{"id":685126,"date":"2026-06-05T03:17:18","date_gmt":"2026-06-05T03:17:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/685126\/"},"modified":"2026-06-05T03:17:18","modified_gmt":"2026-06-05T03:17:18","slug":"20000-tons-of-mud-and-nowhere-to-put-it","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/685126\/","title":{"rendered":"20,000 Tons Of Mud And Nowhere To Put It"},"content":{"rendered":"

North Shore farmers are feeling left behind in the ongoing cleanup efforts from the Kona low storms.<\/p>\n

North Shore farmers are feeling left behind in the ongoing cleanup efforts from the Kona low storms.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Craig Fujii\/Civil Beat\/2026<\/p>\n

The floods in March dumped more than just mud on Colleen Pescaia\u2019s farm in Waialua.<\/p>\n

Her plot near the confluence of the Kaukonahua and Poamoho streams is littered with the personal effects of residents from nearby Otake Camp. Among the debris field lies a doll, a broken tricycle tire, a leather purse, a mattress and box spring, power tools, pieces of unfinished sculptures, and a sign that says \u201cComing Soon.\u201d<\/p>\n

Residents trying to piece their lives together after brutal back-to-back Kona low storms found family photos and birth certificates while rummaging through the piles.<\/p>\n

Pescaia planned to use that land to expand her soursop farm. But now, almost all of her 5 acres are covered in 4 feet of mud that has now hardened and become overgrown with California grass.<\/p>\n

\u201cI had a vision for this farm,\u201d she told Civil Beat last week. \u201cNow, that\u2019s gone.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"ANorth Shore farmers are still working to clear their land of debris and sediment from the Kona low storms in March. (Craig Fujii\/Civil Beat\/2026)<\/p>\n

Farmers like Pescaia say they are being left behind by cleanup efforts.<\/p>\n

The City and County of Honolulu won\u2019t haul debris or mud from private ag land. The state hasn\u2019t been on-site since National Guard members helped to separate debris piles and hand-dig drainage ditches on inundated pieces of property.<\/p>\n

The federal government could pay up to 75% of cleanup costs \u2013 so long as farmers front the money.<\/p>\n

More than 4,600 acres of farmland were impacted by the Kona low storms, according to data compiled by the ag industry<\/a>. On O\u2018ahu, damages total more than $26.5 million.<\/p>\n

Hunter Heavilin is the government relations representative of Hawai\u2018i Farmers Union United, one of the organizations that took part in collecting self-reported data from farmers. He said those figures likely underestimate the total impact on farming operations in the state.<\/p>\n

The recent storms and impact on farmers highlight a need for better representation of agricultural interests in disaster preparedness and recovery, he said. <\/p>\n

\"inDebris from flood-torn homes washed onto North Shore farms. (Craig Fujii\/Civil Beat\/2026)<\/p>\n

Pescaia estimates that there\u2019s more than 20,000 cubic yards of mud on her land. The average weight of a cubic yard of dirt<\/a> is about one ton. Estimates she received from contractors indicate it could take a month to clear the land and cost about $300,000.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s not counting the cost of hauling the mud away, nor tipping fees that could cost up to $170 per load, and there could be many, many loads. Never mind the cost of the machinery needed to dig it all up.<\/p>\n

Doing the math, saying it out loud, makes Pescaia tear up. <\/p>\n

Even if she could afford it right now, Pescaia said she can\u2019t move the mud because the city wants it to be tested first. She\u2019s been getting the runaround from various agencies, and on Friday received an email from the Department of Environmental Services saying that a decision on whether to help farmers is in the hands of Mayor Rick Blangiardi.<\/p>\n

Ian Scheuring, a spokesperson for the mayor, said the city completed an assessment of what it would cost to clear all of the ag properties on the North Shore but is awaiting an islandwide assessment for impacted farm areas in Wai\u02bbanae, Kahuku, Ko\u2018olaupoko and elsewhere. It wasn\u2019t clear how long that would take.<\/p>\n

\"AppliancesAppliances and debris dumped at the temporary site at Patsy T. Mink Central Oahu Regional Park in April. (Craig Fujii\/Civil Beat\/2026)<\/p>\n

Unlike residential properties, where mud was hauled from the road, helping farmers would mean clearing mud and debris from private property. Scheuring said the city needs to ensure that is done fairly.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not just as simple as waiving tipping fees and taking care of farmers in one area,\u201d he said. \u201cWe have to make sure it\u2019s equitable for farmers with disaster needs in all parts of the island.\u201d<\/p>\n

Contaminated soil could be dumped at either the Waim\u0101nalo Gulch or PVT landfills, Scheuring said. Dirt that is determined to be non-toxic could be dried out and distributed back to farmers.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t think there\u2019s an actual plan,\u201d he said, \u201cbut it\u2019s not going to stay in that pile at the circle forever.\u201d <\/p>\n

Land Choked By Grass<\/p>\n

Pescaia and her husband bought their land in Waialua in 2022 and rehabilitated an orchard of soursop trees on the property.<\/p>\n

Before the storms, Pescaia had about 80 soursop trees she planned to use for sorbet. She was recently selected to take part in a cohort of cottage industry farmers<\/a> hoping to take their products commercial. She planned to expand the orchard, but those plans are on hold now after the floods that devastated farms across O\u2018ahu.<\/p>\n

\"HeavyExcept for a soursop orchard, Pescaia\u2019s land is almost entirely choked by California grass growing through layers of mud. (Craig Fujii\/Civil Beat\/2026)<\/p>\n

\"AA Jeep sits amid floodwater debris harboring new plantlife on a Waialua farm. Farmers are working to clear their land of flood debris. (Craig Fujii\/Civil Beat\/2026)<\/p>\n

The stormwater that flowed down Mount Ka\u2018ala and Kaukonahua Stream quickly overflowed the waterway that had already been clogged for decades and drowned Pescaia\u2019s land. On a nearby farm, mud stains on mango tree leaves above head-height show just how high the waters rose.<\/p>\n

The corner section of a destroyed home slammed into the banks of the Poamoho stream opposite Pescaia\u2019s land on a cacao farm owned by Dole Food Co. that has also been inundated with mud. Planks of wood from an artist\u2019s studio got wrapped in trees on her side of the stream.\u00a0<\/p>\n

When the waters settled, they left behind mounds of mud, averaging 4 feet and covering much of Pescaia\u2019s five-acre lot. Pescaia and workers tried to clear parts of the area after the storms, but those efforts were futile because the mud was too thick to walk through.<\/p>\n

The city had DRC Emergency Services, a contractor assisting with debris cleanup, conduct an assessment of clearing Pescaia\u2019s land and that of other farmers on the North Shore.<\/p>\n

\"AA drainage ditch on a Wailua farm, Monday. Heavy growth on displaced sediment from flooding crowds this and other drainage ditches on area farms. (Craig Fujii\/Civil Beat\/2026)<\/p>\n

Shortly after the floods, residents offered to help clear the mud and debris, but Pescaia was told to turn down those offers because the DRC contractors needed to see the totality of the debris to complete an accurate assessment. That work has been done for weeks now, she said, and she\u2019s prodded various city agencies hoping to get some form of relief.<\/p>\n

So much time has passed waiting for help that the California grass has grown through the mud layer. Just the tops of the blades of grass, 8-feet tall in some areas, stick out. The roots are buried deep under the dirt at the original height of the land.<\/p>\n

Pescaia and her husband had the property mowed every two months, but that\u2019s become impossible now that the land is so uneven.<\/p>\n

She said even if the city waived just tipping fees \u2014 the cost of dumping debris in the landfill \u2014 that could help a little.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt least do something,\u201d she said, for her and her fellow farmers. \u201cI\u2019m not looking for a handout, just a hand up, even if it\u2019s something small.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2018Field Of Broken Dreams\u2019<\/p>\n

On a nearby farm, Stephanie Shipton grows mangoes, papayas and other produce. Water that came over Farrington Highway pooled on her field. Members of the National Guard \u2013 some using their hands because of a dearth of tools \u2013 dug a swale to drain the water into a nearby ditch.<\/p>\n

She wants to use land across the ditch to expand their crops to plant kalo and bananas in what she calls the \u201cfield of broken dreams.\u201d She can\u2019t do that until the ditch is taken care of.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s on her land, and she and her husband maintained it before the storms, but now the bottom of the ditch is buried under 5 feet of mud, rubble and chunks of Farrington Highway that washed into the ditch during the storms. At the start of the ditch, a water line is at risk of collapsing and blocking a culvert necessary to drain the mauka side of the highway near Otake Camp.<\/p>\n

\"AA drainage ditch on Stephanie Shitpon\u2019s land became clogged after the storms. Above it, an old water line sags over a culvert. (Craig Fujii\/Civil Beat\/2026)<\/p>\n

She\u2019d need heavy equipment to clear the ditch and isn\u2019t sure those machines could even make it there using the dirt roads in the area. It\u2019s all a headache for people like Pescaia and Shipton trying to put more locally grown food on dining tables.<\/p>\n

Shipton\u2019s plea, like many farmers, is simple: \u201cWe just want to farm.\u201d<\/p>\n

Despite the setbacks in recent months, Pescaia wants to push ahead with her sorbet product and plans to launch a website in the coming months and begin production in August. She got a glimmer of hope on Wednesday with news that crews with the state Department of Transportation planned to be on site early next week with dumpster trucks to start removing the debris from her property.<\/p>\n

They could potentially work on the mud later, but she said that hasn\u2019t been confirmed.<\/p>\n

\u201cHawai\u2018i Grown<\/a>\u201d is funded in part by grants from the Stupski Foundation, Ulupono Fund at the Hawai\u2018i Community Foundation and the Frost Family Foundation. Civil Beat\u2019s coverage of climate change and the environment is supported by The Healy Foundation, the Marisla Fund of the Hawai\u2018i Community Foundation and the Frost Family Foundation.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"North Shore farmers are feeling left behind in the ongoing cleanup efforts from the Kona low storms. North…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":685127,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[47],"tags":[192,79],"class_list":["post-685126","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-environment","tag-environment","tag-science"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/685126","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=685126"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/685126\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/685127"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=685126"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=685126"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=685126"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}