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Kokua Line June Watanabe |
Debris found at Sand
Island dates to before
World War II
Question: I went fishing at Sand Island in May and found U.S. Army Medical Department crockery debris all along the shore line, i.e., from the marina to the park. They are white with maroon trim, with a "U.S. Army Medical Department" logo inside a maroon circle. Is this how the Army disposes of its trash, or is this an illegal dumping of contaminated medical material?
Answer: The state Department of Health investigated your complaint and concluded that the debris somehow surfaced after being disposed of years ago.
"It's not really something to go after (as a violation)," said Steve Chang, chief of the department's Solid & Hazardous Waste Branch. He also said the material is not hazardous or contaminated.
If an actual dump site of at least one cubic yard had been found, that would have led to further investigation.
"We look for more than a cubic yard of material (in one spot) ... We look for evidence of dumping," Chang said.
In this case, it appears the pieces of crockery washed ashore after being unearthed from some long-closed dump site, or from erosion of Sand Island, health officials have concluded.
A health inspector who went to the site saw one piece roughly every 25 feet along the shoreline, by the city's Wastewater Treatment Plant, Chang said. One piece looked like a gravy bowl, another the top of a ceramic dish. There was some numbering, including the figure "1936."
Star-Bulletin reporter Diana Leone also checked the site and said the broken pieces she saw included these markings: "S.Q.M.C. 0-1-2472, ....1940; "... M.C. CCC-14 1936" on an apparent dish lid fragment; "Tepco USA China" on a cup fragment; "Bailey, Wal... China Co. Bedford; "O... U.S.Q.M.C. QM-4805 4-22-41;"and "April 24, 1941."
Chang said his office alerted the state Parks Division, which oversees Sand Island State Park, about the debris.
We asked the Army if it had any information about the crockery or how it might have surfaced along the Sand Island shore.
Besides being a landfill and dump, Sand Island was a prisoner-of-war camp during World War I, and "enemy prisoners were entitled to medical care," said Margaret Tippy, spokeswoman for Tripler Army Medical Center, citing the center's "unofficial historian."
"These 1940-era plates were probably dumped as a result of World War II standards used in taking care of POWs who were eligible for health care," she said.
Tippy said she doesn't know when the Army Medical Department stopped using the chinaware, but was told that some of this crockery is still available for sale at second-hand stores on Oahu.
Meanwhile, she said Tripler's regular trash is taken to the city's H-POWER plant and the ash from H-POWER is taken to the Waimanalo Gulch Landfill.
"Tripler staff and contractors track and treat Tripler's medical waste, rendering the medical waste non-infectious solid waste," she added. "Once treated and rendered non-infectious, these wastes are properly disposed of in accordance with Hawaii Administrative Rules Title 11, Chapter 104."
Tripler Army Medical Center sends non-infectious solid waste to the Waimanalo Gulch Landfill. Once medical waste is rendered non-infectious, it is considered solid waste, Tippy explained.
Back to Sand Island, Chang noted that all kinds of debris end up along the shoreline. He also said there are numerous old dumps and incineration sites in and around the area, citing information put out by the city Department of Public Works.
On what used to be an island just outside the Kalihi Channel, called "Quarantine Island," was an ash dump, "where they probably had an open burn," Chang said.
There also was the Kalihi Kai Dump, which operated between 1929 and 1941; Pahounui Dump, which was open 1942-46; the Kewalo Incinerator, which operated from the 1940s until 1977; as well as a "garbage crematorium" that operated before 1905 off Ala Moana, near Fort Armstrong.
As it is, "all kinds of other stuff" wash up on Sand Island, Chang said. Sometimes it's debris from boats passing by. That's not supposed to happen, "but if you're (on a boat and) outside of three miles, the state has no jurisdiction," he said.
Mahalo
To a kind stranger. We were in Hawaii on vacation from Reno and on July 16, while leaving my sister-in-law's home on Meheula Street in Mililani, our 5-year-old granddaughter's Dolphin bracelet accidentally slipped off her wrist. A jogger found it and checked at the nearest house (my sister-in-law's) to see if anyone had lost a bracelet. She said if it had dolphins on it, it was her niece's. Sure enough. We cannot thank you enough for your kindness -- a lot of people would just have kept it. -- Nana Lee and Papa Gene
Auwe
We live on Waikalua Road in Kaneohe and the city told us long ago that they were going to widen the street. We have been here 32 years and nothing has been done. We live in a lane on Waikalua Road and on the corner house we cannot see cars coming because the plants are too tall. We hope they do something about it. -- No Name
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