State denies A former state parks administrator said he did not consider conducting a risk assessment to determine the rockfall hazard at Sacred Falls State Park after a 4-year-old girl was killed there in January 1982.
Sacred Falls liability
Relatives of 6 people killed by
a rockslide in 1999 say the
state knew of the hazardsBy Debra Barayuga
dbarayuag@starbulletin.comRichard Kanayama, a parks program manager responsible for the safety and maintenance of all Hawaii's state parks from 1979 to 1986, said the girl's death was the first injury or death he had been aware of at the park since it had opened two years earlier, and he was not sure why no assessment had been done.
"I felt this was one occurrence that unfortunately did happen, but due to the past record, we did not perform an assessment," said Kanayama, state parks assistant from 1986 to 1993. It also did not occur to him to ask the geologist on staff to do a risk assessment.
Kanayama was the first witness called by the plaintiffs as the civil trial against the state by survivors and family members of individuals who died or were injured in the May 9, 1999, Sacred Falls rockslide began yesterday in Circuit Judge Dexter Del Rosario's courtroom.
The plaintiffs allege the state should have known about the potential for rockfalls and other hazards at Sacred Falls before the 1999 rockslide and failed to adequately warn park-goers or take other steps to limit access to the park. Had access been limited, the numbers of deaths and injuries suffered on May 9, 1999, would have been reduced, they argue.
Eight people were killed and 50 others injured in the 1999 rockslide.
Kanayama issued a memo five days after 4-year-old Anita Renville was killed by falling rocks at the park in January 1982 that said, "There appears to be no practical means of preventing rockfalls, predicting when these rockfalls will occur or preventing injuries to park users. The only certainty is that rocks will continue to fall, and they will cause injuries or death if they should land on anyone."
Although the park was closed for a few days after Renville's death, the state reopened Sacred Falls and elected to address the rockfall hazard by posting warning signs notifying the public of the dangers and that they used the trail at their own risk.
The state denies it was negligent in its decision to keep Sacred Falls open despite the hazards, and contends that the numerous signs at the park warning visitors of the risks were adequate.
The state argues that it is impossible to predict when rockfalls will occur and that the tragedy on Mother's Day 1999 was an act of nature or act of God and that the state did not cause or contribute to the rockfall.
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