Posted on: Saturday, July 28, 2001

Council moves to clean up Waipahu field's soil

By Robbie Dingeman
Advertiser City Hall Writer

The City Council's budget committee yesterday gave preliminary approval to the city paying $2.1 million to help clean up contaminated soil in Waipahu, clearing the way for final purchase of the just-opened Central O'ahu Regional Park.

The plan is expected to receive final approval at the Sept. 12 Council meeting. City Budget and Fiscal Services Director Caroll Takahashi said the city first heard that there might be contamination on the property in March 2000, although Council members first learned of it last week.

In 1999, the city agreed to pay Castle & Cooke Homes Hawaii $4.5 million and to turn over a 37-acre parcel on Manager's Drive in Waipahu that is appraised at $8.2 million in exchange for the 269-acre park parcel at Waiola, appraised at $12.7 million.

The city got the Waipahu land in 1991 for free from Amfac/JMB Hawaii as part of a deal that gave the developer permits it needed to build the Waikele Golf Course.

Takahashi said the city and its consultants "have no idea" what the source of the chemical contamination was.

Takahashi said city consultant EnviroServices & Training Center speculated that the soil contamination may come from leaded gasoline from cars junked on the site and from batteries. A study in 2000 by Brewer Environmental Services speculated that the contamination may have come from homes painted with lead-based paint that burned down, leaching into the soil.

Takahashi said a study in February 1993 uncovered no contamination but didn't employ soil studies because the city was not contemplating a residential development at the time. She said the city has learned to be more diligent in checking the soil of land it is acquiring and in securing property after it is purchased.