Archives and Political Processes: H-3 Construction

U.S. Coast Guard

The U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) is a federal agency responsible for maintaining aids to navigation in the U.S., among other things. The hazards posed by the USCG’s Omega radio transmitter station became a bone of contention in the H-3 saga in 1981. The Omega station was part of a global network of navigational aids and was situated on a ridge above the route of H-3 through Haʻikū Valley. Stop H-3 Association and other opponents of H-3 asserted that electromagnetic radiation from the station and the potential for electric shocks could have negative health effects on construction workers and travelers on the freeway. The Hawaiʻi Department of Transportation (HIDOT) and the USCG both downplayed the potential hazards of the station. 

The USCG hired a consultant to prepare a report about the dangers of electric shock posed by the station. The consultant, EC Corp., warned that the freeway needed to have shielding from the radiation. The USCG did not oppose construction of H-3 as long as the state accepted responsibility for any negative effects from the freeway’s proximity to the Omega station. HIDOT’s experts refuted the report’s conclusions and argued that electromagnetic radiation present on city streets was a greater threat. Nevertheless, HIDOT took measures to protect construction workers from potential electric shocks from the station. Ultimately, engineers installed a device known as a Faraday Shield near the mouth of the tunnels to shield motorists from electric shocks.

The USCG decommissioned the Omega station in 1997.