A high school in Honolulu is facing the possible relocation of some of its facilities, including its track and tennis courts, because of portion of campus was built over the top of a World War II Navy landfill.
According to Hawaii News Now, it's been 10 years since the school discovered that much of Radford High School's lower campus sits on the landfill. The school made the discovery while making repairs to its track.
Radford has already spent millions on remediation but problems are now emerging all over the area.
Athletic director Kelly Sur showed HNN where water now gathers on the otherwise well-maintained tennis courts, indicating real trouble beneath the ground.
“About six months ago, our coaches said the court was basically collapsing,” Sur said. “I know that there’s got to be air pockets, I know it’s probably not filled correctly.”
A presentation from the Army Corps of Engineer revealed that over 1000 trucks of debris per day were dumped in what at the time was Makalapa Crater. The debris was sorted for what could be slaved or burned on site. After the war, the crater was filled and flattened and eventually Radford High and Makalapa Elementary were built atop the crater.
“This was built on a dump. And when I represented the area, I didn’t know that. So now it’s reminiscent of Red Hill — 80 years of settling, and things thoroughly popping to the surface,” said former state representative Bob McDermott, who produced a video that showed sinkhole at the edge of campus.
Sur framed the problem as a legitimate, immediate safety concern.
“Is that car just going to fall right through?” he said. “Is somebody going to get killed?”
Now officials at Radford are unsure who to call. Planners with whom they've met say the site needs to be mitigated immediately, but locating the funds to complete the project is daunting task.
In response to HNN’s questions, the Army Corps said it is still in the investigation and study phase — and it is working with the state Health and Education department officials to build a plan to remediate the environment impacts and reduce health risks to acceptable levels.
McDermott said those efforts are not enough.
"It's their dump," he said. “We paid for the school and now we find out it’s untenable. I would build a new school close by a military property that’s not contaminated. And the DOD needs to pay for it.”
