Lalea residents say they feel safe from rockfalls

By Suzanne Roig
Advertiser East Honolulu Writer

Catherine Ball bought her townhome at Lalea just two months before boulders tumbled down the mountain on Thanksgiving Day, and two buildings in her development were later evacuated because of a heightened risk of further rockslides.

Every day she looks out her baby's window at a boulder the size of an easy chair perched atop a cliff at least 50 feet away. Though a large open area and a soft slope separate her home and the cliff where the boulder lies, that rock has always bothered Ball.

"We call it our Lion King rock," said Ball, mother of a 2-month-old. But, she said, "we're hoping that it's tethered."

Ball is one of 264 Lalea homeowners left behind when 26 families were urged to move in early December. Though the 26 families were told that their two buildings were "in harm's way," the others were assured by developer Castle & Cooke that they were not at risk. Even after being advised that geologists say they are at some risk, they say they feel safe.

"We love the area," Ball said. "The neighborhood really is nice. The companies have been really good about informing us" about what's going on with the two buildings and the evaluation of the mountainside for the risk of rockfalls.

Residents in the other buildings have not asked to be moved, and no one has been in formal communication with the developer regarding safety, said Doug Carlson, Castle & Cooke spokesman.

"From what we've been told by the geologists, no one in the other buildings is under a heightened risk," Carlson said. "Nothing they've told us indicates that any other homeowners are in imminent risk that should concern the residents in the buildings other than the two buildings that were evacuated."

However, Earth Tech Inc., geologists hired by landowner Kamehameha Schools, said in a Jan. 23 e-mail to The Advertiser that anyone who lives at the base of a mountain "will naturally inherit some level of rockfall hazard risk unless positive measures are taken to mitigate such risk. Our assessment of the rockfall hazards at Lalea indicate that the risks for these buildings are lower than those for (the two buildings evacuated). The decision whether to evacuate these lower-risk buildings rests with the residents themselves."

The company would not talk to The Advertiser regarding its assessment of the rockfall hazards at Lalea.

Earth Tech has been assessing the mountainside and devising a plan to shore up the area to prevent future rockfalls.

Within the next two weeks, Kamehameha Schools and Castle & Cooke will present a plan to the community detailing how they will shore up 17 areas identified by geologists as posing a risk, Carlson said.

The developer and land-owner estimate it will cost about $3 million to cover portions of the area in wire mesh and break up or anchor boulders in place with steel cables. Work is expected to begin this month and be completed in August, nine months after the

26 families were advised to move immediately. Since then, each firm has hired its own geologists to assess the dangers and to come up with a plan. The Association of Apartment Owners of Lalea at Hawai'i Kai also has hired its own geologist.

The two boulders that crashed down the ridge on Thanksgiving Day smashed into two cars and hit the window of one townhome. A week later, on Dec. 6, after geologists' made their assessment of future risks, residents in the two buildings nearest the hillside were told to leave their homes and to anticipate not being able to return for a year. Castle & Cooke and Kamehameha Schools are paying the temporary housing costs.

At the two buildings that have been evacuated, a guard is posted to make sure no one enters.

Reach Suzanne Roig at sroig@honoluluadvertiser.com or 395-8831.