STAR-ADVERTISER ARCHIVE / JULY 15, 1983
Despite a pollution warning from the state Department of Health, Calvin Kapua watches his Lokahi Canoe
Club paddlers train in the Ala Wai Canal a day after the city dumped 2.5 million gallons of Waikiki’s raw
sewage into the canal because its pumps were disabled by a daylong, islandwide power outage. The Lokahi
paddlers had been “wondering how come (the water) was so stink and dirty,” Kapua said. “We know
the water is dirty but we didn’t know they dumped raw sewage in here. If any of the canoes fl ip over —
which they do — sometimes the paddlers swallow the water, especially the novice paddlers,” Kapua said.
He said the signs didn’t say to stay out of the water, notoriously polluted under normal circumstances,
and didn’t mention raw sewage. Kapua said he felt offi cials should have done more to get the word out.