Judge: State liable for Sacred Falls rockslide

By David Waite
Advertiser Courts Writer

The state was negligent in the 1999 Mother's Day rockslide at Sacred Falls that killed eight people and injured 42 others because it invited families to hike there without adequately warning them of the potential dangers, a Circuit Court judge ruled yesterday.

Discussing yesterday's decision at a news conference were, from left, plaintiffs Rodney and Ireen Woodington, lawyer Arthur Park and plaintiff Michael Forsch. Family member Darcelle Chan is center. Gregory Yamamoto • The Honolulu Advertiser

The decision clears the way for a trial in January to determine how much the state must pay some of the victims and their relatives who sued. Their attorneys yesterday said they will seek millions of dollars.

The popular O'ahu tourist attraction has remained closed since the May 9, 1999 rockslide — one of the deadliest natural disasters in Hawai'i history.

In his written decision which came nearly a year after a two-month civil trial that began Sept. 20, 2001, Del Rosario rejected the state's arguments that the rock fall was an act of God, that warning signs at the start of the trail leading to the spectacular waterfall were adequate and that hikers ventured to Sacred Falls pool at their own risk.

"There was a certainty that rocks would continue to fall and that, if they should strike anyone, they would cause injury or death," Del Rosario said.

He said the park was promoted as a tourist destination, even though there had been a "continuing history of rock-fall events and injuries, including a prior death that occurred at the Sacred Falls pool area," and that most users were visitors from out of state.

The state park, which drew 70,000 visitors a year, featured a scenic 2.2 mile hike through a banana field and a forest to an 87-foot-high waterfall. Dozens of hikers were sunning themselves at the deep pool beneath the waterfall when the landslide began 850 feet above them. Some ricocheting boulders were as big as compact cars.

Ireen Woodington, whose right arm was crushed in the rock fall and whose daughter lost part of her foot, said yesterday that she and her family, including her husband Rodney, joined in the lawsuit "so people would know there are dangers out there — you just can't go walking into places."

Lawyer Arthur Park, who along with partner Larry Remillard represented the families of four people who were killed and 17 who were injured, called the ruling "a total victory for us."

Remillard said Del Rosario's ruling was the first involving the Sacred Falls tragedy and that it may have been the first to deal with the adequacy of warning signs in state parks.

State Attorney General Earl Anzai went home yesterday without commenting on the decision.

Department of Land and Natural Resources officials also could not be reached for comment on what effect the ruling might have on other state parks, or whether Sacred Falls Park will ever reopen.

The Sacred Falls rock fall, however, already has been cited by officials as a reason for closing popular Manoa Falls earlier this year for more than three months after rockslides happened there. The Manoa Falls trail was reopened in May.

Park said one of the reasons for suing was to "try to prevent the same thing from happening to other people."

Park and Remillard declined to say how much in money they will seek from the state on behalf of their clients but said it will likely be "in the millions."

"You have people with huge medical bills that have not be paid for," Park said. "One of the plaintiffs, in Florida, works for a religious order and has no health insurance."

The damages portion of the case is expected to take two to three months.

Remillard said Del Rosario found that the rock fall and resulting injuries were not exclusively the result of natural causes, as the state had argued. "The only reason 50 people were congregating there was because the state actively promoted it as a place to go and swim with children," Remillard said.

The "fundamental findings" by Del Rosario were that the state was negligent in promoting use of the park, negligent in how it maintained the park and negligent in failing to warn the public of a falling-rock hazard, Remillard said.

In his decision, Del Rosario noted that the number of visitors to the park had increased dramatically, reaching 70,000 in fiscal 1991-1992. "Despite this knowledge, the (state) Parks Division had signs designed by persons who had no specialized training or education in designing signs for the particular hazards and circumstances in Sacred Falls Park," Del Rosario said.

The suit alleges the state was negligent in not warning visitors of possible rock falls, and in having knowledge of the danger because of previous incidents, including a 1982 rock fall that killed 4-year-old Anita Renville.

Michael Forsch, a plaintiff whose wife died of head injuries suffered in the rock fall, said yesterday that when he went to Sacred Falls with his wife, he was unaware others had been killed there.

"If we hadn't brought the lawsuit ... people would still be (getting) killed," Forsch said.

Advertiser staff writer Curtis Lum and The Associated Press contributed to this report.