The state water official who was reassigned in a controversial move following the Lahaina fire disaster and then reinstated two months later is apparently leaving his job.
The opening of the popular ramp comes as Maui County lifts affected burn area-access restrictions in and around Mala Wharf and the U.S. Coast Guard ends safety zone limits on ocean access near Mala.
The state Board of Land and Natural Resources issued a $117,471.97 fine against the Albert Revocable Trust for coral and live rock damage caused by the grounding of the private luxury yacht Nakoa at Honolua Bay in northwest Maui earlier this year. The board is still contemplating and is open to seeking any kind of fair and reasonable penalty against the operator, Jim Jones and Noelani Yacht Charters, LLC, for damages done to cultural and natural resources.
Plans include periodically moving hundreds of cubic yards of sand along the Fort DeRussy Beach sector to widen it and every 10 years mining large amounts of sand from offshore to replenish the Royal Hawaiian Beach sector.