Mercury scare shuts down school and housing project

People fascinated by the dry touch of a silver-colored liquid brought to a Halawa public housing complex Saturday had no idea they were playing with mercury.

Kim Dobson carries Jaslyn Aguigui, 2, on the lanai of the Halawa District Park faciloty, where residents of the Pu'uwai housing complex were evacuated. Bruce Asat • The Honolulu Advertiser

But yesterday the metallic element sent as many as 50 people, most of them school children, to hospitals for treatment of mercury exposure, according to police. It also caused the closure of ‘Aiea Elementary School today and shut down the Pu‘uwai Momi housing project, resulting in the evacuation of children and parents to the Halawa Gym at Halawa District Park.

"I bet every household has got at least one kid who touched it," Pu‘uwai Momi resident Mika‘ele "Bruddah" Kahalewai, 20, said of the mercury contamination at the 27-building, 260-unit housing project.

Many children reported playing with the mercury and some said they even swallowed some. But Department of Health director Bruce Anderson said last night that the mercury will most likely pass through a person’s body and cause no health problems.

Anderson said there were no reports of toxic effects associated with mercury poisoning as of 7 p.m. last night. But he said his department is advising parents whose child may have been exposed to mercury to contact their physicians as a precaution.

The mercury, which was found by kids at an abandoned Pearl Harbor pumping station on Saturday, spread to elementary and intermediate schools in ‘Aiea, Makalapa Neighborhood Playground and at least one residence on Pupupuhi Street in Waipahu.

Honolulu Fire Department spokesman Capt. Richard Soo and other officials yesterday could not say how much mercury had been taken, but Soo said mercury was found in 22 units in the Pu‘uwai Momi project and at the project’s common areas, including the parking lot and sidewalks.

Pacific Environmental Corp. crews yesterday were cleaning up the mercury with vacuum machines.

‘Aiea Elementary School was the most affected area outside the housing complex. Ten to 20 ‘Aiea Elementary students were known to be exposed to the mercury, said ‘Aiea Elementary principal Alfred Navares. The Department of Education has closed the school today so hazardous material personnel can check for contamination.

The DOE reported that 10 students at three other schools — ‘Aiea Intermediate, ‘Aiea High and Makalapa Elementary — were also sent to the hospital yesterday. Those schools are open for classes today.

"We have a major health concern and want to keep it contained," Assistant Police Chief Boisse Correa said.

Mercury can cause burns to the skin and eyes and if inhaled or ingested, it may be harmful. Any contacted area should be flushed with running water and contaminated clothing and shoes should be bagged and discarded, officials said.

Police closed off the housing complex, preventing anyone from going in or coming out, at about 2 p.m. As children arrived home from school, firefighters and police asked them if they had any contact with the mercury. Those that did were examined by paramedics.

About 60 people spent the night at the Red Cross shelter at the Halawa Gymnasium.

Anderson said residents won’t be allowed to return to the project until it is cleared by health officials.

"I expect the residents who have been displaced from Pu‘uwai Momi will need to find alternative housing for at least a few days, and possibly much longer than that," Anderson said.

A Waipahu boy visiting his grandmother at Pu‘uwai Momi over the weekend brought home mercury in a small plastic container, spreading the contamination threat, Soo said.

Pumping station

Soo said the mercury came from the pumping station near the marina below Richardson Recreation Center on state land adjacent to Pearl Harbor Navy Base.

"Everything in there is leaking," Soo said of the building. "We surmise the gauges contained mercury to do pressure readings. Somebody broke it. Mercury is splattered on the floor."

Soo said the building was littered with beer bottles and other items.

"It’s an abandoned building, but obviously people have been coming and going to that building for a while," he said.

Navy Lt. Cmdr. Jane Campbell said yesterday "the property involved with this, the pump hose site where the kids were said to have found the mercury, is state property."

She said it was once military property, but it was transferred to the state several years ago and was to have been cleaned up if necessary by the state and not the Navy.

Capt. Charles Anthony, spokesman for the state Department of Defense, said the site was about to be returned to the Navy in a land swap.

Jordan Williams, 15, an Aiea High freshman who did not go to school yesterday, was at the abandoned pumping station on Saturday. "We were catching scorpions," Williams said. "One kid showed us where (the mercury) was. It was all on the floor."

Williams said he and two other boys scooped up the mercury. He brought his back in a sandwich bag, Williams added.

"It was just something to play with," he said. "We were playing with ‘em at the park."

When asked how much mercury was brought back, Williams said, "choke," meaning a lot.

Most of the Pu‘uwai Momi children came into contact with the mercury Saturday at Makalapa Neighborhood Park, residents said.

"We never thought it was harmful," Kahalewai said. "There were kids all over with little vials playing with it. Some guys had it in their freezer."

Ronald Lopes, 18, even took a sample to work with him yesterday.

"It looked like something out of the movie ‘Terminator 2,’ you could put it on your hand and it didn’t get wet. If you dropped it, it broke into little balls. I took it to work and showed it to my friends and they knew it was mercury so I got rid of it."

Lopes said his 10-year-old cousin, Alikai Jones, who attends Waikele Elementary School, got the mercury from kids at the playground and had it stored in a plastic school lunch box. Except for a rash on his neck, Lopes said he isn’t feeling any ill effects from handling the mercury.

Brought to school

News of the mercury problems began at ‘Aiea Elementary yesterday morning when officials reported to police that a student brought a bottle containing mercury to the school. Navares said the boy did not know what he had in the jar, but said he got the mercury during the weekend at Makalapa Park. The teacher sent the jar and student to the office and police were notified.

As far as he knew, Navares said no other student brought mercury to the school yesterday.

"Nothing was actually exposed at school, except that bottle and it was capped," Navares said.

Firefighters went to Pu‘uwai Momi at 11:13 a.m. yesterday.

Ray Fujii, principal at Makalapa Elementary, said only three of about 700 children at his school came in contact with the mercury. The three did not bring any of the material to Makalapa School, he said.

A former science teacher, Fujii said he told the boys the material was extremely volatile, and that it was possible to breathe fumes that would be invisible to the eye, and that it could be absorbed into the body through the skin. Fujii said he sent a note home with other students to alert families.

According to police, Kapiolani Medical Center-Pali Momi and St. Francis Medical Center-West treated the children and some adults for mercury exposure.

Emergency Medical Services district chief Mandy Shiraki said city ambulances transported seven children to Pali Momi after they reported swallowing some mercury. He said four were ‘Aiea High School students, one from the Waipahu area, and two who were picked up at the Red Cross shelter at Halawa Gym.

Pali Momi spokeswoman Elizabeth Ahana last night would not say how many children were brought to the hospital, but she said they were all treated for a "nontoxic exposure" to mercury and released.

Advertiser staff writers Walter Wright, Yasmin Anwar and Will Hoover contributed to this report.

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