Mercury cleanup near Pearl Harbor under way
By Kapono Dowson
Advertiser Staff Writer
The state yesterday began cleaning up an estimated gallon and a half of mercury from an abandoned pump house near Richardson Field at Pearl Harbor. The pump house was the source of mercury contamination at the nearby Pu'uwai Momi public housing project in March.
Pacific Environmental Corp. was hired for the job, estimated to cost $20,000 if there are no complications, according to Department of Health officials. The work is expected to take two days to two weeks to complete.
Company workers donned full-body protective suits, heavy rubber gloves and galoshes, masks and oxygen tanks before entering the building. Once inside, they used mercury monitor sniffers and specially designed vacuums to sort through debris.
State Health Director Bruce Anderson said the pump house poses "an imminent and substantial danger for the public." Two days earlier, inspectors discovered someone had illegally entered the area through a cut in the barbed-wired fence that surrounds the structure, he said.
"Originally, the strategy had been to fence the site and to restrict public access," Anderson said. "But obviously, with the breach in the fence, people could expose themselves (to the mercury) and endanger others in the community."
The Department of Health will pay for the work with money from the Environmental Revolving Response Fund, created by the state for emergency use for hazardous chemical or oil releases.
"Responsible parties normally would handle the site cleanup, but the Department of Health stepped in to make sure it happened in a timely manner," Anderson said.
He also said the Department of Land and Natural Resources and the state Department of Defense are "cooperating fully, and we are working together to resolve the issues."
Gary Gill, deputy director for environmental health, said the Health Department's hazard evaluation and emergency response office would oversee the work done by the Pacific Environmental Corp. He said the Honolulu Police Department will provide 24-hour security at the pump house for the duration of the project.
Anderson said that two of the 200 people who had been checked in March showed mercury in their system, but the levels were not harmful.
State officials said the mercury was carried by children from the pump house to the housing complex.
Elemental mercury is a liquid metal that can cause burns to the skin and eyes. If inhaled, it can lead to pulmonary edema and nerve and kidney damage.
