KOLOA — Koloa residents concerned about dust in the air, the cleaning nuisance it creates and the health risks it poses now have one less place to turn with their problems. The Dust Hui, which had been formed last year
KOLOA — Koloa residents concerned about dust in the air, the cleaning nuisance it creates and the health risks it poses now have one less place to turn with their problems.
The Dust Hui, which had been formed last year and funded voluntarily by a group of area developers as a way of pooling experience and resources in their conversations with affected neighbors, was quietly disbanded in September.
Todd Hadley, a representative for the owners of Po‘ipu Beach Villas, developer of the Koloa Landing at Po‘ipu Beach project, this week said the hui spent “significant dollars” on measures such as air conditioning units, cleaning fees, window screens and compensating neighbors for increased utility costs.
Hadley said the hui dissolved because some developers had finished or stopped their work, and because major dust-creating development activities had largely concluded at the remaining ones, but reiterated his company’s attempts to work with the community.
“The spirit of the hui was cooperation with our neighbors, and that’s still our philosophy,” he said. “We’re not turning off our phones. We’re concerned.”
However, the hui hotline for dust concerns appears to be no more. A phone call placed this week to the hotline number available on the Web site for Resort Construction Managers, the job’s contractor, was answered by a man who had not heard of the Dust Hui.
Puhi resident Laura Chang, whose family lives on Hoonani Road, adjacent to the development, said yesterday that she feels she is no longer being heard.
Chang said the hui used to pay her between $20 and $40 per hour to clean her family’s home because “dust above normal cleaning” was making it difficult for her 79-year-old mother, who has previously existing lung conditions, to breathe without coughing up blood.
Department of Health toxicologist Leslie Au this week said the danger posed by airborne dust depends on two main factors — the size of the particles and their chemical composition.
Generally speaking, dust must be minuscule to get deep into a person’s lungs. If the dirt is large enough to see with the naked eye, then it is not particularly dangerous.
“Bigger ones are no more of a health hazard than making you sneeze,” Au said.
Dust in Hawai‘i is formed mostly from coral and calcium carbonate, Au said, making it significantly less hazardous than silica-based Mainland dust.
Au went on to say it would take a considerable amount of dust to cut off any of the ability of a resident’s lungs to put oxygen into the blood and take carbon dioxide back out because lungs have a large amount of spare capacity. He cited a lifetime of work in a coal mine, or constant smoking, as scenarios that would lead to unhealthy lungs.
“If they’re doing their dust control measures, and a cloud isn’t descending on you every day for five years, then you should be alright,” Au said.
However, individual variations like allergies, asthma and other lung conditions can complicate matters, and Au said no dust studies have been conducted in Koloa since development started in earnest.
Rod Yama, a Kaua‘i-based environmental health specialist for the Department of Health, this week confirmed two complaints had been lodged in recent months, but attempts to obtain the reports and details of potential enforcement from O‘ahu’s Clean Air Branch were unsuccessful.
“If someone is creating dust, they must do something to prevent the dust from one, becoming airborne, and two, crossing property lines,” Yama said.
Hadley said dust issues are “the nature of construction and development” and that Koloa Landing at Po‘ipu Beach has “tried to take proactive measures on-site to eliminate and mediate dust” such as screens on the edge of the project site and a water truck that circles the property to keep dust wet and on the ground.
“We appreciate (neighbors’) tolerance and patience,” said Hadley, who plans to continue to work with the community on the issues “because we care.”
One avenue of communication that remains open is monthly informational meetings at the contractor’s trailer designed to keep neighbors in the loop by outlining upcoming construction plans.
Chang and a pair of area residents attended the meeting on Thursday. They were told about the holiday schedule — no concrete will be poured between Dec. 24 and Jan. 4 — and had an opportunity to voice concerns.
At a sales event following the contractors’ meeting, Hadley and others showed the property and its rapidly rising buildings to real estate industry insiders.
Hadley said January 2010 is the targeted completion occupancy date for the first of the project’s phases. Some 20 two- and three-bedroom suites are still available in the five buildings to be completed as part of the first phase range from $939,000 to $2.04 million, according to a pricing sheet.
The full project, when finished, will feature 19 four-story residential buildings, 323 resort condominiums ranging from two to four bedrooms, 560 parking stalls, four swimming pools, a bar and grill, a fitness center, and other amenities on 25 acres near the ocean.
Hadley said the final date of completion depends on a host of factors, including the economy, but that “the game plan hasn’t changed” and that construction would likely be continuing for three to four years.
For more information, visit www.koloalanding.com
• Michael Levine, staff writer, can be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 252) or via e-mail at mlevine@kauaipubco.com
Koloa Landing Developement plan
A. Lagoon pool: 6,100 sq. ft. pool, two natural rock islands, adjacent hot tub and attached children’s pool
B. BBQ area for every building
C. Adult pool: 1,400 sq. ft. pool with waterfall backdrop, large sunning platform and hot tub
D. Porte-cochere check-in
E. Serene day-spa, sauna, steam room and fitness center
F. Lush landscaping with pathways that meander along cascading waterfalls and tranquil streams
G. Family pool: 9,500 sq. ft. pool with swim through grotto, waterslide, sand-bottom area and waterfalls
H. Poolside bar and grill
I. Traditional Hawaiian garden
J. Tropical pool: 2,000 sq. ft. pool with natural rock and hot tub
K. Ocean access
