WAILUA — Normally, a pile, or several piles, of wooden pallets would go unnoticed, but when they appear on the beach in the path of walkers and joggers, they raise concerns of beach-users. This was the case Monday when a
WAILUA — Normally, a pile, or several piles, of wooden pallets would go unnoticed, but when they appear on the beach in the path of walkers and joggers, they raise concerns of beach-users.
This was the case Monday when a regular walker of the beach south of the Wailua Golf Course discovered that someone, or a group of people, had discarded over 20 wooden pallets on the sand where regular beach-users walk or jog.
Fearing reprisals or retaliation from the perpetrators of the deed, the walker said that a dog used to accompany the walks, but as beach debris increased, the dog stopped coming because “they can’t see the nails.”
“Humans can try and avoid the nails (when they see them), but dogs can’t see them until they get injured,” the walker claims.
The anonymous walker noted that some of the pallets are clearly marked as being the property of certain businesses, and she would be happy if people stopped distributing free pallets, cutting off that source of beach contaminants.
Additionally, the pile of pallets showed signs of being run over by beach-users who drive vehicles on the sand, the consequence being pieces of lumber scattered around the sand, and some jutting dangerously from the waterline where they had been driven into the wet sand by wave action.
Walkers and joggers continued to pass the pile, silent in their emotion about seeing the new addition to their paths.
Pallets have posed problems to beach users in the past, including several months ago when some of the county water safety officers at the Kealia Beach tower noted that the weekends are the worst, when people congregate on the beach and burn the pallets as bonfire material.
The lifeguards said that once the fire is doused, no one cleans up the remaining nails, which pose hazards to walkers and joggers.
In some instances, the lifeguards after rummaging through the fire remnants have retrieved cans of nails.
Cyndi Mei Ozaki of the county’s Office of Public Information and Complaints was unaware of the situation Tuesday morning, but said she would have Tim Bynum look into the matter.
Bynum is in charge of handling concerns in the Lydgate Park area.
The anonymous walker is at least happy about the unsettled weather the island is experiencing: “I hope it rains so they can’t burn them.”
Dennis Fujimoto, staff writer, may be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 253) or mailto:dfujimoto@pulitzer.net.
