Woman files suit Diana Bounds was at work at the Makalapa Community Center more than a year ago when state and city officials took over the Head Start program and the adjacent Puuwai Momi public housing complex.
in mercury case
The federal complaint asks
for damages due to exposure to
the toxic metal at Puuwai MomiBy Debra Barayuga
dbarayuga@starbulletin.comThe reason, she said, was that she, the children and residents at Puuwai Momi Housing had been "poisoned and that they could get very sick or die."
What began as Puuwai Momi children bringing home an estimated 24 pounds of mercury from an abandoned water pump house at a nearby park turned into a nightmare for hundreds of Halawa residents, she said.
Bounds, among the hundreds evacuated on March 12, 2001, because of mercury contamination and the massive cleanup, is suing state, city and federal agencies for their handling of the incident.
In a lawsuit filed Monday in U.S. District Court, Bounds claims she and her sons have suffered physical and emotional damages in excess of $50,000 for exposure to mercury.
Bounds alleges that her car and possessions were seized and she was required to perform work at the Honolulu Community Action Program in excess of 20 hours for which she was never paid, caring for the children and informing parents about what was going on.
Named as defendants were the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the state Department of Defense, state Health Department, the city and others.
Of the more than a hundred people tested, only two were found with elevated levels of exposure and neither showed any sign of illness. Mercury was found in 71 of the 260 apartments at Puuwai Momi, as well as in sidewalks and common areas.
Bounds alleges the Army Corps of Engineers, the U.S. Navy, and other state and city agencies knew about the existence of the mercury. The pump house was on former Navy land that was transferred to the state in 1962 and conveyed to the state Department of Defense in a land swap.
Gary Gill, deputy director of environmental health, which oversees the Hazard Evaluation and Emergency Response Program -- the state agency primarily responsible for the mercury cleanup -- said he could not comment on the allegations but said all the state and federal agencies involved responded quickly to the contamination and removed the mercury before any serious health impact could occur.
"We took hundreds of samples and determined that there would be no long-term negative impact to any of the residents," Gill said.
The pump house has since been secured and all the mercury inside removed, he added.
Doug MaKitten of the Army Corps of Engineers at Fort Shafter said it's their policy not to comment on pending litigation.
Maj. Chuck Anthony, spokesman for the Hawaii National Guard, said the allegations made against Maj. Gen. Edward Correa, director of the state Department of Defense, are factually inaccurate.
The land under the pump house was not under Correa's command in August and September 2000, when officials were aware there was mercury on the site, and therefore he had no authority to clean the site, Anthony said.
Correa was dismissed as a defendant last July in a similar lawsuit filed by Myrtle Mokiao in state Circuit Court, Anthony said.
In that suit, Mokiao claimed she and her two sons suffered bodily injury from the mercury poisoning and emotional distress from the events of March 2001. She is also claiming property losses of $25,000 after she was evicted from her contaminated apartment.