Council panel OKs The City Council's Budget Committee has approved a $2.1 million cleanup of a 37-acre Waipahu property that has left the city without title to its massive new Central Oahu Regional Park in Waipio.
Waipahu cleanup
The contaminated property was
traded for land at the new
Waipio regional parkBy Gordon Y.K. Pang
gpang@starbulletin.com"The quicker we resolve this issue, the better for us," Councilman Romy Cachola said during yesterday's Budget Committee meeting.
Lead contaminants need to be removed from the so-called Managers Drive parcel that was swapped, along with $4.5 million cash, to Castle & Cooke Hawaii for the 270-acre regional park that opened last Saturday.
Council members said they found out about the contamination and title issues only this month, although a Castle & Cooke official said he first informed Harris officials about contamination at Managers Drive more than a year ago.
"Just during their cursory examination, they should have known from the batteries on the premises," said Councilman John Henry Felix. "We have to be more diligent in our environment cleanup operations in the future."
City Budget Director Carol Takahashi told committee members that soil studies done in 1993 and 1994 failed to turn up any contamination. It is suspected that batteries from abandoned vehicles left on the site, after those studies were done, are the major sources of contamination, she said.
Lead paint from homes that once were on the site may also have contributed, Takahashi said.
The Waipahu parcel was a residential site for Oahu Sugar Co. It was given to the city in 1991 as part of an impact fee paid by Amfac/JMB Hawaii Inc. when it received approvals for the Waikele Golf Club.
Councilman Duke Bainum questioned Takahashi on what the administration learned from the episode.
"I think with respect to land that was left idle, we need to be real careful of ... what stray things enter into the property, whether they be old batteries or old cars," Takahashi said. "I think we need to be more diligent in securing our vacant lands."
Harry Saunders, president of Castle & Cooke Hawaii, told reporters after yesterday's hearing that an environmental study done for his company in March 2000 indicated there was soil contamination at Managers Drive. He said he immediately told city officials.
"We told the city," Saunders said. "We gave them a heads-up and said, 'Hey look, we have a problem.'" It was not until earlier this month, however, that Castle & Cooke was able to narrow the estimated cost for remediation down to between $2.2 million and $2.4 million, he said.
The city offered to pay $2.1 million because that is what is remaining from the original purchase appropriation. Saunders said Castle & Cooke agreed to pick up any costs beyond that amount. The company's plans to put a housing subdivision on the Managers Drive parcel have been held up by the need for soil remediation.