City gets $20 million in water case settlement
By Scott Ishikawa
Advertiser Central O'ahu Writer
The Honolulu Board of Water Supply will receive nearly $20 million in a settlement with six petrochemical companies and pineapple growers over contamination of the water supply in Central and Leeward O'ahu, the board and companies disclosed yesterday.
The agreement caps a nearly two-decade dispute stemming from the discovery of chemicals found in water from wells in Central O'ahu. The concerns also led to some 350 residents' filing a lawsuit against many of the same companies over the contaminants.
Yesterday's settlement may not have any legal impact on their pending case, but lawyers for the residents say it signals the companies may also be willing to settle their case.
Cheryl Yamane, a resident of Village Park in Central O'ahu until 2000, believes the settlement vindicates her previous efforts to push the state and water board to check the area's soil and water for contaminants. Yamane's three sons ages 8, 13 and 18 suffer from medical problems.
"The fact that they settled, to me, says a lot," said Yamane, whose family now lives in Makakilo and is not part of the pending lawsuit. "Basically, it admits in a way they are responsible and that there is a problem."
The companies and growers, however, say by settling the water board case, they are not admitting to any wrongdoing, according to the settlement terms.
Yesterday's settlement is for a suit by the water board saying the water supply had been tainted by toxic chemicals — dibromochloropropane (DBCP), ethylene dibromide (EDB), and trichloropropane (TCP) — made by defendants Shell Oil Co., Dow Chemical Co., Great Lakes Chemical Co., and used on Central O'ahu fields by Del Monte, Dole and Libby McNeil Libby Inc.
Under the terms of the city settlement, the companies will make a one-time $19.95 million payment toward the cost of filtering drinking water wells with granulated activated carbon (GAC) to meet federal and state water quality standards. Parties involved in the suit declined to say how much each of the defendants will pay.
Water board officials said the settlement will not result in lower water rates.
Attorney Gerald Sekiya, whose firm, Cronin Fried, Sekiya Kekina & Fairbanks, represented the city during the lawsuit, said all parties agreed to settle in October, and finalized the monetary amount in December.
Board of Water Supply Manager Clifford Jamile said that water consumed by its customers has since been cleaned beyond detectable levels of the contaminants and is safe for consumption. TCP is known to cause liver damage, central nervous system depression and other effects in rats. Its effect on humans is not known.
Water officials have said the Kunia well supplying water to Village Park was drilled in 1979, and that contamination of DBCP, EDB and TCP in the water was not discovered until 1982. The Board of Water Supply installed granular activated carbon filters in 1983 to bring the contamination levels below maximum levels allowed by the state.
The Maui County Board of Water Supply in 1999 won a $3 million settlement in a similar lawsuit.
The 350 Central O'ahu residents are seeking damages for illnesses allegedly caused by contaminated water supplies. They are represented by four law firms, including Honolulu-based Tam & Stanford and Los Angeles-based Masry & Vititoe, the firm of "Erin Brockovich" movie fame.
Edward Masry, partner at Masry & Vititoe, said he is optimistic the city settlement will lead to similar positive results for his firm's lawsuit, but said the potential settlement amount varies from case to case.
"It makes settlement negotiations easier for us if it comes to that," Masry said yesterday from his California office. "I think the settlement is an indication that the companies say they're responsible for contaminating the water. But you can't compare one toxic case with another. There are different factors to each one."
Masry said the trial could be scheduled for later this year.
Legal observers said they don't think the residents can cite the settlement to bolster their lawsuit. Paul Achitoff, managing attorney for Earthjustice's Hawai'i office, said the water board and the residents' lawsuits raise "very separate issues."
"I don't know if it (the settlement) would be admissible in a personal liability trial because the defendants were willing to pay a large sum of money in another case; you can't make that argument," Achitoff said. "But it will make the Village Park plaintiffs a little more confident."
Reach Scott Ishikawa at sishikawa@honoluluadvertiser.com or 535-2429.
