Possible asbestos
discovery investigatedA bag found at an illegal dump
will be analyzed for material
State health officials are investigating the discovery of a plastic bag possibly containing asbestos that was illegally dumped in Poamoho, near Whitmore Village in Central Oahu.
Carroll Cox, president of the environmental watchdog group Enviro-Watch, said he found the bag Sunday while looking for illegal dump sites in an area on the Haleiwa side of the bridge where Kamehameha Highway crosses Poamoho Gulch.
"It caught my eye because it says, 'Warning: Contains asbestos fibers,'" Cox said.
Two metal pipes were found in a bag typically used for disposal of asbestos materials, said Liz Galvez, state Office of Hazard Evaluation & Emergency Response Office on-scene coordinator.
The bag was found amid a heap of derelict cars, old mattresses, refrigerators and other refuse.
"I would be more inclined to believe it is asbestos if there were more bags," Galvez said. The contents of the bag will be analyzed to determine whether they contain asbestos, a hazardous material, she said.
The Honolulu Fire Department hazardous-materials team went to the scene and cordoned off the area.
Marilyn Carlsmith, who owns the property with her brother, said the site is near a World War II underground military bunker, which was supposed to be used as a last stand if Hawaii was invaded by the Japanese.
She was informed of the discovery yesterday after returning from a mainland trip.
Carlsmith said she had problems with homeless people and drug users occupying the site, so when a group that restores old military vehicles offered to clean it up in exchange for use of the area, she thought it would be a good idea. She said the area had been used as a dump site without her permission, and an assortment of items, including stolen cars, have been found there.
Galvez said members of the car club were cleaning the area Sunday. They had a commercial hauler remove some of the trash to take it to a dump. Galvez said the group told her the hauler dumped the load back at the Poamoho site after being rejected at the dump because the load contained old batteries.
Cox, however, said the group informed him the load was rejected because it contained asbestos.
Cox previously found illegal dump sites, notably one near the old Waipahu Incinerator where tons of large appliances were buried, which the city cleaned up in March.
Galvez said the matter will be referred to the state Department of Health's Solid & Hazardous Waste Branch and the asbestos program in the Environmental Health Services Division.