Photo By Edward Rivera | U.S. Army Corps of Engineers contractors gather soil sampled from a cleared property...... read more read more
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers reached a significant milestone in the first week of April, surpassing 510 properties cleared of debris from the wildfires that devastated West Maui on Aug. 8, 2023.
Although close, cleared does not signify complete. There are a few remaining steps before USACE releases a property back to the county for the next phase, rebuilding.
Col. Eric Swenson, recovery field office commander, discussed the differences between cleared and completed properties during an April 3 public meeting at the Lahaina Civic Center.
"I want you to think about debris removal with two letters. It's the same letter. I want you to think about lowercase 'c' and capital 'C,'" Swenson said to the attendees. Little 'c' is what we're calling cleared. That is the visible sign that your property had removed primary debris and safely stored it at a temporary disposal site. Then there's capital 'C,' or maybe some people might call it big 'C,' which means complete."
Swenson further explained that complete means that USACE contractors clear the property of primary debris, perform soil sampling and tree removal as needed, place erosion control, and return the right of entry to the county and the complete package to FEMA.
When a property owner is in the "little c" to "big C" zone, the steps to USACE completion are clear and defined. Once contractors have cleared the lot, the next step is soil sampling, which takes 10-15 days. If the initial samples return positive for contaminants, a secondary scrape will be done, adding several days to that step. If required, contractors will remove hazardous trees, which may take a few more days. Placing erosion control materials is the last step to completion on the property, and it may take from 5 to 10 days.
"Once all those steps are done, and not all of them are required, we add one more number to complete, which we're calling 'capital C.' This is sort of a fixed amount of time," said Swenson. "You should rest assured that when your property gets to little C, you are looking from about 15 to 50 days to get to the next phase, permitting and rebuilding."
For information on the debris removal program, visit mauirecovers.org or contact USACE directly at the call center, 877-214-9117 or 808-289-1805. The call center is open from 6 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. Monday through Friday, from 6 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Saturdays, and from 6 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Sundays.
| Date Taken: | 04.05.2024 |
| Date Posted: | 04.08.2024 17:49 |
| Story ID: | 468073 |
| Location: | LAHAINA , HAWAII, US |
| Web Views: | 160 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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