LIHUE — The Hawaii Department of Health is refuting a study that reportedly found high levels of metals found in sediment samples in and around Hanalei Bay. Dr. Roger Brewer, a senior geologist with the DOH’s Hazard Evaluation and Emergency
LIHUE — The Hawaii Department of Health is refuting a study that reportedly found high levels of metals found in sediment samples in and around Hanalei Bay.
Dr. Roger Brewer, a senior geologist with the DOH’s Hazard Evaluation and Emergency Response Office, said there is no indication of any contamination in the samples.
“Naturally occurring chromium, arsenic and other metals in the sediment (and soil) does not pose a risk to human health and the environment,” he said.
Others say the results raise a red flag and point to a need for further testing.
Whether naturally occurring or not, Robert Naman, president of Analytical Chemical Testing Laboratory, Inc. in Mobile, Ala., said the findings are “substantial.”
“I don’t see this being a naturally occurring event because of the nature of these compounds,” he said Monday. “Unfortunately, in this case, it beckons more questions and more research.”
In October, Kauai residents Terry Lilley and Michael Sheehan collected 10 sediment samples from North Shore streams and reefs and sent them to Test America in Sacramento, Calif., where they were tested for dioxins, pesticides, heavy metals and more.
Sample sites included the Hanalei River, Hanalei Bay, Anini Creek, Anini Bay and Sealodge.
In his report, Naman outlined his concerns with the levels of both unknown organic compounds and metals.
“Organic compounds present when coupled with heavy metals can affect internal organs of all organisms and are a clear danger to human health and the marine environment,” Naman wrote in his final summary. “Normal life cycles and development in marine life can be disrupted from the presence of the compounds detected in this report and will generate concerns that cannot go unnoticed.”
But Brewer wrote that the concentrations of chromium pose no risk, in part because chromium is tightly bound with minerals and not “bioavailable” if the sediment or soil is accidentally ingested.
“In other words the soil and the chromium (and other elements) in it will simply pass through your body without being taken up in your digestive tract,” he wrote. “The volcanic rocks that serve as the parent material for the soils here are rich in many such ‘trace elements,’ which is one of the reasons why the soil is so fertile. The flora and fauna of Hawaii are well adapted to these conditions.”
Lilley, a biologist and videographer, said the goal of his ongoing study is to pinpoint what may be causing a cyanobacterial disease to kill corals along the North Shore. Lilley first alerted scientists to the outbreak more than a year ago. It has since been documented on two species of rice corals by scientists at the University of Hawaii and U.S. Geological Survey.
In his report, Naman said heavy metals contamination can have a serious adverse impact on the normal life cycle and function of marine life.
“Because of the large variety of metals detected in these samples, the metals present and the combined levels detected in the sediments would likely be a strong contributor to the demise of the coral reefs in the areas in question,” he wrote.
Chromium, for example, showed up in all 10 samples, at levels ranging from 12 to 160 mg/kg, or parts per million, according to Naman. The Environmental Protection Agency’s leachable regulatory limit for chromium is 5 mg/l, or parts per million.
“At these elevated levels, Chromium uptake into marine life allows for ingestion by humans consuming these marine organisms,” Naman wrote.
But in an email forwarded to The Garden Island, Brewer said the concentrations found are actually on the low side, since concentrations in the 1,000s of PPM have been reported in some areas of the island.
“This probably reflects a mixing of volcanic soil washed into Hanalei Bay with coralline sediment from the reefs,” he wrote.
The EPA soil screening level for Chromium III — non-toxic, naturally occurring chromium — is 120,000 mg/kg, which is well above concentrations of chromium reported in the recent samples.
Don Heacock, a Kauai fisheries biologist with the state Department of Land and Natural Resources, said that while he and others don’t question the study’s findings, they “totally question” how those findings have been interpreted.
“All of it’s bogus,” he said. “(Naman) didn’t go to the trouble to look at the ambient levels of those metals in volcanic soils. They’re found in all volcanic soils at those levels. There is nothing significant about those levels of metals in Hawaii.”
But Naman maintains the real danger is the affect these substances have on microscopic organisms.
“Those particular levels in sediment are not good,” he said.
Lilley said the DO is being “extremely irresponsible” and failing to address how the metals ended up on the reef in the first place.
“Even if these were natural, we have a health problem that needs to be dealt with,” he said.
• Chris D’Angelo, environmental reporter, can be reached at 245-0441 or cdangelo@thegardenisland.com.
