![]() ![]() "There is this push-pull of doing it quickly but doing it right,” he said. ![]() That’s a public health issue,” Koger continued, adding that there are also significant “cultural concerns” associated with the debris removal. One, they’re still residents living within the area. “We need to expedite the cleanup for a number of reasons. “This will be the most complex fire response to date,” said Corps’ debris subject matter expert Cory Koger, who since 2017 has responded to cleanups of seven wildfires sites including the Paradise, California fire that killed 85 people and destroyed 19,000 structures as well as several others in Oregon, Colorado and New Mexico. About $400 million has been budgeted, but the cost could go higher to remove an estimated 400,000 to 700,000 tons of building debris from about 1,600 parcels that once had homes and businesses. Army Corps of Engineers, which will oversee removing the remaining debris over the next six to 12 months. The EPA expects to hand over responsibility later this month or in November to the U.S. They have monitored the air quality and sampled for heavy metals and asbestos. The first stage of cleanup started in late August, with around 200 Environmental Protection Agency workers in white protective gear removing toxic household debris from Upper Kula and the town of Lahaina including gas cylinders, pesticides, fertilizers and battery packs used in solar power. Cleanup of areas destroyed in the Maui wildfires could end up being one of the most complex to date, federal officials said, given the island's significant cultural sites, its rich history including a royal residence and possibly remains of people who died in the disaster.
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