LIHU‘E — PAHIO Development announced Tuesday that asbestos mitigation activities will begin this month at Lihu‘e Sugar Mill, to be followed by the mill’s demolition, tentatively scheduled Feb. 20. Similar work at Kekaha Sugar Mill is expected to follow completion
LIHU‘E — PAHIO Development announced Tuesday that asbestos mitigation activities will begin this month at Lihu‘e Sugar Mill, to be followed by the mill’s demolition, tentatively scheduled Feb. 20.
Similar work at Kekaha Sugar Mill is expected to follow completion of the Lihu‘e mill project, which is expected to last approximately six months. An earlier schedule had the Kekaha work proceeding first.
“It made more sense this way,” the mills’ co-owner, Lynn McCrory, president of PAHIO Development, said Tuesday.
The work will be conducted during normal business hours, and any traffic from the project will be scheduled to minimize disruptions for Kaua‘i residents, a news release states.
Progress reports will be regularly updated and can be tracked at www.sterlingsystems.biz/hawaii.html. Questions about the process can be directed to the project information hotline at 635-5861. A return call will be made the following day, the release states. A bulletin board at the mill sites will also will provide updates on the project’s progress.
Future public meeting dates will be shown on the website and will be publicized in news releases.
There are no immediate plans for the sites.
“I think at this point we need to get the buildings down first before considering any plans,” McCrory said.
The sites are not suitable for housing because they are brownfield (contaminated) sites, she said.
The county has issued a demolition permit for the Lihu‘e Mill work, according to the release, and all State of Hawai‘i permits have also been issued.
McCrory said she was uncertain whether the county has issued the Kekaha permits yet.
“As far as I know it has, or is soon to be,” she said.
Work will be performed by environmental consulting firm NCM Contracting Group with the oversight of PAHIO’s environmental consultant Bill Cutler, who is a geologist and environmental engineer.
PAHIO contracted Jason Jones, CEO of Sterling Systems Environmental Services of Long Lake, Minn., as asbestos and demolition consultant on the project.
At community outreach meetings last October, Jones said asbestos mitigation involves building a negative-air decontamination bubble around the work site, one section at a time.
Before workers enter the area, they are suited up in protective gear and, before they leave, they enter a decontamination shower.
The work within the bubble involves wetting, double bagging and tagging asbestos for removal. Outside the bubble, air sampling will occur within 10 feet of the work site to screen for contamination.
Upon removal, the asbestos is placed on a barge within 24 hours and shipped to O‘ahu, where it will be disposed of at an authorized landfill facility, Jones said.
A third-party environmental group and the state Department of Health will monitor the operation.
After the sites are certified clean of asbestos, demolition can begin.
Amfac ceased sugar production activity at the mills and closed the sites in 2000. For decades, there has been minimal to no structural maintenance at the mills, the release states.
Amfac sold the mills and related land to a private developer who, in turn, sold the sites to PAHIO Development in August 2007.
Initially, there were attempts by owners Lihu‘e MS LLC and Kekaha MS LLC to mitigate asbestos and other toxic materials without removing the structures.
At one point, there was talk of repurposing the Kekaha mill as a biomass plant. But multiple consultants concluded that mitigation could not be completed without removal of mill buildings due the deteriorated condition of buildings and the extensive use of asbestos in the most integral parts of the mill structures and equipment.
Asbestos was used as an insulator throughout the mill, including on pipes and other equipment. Both the Lihu‘e and Kekaha mills contain brick and abestos-based mortar walls that are failing. The paint and flooring also contains asbestos.
PAHIO has met all requirements of the state Historic Preservation Division for documenting the history and equipment at the historic sites, including completion of a Historic American Engineering Record report, with maps, blueprints and photographs.
∫ Vanessa Van Voorhis, staff writer, can be reached at 245-3681, ext. 251, or by emailing vvanvoorhis@thegardenisland.com.
