Wai'anae mercury cleanups quick
By James Gonser
Advertiser Leeward Bureau
WAI'ANAE — With "a bit of skill but mostly good luck," crews quickly cleaned up mercury found at two Wai'anae locations Sunday and yesterday, said Mike Cripps, on-scene coordinator for the state Department of Health.
Gregory Yamamoto • The Honolulu Advertiser
There was concern that the mercury might have been spilled into a storm drain on Hale Ekahi Drive, potentially contaminating water flowing to the ocean. However, the Coast Guard said the drain was dry.
Mercury was found Sunday in a pickup truck and in a residence on Hale Ekahi Drive in Wai'anae.
"It did not impact the water at all," said Coast Guard Lt. j.g. Billie Lewis.
The Wai'anae discoveries were the fifth and sixth incidents of mercury contamination found in locations from Halawa to the Leeward Coast since March 12.
Most have been cleaned up easily, but at Pu'uwai Momi public housing project in Halawa, eight families whose homes were heavily contaminated have still not been allowed to move back into their apartments a week after mercury was discovered.
Cripps could not say when that work at the 260-unit complex would be completed.
Health authorities have determined that the mercury at Pu'uwai Momi came from an abandoned pumping house below Pearl Harbor's Richardson Recreation Center. The pumping house has been determined to be state Department of Defense property, title having been turned over by the state Department of Land and Natural Resources, which received it from the Navy.
No one can say where the mercury in the other spills came from, but officials hope to collect as much as possible before contamination spreads.
"The stuff can be pretty toxic in small quantities, primarily an inhalation hazard from the vapors," Cripps said. "We are trying to get it out of the public domain and have set up an amnesty program at the housing project to get people to turn it in. Some kids may be afraid to admit they have it."
In the most recent incident, a homeless man rummaging through the trash container at Wai'anae Mall found a box of medical supplies at about 3:30 a.m. yesterday. The man discovered the mercury inside and called police.
"With all the stories about mercury, he immediately called the fire department," said Health Department spokeswoman Janice Okubo. "At lease people are becoming aware that exposure to mercury is not a good thing."
Cripps said only one of the four 1-ounce glass vials inside the box contained mercury and was about one-third full. No other mercury was found, and cleanup crews left the scene within hours.
Police and the fire department's hazardous materials team were called to a home at 86-905 Hale Ekahi Drive at about 4 p.m. Sunday after mercury was found in a pickup truck and the home.
The house was sealed off, and again luck helped with a quick cleanup, Cripps said.
"It was only on the vinyl truck seat and easy to clean up," Cripps said. "Inside the house it was primarily tile floors with throw rugs in the entryway, which we could just pick up and get rid of them. If it had been in the carpet of the truck or the house, it would have taken a long time to clean out, but it wasn't."
The residents did not have to be evacuated, he said. Cleanup crews were done at the scene by 2 a.m.
Cripps estimated that three to four tablespoons of mercury were recovered at the scene.
Elemental mercury is an odorless, silvery liquid metal. It can cause burns to the skin and eyes and, if inhaled, could lead to problems such as pulmonary edema and neurological and kidney damage.
