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Legislators plan briefing
on Waipahu dump sitesState lawmakers are holding an informational briefing about environmental contamination at the city's Waipahu Incinerator site tomorrow at the Capitol.
The Health and Commerce, Consumer Protection and Housing committees will discuss the causes and extent of problems at the Waipahu Incinerator; the extent to which state and county agencies properly monitored the dumping and burial of hazardous materials at the site; whether federal, state and county laws have been violated; and what remedial actions are being taken.
A citizen complaint in late February triggered an investigation by the state Health Department's Hazardous and Solid Waste Division, an internal investigation by the city and a criminal investigation by the state attorney general's office.
More than 200 tons of crushed household appliances had been illegally buried next to the Waipahu Incinerator, and some soils near the incinerator and in the nearby ash landfill showed hazardous levels of heavy metals.
The meeting is set for 9 a.m. in state Capitol Room 16. For more information, call 586-6740.
Relations in labor
Hawaii has at least three more Democrats, as Sens. Shan Tsutsui and Brian Kanno and Rep. Mark Takai (D, Newtown-Pearl City) are all new fathers.
CORRECTION
Wednesday, May 14, 2003» State Sen. Brian Kanno's wife gave birth to the couple's first son on Friday. A Political File item on Page A2 Monday incorrectly said the baby was born Thursday.
The Honolulu Star-Bulletin strives to make its news report fair and accurate. If you have a question or comment about news coverage, call Editor Frank Bridgewater at 529-4791 or email him at corrections@starbulletin.com.Tsutsui (D, Wailuku-Kahului) left the Legislature to be with his wife, Lyndelle, for the birth of his second daughter Kaylee, last month. Then hours after the Legislature adjourned on May 1, Takai's daughter, Kaila, was born.
Last Thursday, Lorrie Kanno, wife of Brian Kanno (D, Kalaeloa-Makakilo), gave birth to a son, Kalai. Kanno already has two daughters.
Kanno reports that all are doing well and that he is relieved that "Kalai waited until after session."
Termite tour invitation
Rep. Scott Nishimoto (D, Kaimuki-Waikiki) is offering Gov. Linda Lingle a tour of Kaimuki High School to prove to her the school's repairs are needed and not "pork barrel spending."Lingle was critical last week of the common legislative practice of inserting favored school projects in the state budget, sometimes at the expense of projects already planned by the Department of Education.
Nishimoto, however, said he would be "happy to visit the campus of Kaimuki with the governor and show her the necessity of those repairs."
"The current science rooms are so termite-ridden they are unusable," Nishimoto said.
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