In the last two decades, North Halawa has been the site of a very public battle over the religious sites and ecological resources destroyed by H-3, which is the most expensive freeway per mile in human history. At least two species were driven to probable extinction (none have been sighted since construction began), many more are declining rapidly, the main aquifer of the area was badly damaged, and religious sites were seriously impacted. Although the freeway was opened in 1997, many are still fighting for mitigation of these impacts, and some are asking for the freewayʻs closure. In 1993, thirteen cultural practitioners were arrested while conducting a ceremony to pray for the healing of the valley. Their lele (religious altar) was destroyed, and the caretakers of the area were barred from entrance to the sites. Today, some of these caretakers, many of them kupuna (elders), have returned to care for the sites, although they now do so through a layer of soot and with the roar of the freeway as a constant sonic backdrop. Many kanaka maoli do not use the freeway because of these impacts, and because of the lasting belief that the road is haunted—an often-attributed explanation for the high accident rate on the freeway (more generally believed to be caused by the high speeds often used by the motorists who traverse it).