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The Honolulu Advertiser

Posted on: Friday, April 4, 2003

Rodent problem cited in illegal dumping

By Catherine E. Toth
Advertiser Central O'ahu Writer

City workers say they buried tons of crushed appliances at the old incinerator site in Waipahu because they were trying to avert a potential health problem, a city investigation has determined.

With the city's inquiry nearly complete, Frank Doyle, acting director of the Department of Environmental Services, told City Council members what has been learned about the illegal dumping of hundreds of appliances that had been stockpiled at the city site.

"The story is that we were getting a lot of rodents into the material, vermin and whatnot, (and) this was a health hazard," Doyle said on Wednesday. "We tried to crush the materials to take care of the rodents further; this only encapsulated the problem. Supposedly, the place started to smell, so they (city workers) decided to cover it."

The decision did not travel up the chain of command, he said.

Doyle said the cleanup of the illegal dumping has already cost the city at least $150,000.

A total of 210 tons of crushed appliances have been removed and taken to Hawaii Metal Recycling Co. The white goods — washers, dryers, water heaters — filled an area 125 feet by 85 feet to a depth of 4 feet. Crews yesterday also finished removing all apparent construction debris from the site.

Today the city will dig in other areas at the site to ensure that all the buried appliances and construction material have been removed. Cleanup could last at least two more weeks.

Soil tests also continue, with the city trying to determine dioxin levels at two sites near the incinerator and one at a nearby landfill where bricks and ash were dumped. Those results are expected to be completed by next week.

Officials initially said that only trace amounts of hazardous materials were found at the site. Later the presence of high levels of cadmium and now the presence of dioxin were revealed in areas nearby.

Dioxins are formed as a result of combustion processes, such as commercial or municipal waste incineration. According to the federal Environmental Protection Agency, studies have shown that exposure to dioxins at high enough doses may cause skin disorders, mild liver damage and an increased risk of cancer.

Cadmium is a naturally occurring element that is present to some degree in all soil and rocks, according to the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry. The heavy metal can damage the lungs, cause kidney disease and may irritate the digestive tract, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. It can stay in the body for a long time, building up from many years of exposure at low levels.

The high level of cadmium most likely came from incinerator ash disposed of at the incinerator site, state officials have said.

The state is conducting its own soil tests to confirm city findings of high cadmium levels.

Doyle noted that the city was aware of the storage of white goods at the Waipahu site.

At the end of 2000, Hawaii Metal Recycling's shredder shut down, forcing the city to stockpile white goods at convenience centers, he said. The city decided to move all the appliances to one site — the closed Waipahu incinerator that now operates as a baseyard for city mechanics and electricians.

"We brought them there to the site because our convenience centers were all backed up," Doyle said.

While the city negotiated a new contract with Hawaii Metal Recycling, other recyclers couldn't accept the appliances because plastic was mixed with the metal. So the appliances stayed at the incinerator site.

They became infested, then were crushed and covered, Doyle said.

"In my opinion, it was just a dumb, stupid decision," he said, "and I can't see any financial motivation to do it."

Yesterday, he refused to comment further on the investigation or the role or status of city refuse disposal facility superintendent Peter M. Kealoha.

Staff writer Treena Shapiro contributed to this report.