The Hawaii Department of Transportation invites the public to a meeting on May 21 to discuss a partial closure of the North Shore Greenway bike and pedestrian pathway next to Kahului Airport to remove soil that has been “impacted by potential per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances.”

The meeting will be held from 5 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. at the Kahului Airport Conference Room located next to the “Maui Releasing Sun” statue in the courtyard. Parking will be validated for those attending.

The soil is located at the Aircraft Rescue and Firefighting Training Pit on the north side of the airport. PFAs are a component of aqueous film-forming foams, a necessary component for firefighting at airports because of the nature of aircraft fuel fires, according to a HDOT release.

Although AFFF is no longer used in firefighting training, it was used prior to 2021. ARFF vehicles across the state have been retrofitted to limit AFFF use to fires with or near aircraft fuel.

A soil removal plan has been approved by the Hawaii Department of Health and will begin in early June continuing through September. Preparation work will start in May.

The May 21 meeting will detail the soil removal project, duration and steps HDOT is taking to address areas where AFFF was previously used.