Paradise Lost
Hawaii’s Disappearing Beaches
Investigating how policymakers are undermining laws and regulations intended to protect the state’s all-important beaches, which are eroding at an alarming rate.
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Hawaii’s Beaches Are Disappearing
Major islands have lost nearly a quarter of their beaches in the last century. The culprit? Seawalls and other barriers erected by wealthy homeowners.
Other Entries
Rich Homeowners Have Endangered Hawaii’s Beaches With Sand Burritos. The State Is Cracking Down.
Coastal officials in Hawaii are taking action against residents who lined their oceanfront properties with sandbags. A Star-Advertiser/ProPublica investigation last year found that lax enforcement of these protections was threatening beaches.
Some Hawaii Homeowners Damage Beaches to Protect Their Homes. A New Law Could Help Change That.
Our investigation found property owners were routinely demanding record prices for beachfront homes in Hawaii that are at risk of being sucked into the ocean. Legislators will now require those sellers to disclose the risks to buyers.
Hawaii’s Beaches Are Disappearing. New Legislation Could Help ... if It’s Enforced.
A legal loophole allowed wealthy property owners to protect their real estate at the expense of Hawaii’s coastlines. Now, the state Legislature is considering bills to crack down on the destructive practices, but questions around enforcement remain.
Hawaii Officials Promise Changes to Seawall Policies That Have Quickened Beach Destruction
Seawalls erode Hawaii’s beaches, but the state has been lax about approving them and disorganized about enforcing the law. Officials now pledge action, after a Honolulu Star-Advertiser and ProPublica investigation.
Officials Let Hawaii’s Waterfront Homeowners Damage Public Beaches Again and Again
Everybody knows that seawalls cause beach loss, and Hawaii law forbids building them. But Honolulu County officials have granted exemptions to 46 homeowners over the past two decades even as a quarter of Oahu’s beaches have disappeared.
How Famous Surfers and Wealthy Homeowners Are Endangering Hawaii’s Beaches
Hawaii’s beaches are public land, which officials are obligated to protect and preserve. But a state agency has repeatedly allowed homeowners, including surfer Kelly Slater, to use tactics that protect property while speeding up the loss of beaches.
Oceanfront Property Tied to Obama Granted Exemption From Hawaii’s Environmental Laws
Honolulu officials have granted an exception to the state’s beach protections, clearing the way for a controversial multimillion-dollar renovation of a century-old seawall at a property owned by the chair of the Obama Foundation.
Obama and the Beach House Loopholes
Although Hawaii has laws meant to preserve disappearing shorelines, beachfront property owners have been able to bypass them. That’s what happened at an expansive coastal estate officials say the Obamas will live in.
Burial Site Found on a Property Tied to Obama, Causing Tension With Native Hawaiians
After Native Hawaiian remains were found on the multimillion-dollar oceanfront lot being developed by the chair of the Obama Foundation, a state official decided to relocate the remains. Kamuela Kala‘i is speaking up for her ancestors.
