"Intercepting Cargo Pests"

eNews

July 11, 2007

Featured Update

The new cargo inspection facility under construction (left) at Kahului Airport. Photo by Joylynn Paman/MISC

Kahului Airport's new state-of-the-art Alien Species Action Plan (ASAP) cargo inspection facility is slated for completion in early December 2007. The $24 million, 7,400 square-foot ASAP facility will be used to inspect incoming air cargo to prevent the entry of non-native, invasive plant and animal species into Hawaii's ecosystem.

"The Department of Transportation is very concerned about the threat of invasive species to Hawaii's fragile ecosystem," said Department of Transportation Director Barry Fukunaga. "Approximately 30,000 tons of cargo pass through Kahului Airport every year and the new ASAP facility will be one of our first lines of defense."

Kahului Airport is located on the island of Maui, three miles east of the town of Kahului. The airport occupies 1,391 acres of land and provides full air carrier facilities for domestic overseas and interisland commercial service.

With the amount of cargo handled each year at the Kahului Airport facilities, public concern has grown that cargo inspection and quarantine services were inadequate for screening out invasive species.

New legislation proposed in 2007 establishes a service fee for the inspection of pests in imports to Hawaii and establishes the pest inspection, quarantine and eradication fund.

"The Hawaii Department of Agriculture has been working closely with the state Department of Transportation, U.S. Department of Agriculture and U.S. Customs and Border Protection to design facility to meet domestic and foreign inspection needs on Maui," said Sandra Lee Kunimoto, Chairperson of the Hawaii Board of Agriculture. "With inspections centered in one location, inspectors from all agencies will be able to better communicate and coordinate efforts."

Aloha,

Successfully preventing the spread of invasive species requires interagency cooperation, skilled inspection staff, resources and good infrastructure. Unfortunately the infrastructure is often overlooked. Currently, HDOA Plant Quarantine staff uses an open-air tarmac to stage and inspect goods arriving in Kahului Airport. Watching the escape of the organisms they are trying to intercept makes a hard job even worse. Having an enclosed building to carry out cargo inspections and quarantine treatments will be a huge boost to Plant Quarantine efforts. Few other Hawaii ports have adequate facilities either. Using HISC partnerships to encourage inclusion of quarantine facilities and inspection funding in Hawaii's transportation planning means better long term invasive species management.