A portion of the North Shore Greenway bike and pedestrian path next to Kahului Airport will be closed 24/7 from June 16 through July 20 to remove soil that could contain per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, according to the Hawaii Department of Transportation.

The closure is in the Kahului Airport Aircraft Rescue and Firefighting training pit near Kanaha Beach Park. The Paia side of the closure includes a turnaround point for path users and signs will be posted to inform them of the closure. (map)

The soil removal plan was submitted to the Hawaii Department of Health and work will begin June 16. A community meeting to discuss the closure was held on May 21.

PFAs are a component of aqueous film-forming foams that are necessary for fighting fires at airports because of the nature of aircraft fuel fires per HDOT. No longer used in firefighter training, AFFF was used prior to 2021. ARFF vehicles have also been retrofitted to limit the use of AFFF only to fires with or near aircraft fuel.