LIHU‘E — Traffic on Ahukini Road was blocked off just past the entrance to the Lihu‘e Airport heliport on Friday morning following reports of a chemical spill at the Lihu‘e Transfer Station shortly after 8:30.
Three workers at the transfer station, Peter Brun, Derek Wakuta and Yong Ki U, were treated at the site, and following preliminary checks, sent to Wilcox Hospital for more tests before being released later Friday morning.
Brun said a refuse container was in the process of being moved out of the receiving facility when the crew noticed a fog cloud similar to those seen when vector-control personnel spray for mosquitoes.
Personnel at the neighboring recycling facility were accounted for, Brun said, and when emergency-response personnel arrived, the trio was washed down with soap after the clothing they were wearing was taken and placed into separate trash bags for analysis and disposal, a procedure that is part of the decontamination process.
“We were worried about needles,” Brun said of the concerns of workers at the transfer station. “But, look at this (referring to the chemical that at that point was unknown). People do all kinds of stuff to hide chemicals. They put them in bags, suitcases, or anything to hide them, and throw them here.”
U said they were working to get the refuse container out, and when they looked up there was a cloud that smelled awful.
Wakuta added that because of the prevailing wind conditions, the cloud blew upward into the refuse receiving area.
Theodore “Teddy” Williams, recently promoted to administrative battalion chief, made a site inspection, noted that the situation could have been far worse if the normal tradewinds were occurring, and added that if the spill had happened in the middle of town it could have had disastrous impacts.
Hazmat (hazardous materials) personnel from the Kaua‘i Fire Department, as well as units from the Lihu‘e and Kalaheo fire stations, responded to the situation, and Kaua‘i Police Department officers controlled traffic.
Following a site inspection by hazmat personnel, it was ascertained that the culprit cloud-creating chemical was muriatic acid.
Troy Tanigawa, county solid waste specialist, was one of the county respondents on the scene, and said the chemical spill was not related to the collection of hazardous wastes from homeowners that took place at the refuse transfer station over the weekend.
Standing by while the hazmat crews donned their biohazard suits and made their preliminary investigations were representatives from the state Department of Health, the county’s Department of Public Works, as well as an ambulance and paramedics from American Medical Response who worked to check both the affected workers as well as hazmat personnel who had entered the contaminated area.
Muriatic acid, a diluted form of hydrochloric acid, is sold at many hardware stores, and can be used in a variety of ways, especially for cleaning metal, swimming pools and concrete. According to the federal Department of Justice Web site, it is also used as a cleaning agent when making methamphetatmine.
Ahukini Road was reopened yesterday afternoon, and the transfer station given a clean bill of health by around 3:30 p.m.
Staff Writer Dennis Fujimoto may be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 253), or dfujimoto@pulitzer.net.
