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The Guardian - US
The Guardian - US
World
Kiki Aranita

Arsenic and old sugarcane: cleaning up Hawaii in the fallout from wildfires

an aerial view of burned out buildings as the sun glows
The aftermath two months after a devastating wildfire in Lahaina, Hawaii, on 9 October 2023. Photograph: Mario Tama/Getty Images

When fire engulfed Lahaina last year, some of the older structures that burned contained canec, a historic Hawaiian-made building material made of solid sugarcane waste and potentially harmful inorganic arsenic.

To date, the US army corps of engineers (USACE) has hauled off an estimated 14,000 tons of ash suspected of arsenic contamination from the drywall-like material once manufactured in Hilo.

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