Toxin in Waipahu soil linked to illegal dumping

By Catherine E. Toth
Advertiser Central O'ahu Writer

New tests have confirmed high levels of cadmium at a closed landfill in Waipahu, setting in motion a process that state officials say will require the city to dig up contaminated soil and other material and ship it to a Mainland facility specializing in the handling of hazardous waste.

Caution tape surrounds a mound of dirt and debris at the Waipahu landfill, where tests confirmed the presence of high levels of cadmium. Bruce Asato • The Honolulu Advertiser

Cadmium, a heavy metal regulated by the federal Environmental Protection Agency, is considered toxic at high levels. Prolonged exposure could result in lung damage and kidney disease.

Because the contaminated area is away from the incinerator site, where about a dozen city maintenance employees work, the state isn't too concerned about cadmium exposure to the workers. The concern is the potential for the cadmium to leech out of the soil and into groundwater, which state officials say they don't think has happened.

"For the soil to pose a potential risk for workers, they would have to be exposed to that soil every day," said Steve Chang, chief of the state Heath Department's Solid and Hazardous Waste Branch. "Basically, they would have to eat the soil to get (cadmium) in their systems."

The finding by the Health Department marks the second instance of illegal dumping involving the city's Waipahu incinerator site. Health officials believe the cadmium leached into the soil from ash taken from the incinerator and disposed of illegally at the landfill. The landfill was closed in 1990, and officials say the dumping occurred after that.

Now, state officials said, the city must determine the extent of the contamination and how much soil needs to be removed.

"We want to clean up the site as soon as possible, get the material stabilized and make sure the public knows it's not at risk," Chang said.

He said the city would likely have to hire a company specializing in the removal of hazardous wastes, as they have the heavy equipment and protective gear required.

However, city spokeswoman Carol Costa said she wasn't sure the material needed to be sent to the Mainland.

"We may be able to complete remediation in place," Costa said.

Chang disagreed.

"Whatever material is pulled out of the ground, it has to be treated as hazardous," Chang said. "And we don't have a facility that treats it."

About two truckloads of bricks and ash were dumped at the closed landfill, about 200 yards from the incinerator site, where more than 200 buried appliances were discovered in March. The city removed the white goods — washers, dryers, stoves, water heaters — and construction debris from the site on April 3. The appliances were taken to Hawaii Metal Recycling Co.

A state investigation into the illegal dumping and burial of appliances at the incinerator and ash at the landfill continues.

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.

"Cadmium is a pretty toxic metal, and it's really persistent," said Bill Cameron, owner of HazTech Environmental Services, a Waipahu-based company that specializes in the removal and disposal of hazardous waste. "It's bad if it gets into the groundwater. That's the main thing to worry about."

At the closed landfill, a mound about the size of a volleyball court and shoulder-high is surrounded by yellow tape that reads "Caution." Dozens of bricks, some half-buried, remain at the site. The road that leads to the landfill on Waipahu Depot Road has been closed.

Ash from incinerators typically is not found to be hazardous, Chang said, and common practice is to dump it in landfills.

Three incinerators that the city once operated — Kewalo, Kapalama and Waipahu — have all been closed for years. The city's H-Power is the only incinerator operating in Hawai'i today, as its process meets strict clean-air laws.

The incinerator sites typically remain dormant until a further use is planned, and then they are cleaned up to the extent warranted.

The Kewalo site was cleaned up in the late 1990s when the city planned to convert the facility into a children's museum — today known as the Children's Discovery Center.

The Kapalama site is being cleaned and the site prepared for a daycare center.

The city has not decided what it will do with the Waipahu incinerator site, which has been used as a city base yard since the incinerator was shut down in 1994. Lawmakers have discussed building a soccer facility on the site, which is adjacent to the Waipi'o Soccer Complex.

Adults can be exposed to higher levels of contaminants than children, Chang said. If the city wanted to convert the site into a soccer facility for youth teams, cleanup efforts would have to be expanded.

"You remove the material to the level that's safe for the target group using it," Chang said.

Hawai'i has never had a hazardous waste landfill; instead, the state has aggressively tried to keep the production of hazardous waste low.

"We're a small state and we're not an industrial state," said Grace Simmons, hazardous waste supervisor at the Health Department. "We've always been very low."

Hawai'i generated 1,456 tons of hazardous waste in 1999, the second-lowest amount in the nation, the latest figures from the EPA show. Alaska generated the least with 1,335 tons. In comparison, Texas generates the most hazardous waste in the nation — 14.9 million tons in 1999.

Most of the hazardous waste generated in Hawai'i comes from military sites.

Hazardous waste must be sent to Mainland landfills, with the costs the responsibility of the generator, said Simmons. Where the waste is transported depends on the composition and treatment needs of the material. The cadmium-rich soil and ash at Waipahu, for example, would most likely be taken to a landfill on the West Coast, said Simmons.

Reach Catherine E. Toth at 535-8103 or ctoth@honoluluadvertiser.com.