‘Toxic tour’

KEKAHA — Residents of Kekaha on Wednesday gathered for a “Toxic Tour,” led by community action group E Ola Mau Na Leo O Kekaha, regarding asbestos and toxic chemical abatement and mitigation activities at old Kekaha Sugar Mill.

However, it was more of a grass roots demonstration, rather than a tour. Perhaps the small print at the bottom of the flyer that read “Make a sign! Let your voice be heard!” was an indication.

“We’re going to walk down the road as a group toward the mill and show these people we care about our community,” said Mary Jean Buza-Sims, president of E Ola Mau Na Leo O Kekaha, while talking into a megaphone and standing in the back of a pick-up truck next to Jose Bulatao, who beat a large drum and the led a group of about 30, ages keiki to kapuna, down Kekaha Road.

Their destination was a grassy lawn across from the old sugar mill, where the group gathered and listened to speakers Buza-Sims and Bulatao argue that the community has essentially been left in the dark during the ongoing cleanup of toxic materials at the old mill.

“There’s no doubt we all want the mill cleaned up,” Buza-Sims said. “It’s full of toxins, and that’s why we’re here, to inform our community that what is in the mill needs to be rid of. Arsenic, toxins, asbestos. It can kill us and our children.”

She said E Ola Mau Na Leo O Kekaha wants those in charge of cleaning up the mill to know that “yes, we want it cleaned up but we want to know what you are doing.”  

A plan to clean up the mill has not been provided, she said, and people of the community have a need to know so they may prepare themselves, especially on those days when asbestos abatement activities are occurring.

“We need to know when, the date, the time so we can protect ourselves and our children,” by closing windows and wearing respirator masks, she said.

The Department of Health is responsible for overseeing the cleanup of the mill and they have been remiss, she said. “DOH needs to step up and let people know what the plan is.”

Rumors have been circulating, she said, concerning pounding of pipes laden with asbestos. “If the pipes are being pounded on and the asbestos is in the air, don’t you think we’re going to get it in our system?”

She asked participants to put on the disposable respirator masks handed out to them at the beginning of the meeting to show that they are concerned and want to be prepared.

“So at this point, if you have a mask, put your mask on so the media can see that we want to be protected,” Buza-Sims said. “The mask is a symbol to those that are cleaning up the mill that we want this thing to be done correctly. We want to protect ourselves.”

When Bulatao took the microphone, he said “promises were made by the people in charge of cleaning up the mill that they would provide us information, that they would make contact with us weekly … but we received nothing.”

Resident attendees were then offered the microphone. Some spoke of concerns about the low height of the dust screen around the mill; some cited respiratory problems during the scrap removal process; and some said the trucks that were removing scrap from the site left toxin-laden muddy tracks on the roads of Kekaha.

Near the end of the meetings, participants were asked to sign a petition demanding accountability by mill owner Pahio Development, clean up contractor Kaua‘i Industries, asbestos abatement firm Nuprecon, environmental firm Integral Consulting, Advanced Compliance Solutions and Pacific West Energy.

Evelyn Olores, who manned the petition table, said, “The Health Department never gave us real answers. They said it was way below toxicity, but we’re not happy with that. We want to know what’s going on over there.”

State Rep. Daynette Morikawa of Waimea attended the gathering at the behest of the community group. She said she had “not really talked to the (Health Department)” but would like to hear from both sides “because of (the arsenic) they found in Kilauea (sugar mill), we have to assume it’s just as bad.”

In an a telephone interview after the “Toxic Tour,” Dan KenKnight, head of Kaua‘i Industries, and environmental consultant Dennis Poma, responded to the group’s claims.

“Update letters were supplied to them,” KenKnight said. “We’ve asked to be invited to community meetings.” He added that he believes the community group may be exaggerating the facts.

When asked if he would be willing to post a letter or signage outside of the mill updating the community of its activities on a regular basis, he said, “I’m willing to do whatever is practical” and would consider posting notices.

They said exterior scrap removal is essentially complete. Now, they are moving into buildings, where Nuprecon is currently performing asbestos abatement and mitigation in concert with general scrap removal and cleanup.  

The scrap is being sold to an Asian buyer and the asbestos is being shipped off to a designated waste site on O‘ahu. 

“The majority of the scrap doesn’t have any asbestos on it,” KenKnight said.

Both assured that no asbestos is becoming airborne because operations are contained behind vacuum-sealed plastic sheeting and because the particles are not loose.

“The contained fibers are in a census material,” Poma said.

They said pipe with a known asbestos covering was cut and removed from the mill, but Nuprecon did the removal with a glove bag. 

In terms of fence height around the mill, Poma said there is no requirement, but KenKnight promised more fencing will be put up.

Poma said trucks and their tires are sprayed with power washers before leaving the facility. “We only had one entrance at Kekaha Road and the highway,” he said, “and we had very little tracking.”  

In response to letters of complaint from E Ola Mau Na Leo O Kekaha members, DOH sent two inspectors to visit the mill. They reported that the clean up operations appeared to be meeting state and federal environmental requirements.

Deputy Director of the Department of Health Gary Gill could not be reached for comment prior to publication.