enough people or money to address all the water pollution throughout the state.

Right now the state’s priorities are on tackling pollution in areas such as Hanalei Bay on Kauai, where the water contains high bacteria counts, and west Maui, where injection wells could be polluting the nearshore waters, says Watson Okubo, who supervises water monitoring for the state health department’s clean water branch.

Dean Higuchi, a spokesman for the EPA, acknowledged that the state was required by federal law to come up with a plan to reduce the bacteria levels in the Ala Wai Canal. But the EPA has no intention of cracking down. He said that the state's limited resources could be put to better use in other areas.

“The Ala Wai (watershed) is a very large, large area that will take an immense amount of resources,” he said. "If you sink all your resources into the Ala Wai, then others get neglected.”

Daniel Cooper, an attorney for San Francisco-based Lawyers for Clean Water, said that the Clean Water Act doesn't have "a lack of resources exception."

“So the state says, ‘Oh it doesn’t matter.’ But they are violating federal law right now,” Cooper said.

He said it’s “disgraceful” for the EPA to take the position it has no legal obligation to try to force the state to comply.

Waikiki Ala Wai Canal A Long Smelly Mess

http://www.civilbeat.com/articles/2013/05/22/19076-ala-wai-canal-if-it-makes-you-sick-why-not-shut-down-public-access/

The Ala Wai is classified as a Class 2 body of water under the 1972 Clean Water Act, landmark federal legislation passed to clean up the nation’s polluted waterways.

The classification means the state must keep the canal safe for recreational use “in and on” the water, as well as protect its aquatic life.

But a Civil Beat review of the past seven years of data on enterococci — a bacteria the state uses as an indicator for dangerous levels of pathogens — shows that the canal fails state standards the majority of the time. Bacteria levels in the canal rarely fall below the state’s safe limit for recreational bodies of water and often spike tens of times higher than acceptable levels.

A toxic soup of other pollutants have been detected in the canal over the years, too, including heavy metals, pesticides and excessive levels of nutrients that can cause algae blooms and can be harmful to human health.

[VIDEO] Part Three: Is The Ala Wai An Asset Or A Liability?

While the federal Clean Water Act requires states to set a safe standard for recreational bodies of water, if a waterbody fails the standard, there's no requirement to shut it down.

"You don't remove the use because the standards aren't met," said Janet Hashimoto, a manager for water quality standards in the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's San Francisco office, which oversees Hawaii.

"The expectation is one of these days it will meet the use of the standards."
But past data on bacteria levels suggest the state is far from on its way to meeting those standards.

Waikiki Ala Wai Canal: Makes You Sick - Shut Down Public Access?

Waikiki Ala Wai Canal: Makes You Sick

- Shut Down Public Access?

http://www.civilbeat.com/articles/2013/05/22/19076-ala-wai-canal-if-it-makes-you-sick-why-not-shut-down-public-access/

Twain Newhart is about to take off in a one-man kayak on the Ala Wai Canal. He lifts up his leg and points to a black scab.

“It happens all the time,” he says. “It can be bad. It can be really bad. The staph, if it is staph, is the one problem that all paddlers in the Ala Wai face.”

Another paddler displays a deep scar on his hip where an infection had to be drained.
It’s an all too common problem.

Every year, hundreds of canoe racers, from children to adults, paddle out into the murky waters of the Ala Wai Canal even though the water — by the state’s own standards — isn’t safe for recreation.

For more than two decades, the canal has regularly failed state and federal water quality standards for recreational bodies of water, limits that are in place to keep people from getting sick.

But there is little if any thought given to banning public use of the Ala Wai Canal and some health officials shrug off their own data on high bacterial counts.

Markus Owens, a spokesman for the city of Honolulu's Department of Environmental Services, says he doesn't think the data is a good indicator of health risks.

But many paddlers say that the health problems in the canal are rife. One paddling coach, who contracted MRSA, a staph infection that can be life threatening, says he advises his paddlers to take preventive antibiotics.

In 2006, a man died from bacterial infections he contracted after he fell in the canal soon after the city had dumped raw sewage into it.

And taxpayers have been forced to pay at least $200,000 to settle a lawsuit brought by a surfer who also suffered from life-threatening bacterial infections related to sewage dumping in the canal. She was surfing off Waikiki Beach and was infected after she cut herself on coral.

But some say that the canal's pollution amounts to more of a nuisance than a serious health hazard.
"We don't have bodies lying in the street," said June Harrigan-Lum, a former state health official.

"That is where there would be a serious investigation and enforcement. Yes, people do get infections and they get sick and the infections clear up and not much is done."

Even the paddlers themselves say they’d rather put up with the scabs, boils and rashes then give up their prime recreational site. In fact, they worry that bringing attention to their health problems could prompt the government to shut it down.

“I don’t want to complain because we like using it,” said Rachel Orange, who coaches one of the competitive paddling teams that regularly train on the Ala Wai.

VIDEO: Waikiki Canal Builders Didn't Look To The Future

http://www.civilbeat.com/articles/2013/05/20/19079-video-canal-builders-didnt-look-to-the-future/

Hawaii civic leaders hoped the Ala Wai Canal would bring economic prosperity and stop the spread of disease they thought was coming from the fields and wetlands. In the 1920s, no one gave much thought to what the destruction of the ecosystem might mean for a future filled with a million people.

VIDEO: Waikiki Canal Builders Didn't Look To The Future

http://www.civilbeat.com/articles/2013/05/20/19079-video-canal-builders-didnt-look-to-the-future/

DATA: Waikiki Ala Wai Water Bacteria Danger Levels Off The Charts

DATA: Waikiki Ala Wai Water Bacteria Danger Levels

Off The Charts

http://www.civilbeat.com/articles/2013/05/22/19127-data-ala-wai-bacteria-levels-off-the-charts/

The Ala Wai Canal far exceeds the state's safe standard for bacteria levels associated with skin, nose, air and eye infections, as well as well as painful gastrointestinal illnesses.

The charts below show the levels of enterococci bacteria detected in the canal since 2006. Tests for enterococci suggest whether there's fecal matter in the water, whether from human or animal sources. The test also indicates whether there are high levels of other pathogens that can make people sick.

The data, provided by the city of Honolulu, shows that enterococci levels far exceed the state's standard for recreational bodies of water, which is 33 CFU per 100 milliliters. The numbers spike into the tens of thousands, as shown in the charts on the left. The charts on the right have been cropped and show that the levels of enterococci rarely even come close to falling below the safe limit. Results are in CFU per 100 milliliters.

McCully Street Bridge

Kaiolu Street

Waikiki Yacht Club

Date Street Bridge

VIDEO: Is The Waikiki Ala Wai An Asset Or A Liability?

http://www.civilbeat.com/articles/2013/05/22/19081-video-is-the-ala-wai-an-asset-or-a-liability/

The Ala Wai Canal is at the center of one of Hawaii's most congested and most developed regions.

Pollution and other problems abound, but it remains a Honolulu landmark.

The question now: what to do about it?

Heavy Rains And Tons Of Dumped Raw Sewage Keep Waikiki Beach Closed

Heavy Rains And Tons Of Dumped

Raw Sewage Keep Waikiki Beach Closed

By JANIS L. MAGIN - New York Times

Several hundred yards of beaches in Honolulu from Ala Moana Park to the military's Hale Koa Hotel in Waikiki were closed to swimmers for a second day because of high bacteria levels, and the rain refused to let up. Five of Oahu's six public golf courses, the Honolulu Zoo and a popular botanical garden were also closed because of flooding.

A sewer line on the back side of Waikiki broke March 24, and the city had to divert the wastewater to the Ala Wai canal until Wednesday, some 48 million gallons over the five and a half days, instead of allowing it to back up into homes, hotels and businesses, said Bill Brennan, a spokesman for the City of Honolulu. The canal leads to the ocean near Waikiki Beach.

"If wastewater backed up into those areas, it would have been catastrophic and certainly devastating," Mayor Mufi Hannemann told reporters at a news conference on Thursday.

The Hawaii Department of Health is testing the ocean water daily for fecal bacteria levels, some of which were recorded at levels thousands of times higher than acceptable, said Kurt Tsue, a department spokesman.

Officials do not know how long the beaches will remain closed, but they do not expect any more closings.