honoluluadvertiser.com

Sponsored by:

Comment, blog & share photos

Log in | Become a member
The Honolulu Advertiser
Posted on: Friday, May 11, 2007

HAWAI'I BRIEFS
Kahuku students back in classes after odor clears

Advertiser Staff

Students at Kahuku High & Intermediate School returned to class yesterday after a pesticide or chemical smell had kept the school closed since May 3.

The Department of Health conducted tests and earlier this week declared the campus to be free of contaminants.

But some adults continued to express mild discomfort, primarily throat constriction, when they were in the affected upper part of the campus on Tuesday morning, so school officials kept students and staff away one more day.

Last Friday, the Department of Agriculture was looking into whether the odor came from a nearby turf farmer who was testing a pesticide on his crop.

Samples were taken to determine if residue in the classrooms was matched the pesticide. Laboratory results will not be known for two to three weeks.