HILO — The state Department of Health issued a final cleanup action report for two vacant commercial lots near Waiakea Villas contaminated with arsenic from a former canec plant.
The report recommends removing more than 2,000 cubic yards of soil, which would be hauled to the West Hawaii landfill, and covering an additional 2,600 cubic yards for commercial use. Cleanup would cost about $312,825.
The properties, together about 6 acres in size, are located along Kekuanaoa and Mililani streets. They are owned by the David De Luz Sr. Trust.
A prospective purchaser was required to pay for the study, while DOH provides oversight.
John Peard, DOH remediation project manager, said he can’t name them ahead of purchasing the property but noted they are interested in a commercial development.
He said the fact that the report was finalized was a good sign that they might go through with an offer.
Peard said this is the fourth such study done on the property in the past 15 years.
He said removing contaminated soil could require up to 200 truckloads.
The plant used sugarcane bagasse to create canec, a wall- and ceiling-board panel used extensively in Hawaii until the 1970s. The plant operated from the 1930s until 1963.
Arsenic was used to make the material resistant to termites. Peard said the plant dumped hundreds of tons of arsenic into Waiakea Pond.
He said a study is being published on arsenic in the pond’s fish and along the shoreline.
“We did find there could be concern about, at least in a few areas, elevated arsenic along the edge of the pond,” Peard said.
That could be addressed by an arsenic management plan, which he is recommending the state Department of Land and Natural Resources conduct.
“For the most part, the park is covered by grass; some areas are more bare than others,” Peard said. “The primary thing we’re concerned about is kids who are everyday playing in the dirt.”
So far, he said he hasn’t seen any “red flags” in the data from fish samples, though he advises people to eat only the flesh of the fish.
“I think the biggest concern I think about is the fish they catch are algae feeders on the bottom,” Peard said. “They tend to pick some sediment in their gullet. … If they clean the fish, which most people do, they wouldn’t have the threat of that.”
Email Tom Callis at tcallis@hawaiitribune-herald.com.