![]() Gourlay was hired by the city's Environmental Service Refuse DivisionĪs Refuse Collection Administrator. But, as recently as 2016, Gourlay declared he is the owner/manager of KNG on his business registration. Kris Gourlay's refuse company, KNG, LLC, was sold to Rolloffs in. The next subject is Rolloffs' bankruptcy and its owing $2.85 million dollars to the City and County of Honolulu for tipping fees. Why does infastructure break down sooner than it should, and why is maintenance not working? One example, our sewage system with multiple breaks in the same area. He then talks about our crumbling infrastructure and how it relates to misuse of resources. Takata said the other men had likely come in contact with Lopez's radioactive sweat, which is why they also had small amounts of radiation on their bodies.Carroll discusses the resignation of Police Chief Kealoha, Peter Carlisle's comments, Mayor Caldwell's dealings, and selective targeting and punishment. Takata's hazardous-materials crew later determined Lopez as the cause. Small amounts of radiation were found on all three men who were in the truck, prompting fire officials to call in the Health Department. Compared to what people are getting (on average daily). However, Frick said: "We've calculated the potential doses to the (refuse truck) driver. "Over the long term, the effects of being hit with radiation periodically, it's just like the asbestos cases. "We're exposed to so many different elements," said driver Narcis Salera. yesterday after running a Hawaii Kai route.Ĭity administrators learned about yesterday's lapse because the truck's driver and crew went to the Kalihi Kai Fire Station to check their radiation levels after dumping their truck's trash. Lopez's garbage truck arrived at the Keehi Transfer Station about 11:30 a.m. ![]() He said the radiation levels are extremely low and pose no threat. Russell Takata, program manager with the state Health Department's Noise, Radiation and Indoor Air Quality Branch, said most materials with detectable radiation at the station are remnants of at-home medical doses for cancer or other diseases. Mike Hikalea, a city garbage collector for 25 years, estimated that three to four of his trucks each month have shown traces of radiation, and none of them have been isolated.Īlmost all of the Keehi station's materials are sent to Kapolei's HPOWER plant, which has its own monitors and will not accept materials with radioactive traces.īut until the end of the month, while the facility is closed for maintenance, the station's trash is being sent to the Waimanalo Gulch Landfill, Doyle said. He said he has dumped materials that set off radiation alarms at Keehi three to four times over the last 12 months. "Everybody has set them off at one time or another," said Lopez, a 16-year veteran of the Refuse Division. Health officials say radiation alarms at the stations average about one per month.īut several refuse workers say there have been similar incidents when radiation alarms were set off and supervisors told drivers to dump the load anyway. ![]() Once isolated, contaminated waste at the station is supposed to be stored until it is no longer radioactive, Doyle said. Ronald Frick, of Gamma Corp., which handles radioactive trash for the island's two transfer stations, said he had not handled any calls at Keehi yesterday. Rather than accepting the truck's trash, supervisors at the transfer station should have called in a city contractor charged with finding and containing the load's radioactive materials. ![]() In this case the load was dumped," he said. "The bottom line is that we normally hold the truck there. "I was kind of concerned that I hadn't set it off earlier."ĭoyle and others said the discrepancy, which may have been affected by how fast Lopez was driving past the monitor on the different days, is not cause for concern because the radiation levels at issue are so low.ĭoyle also said the station's radiation monitor underwent a quarterly check Thursday and was found to be operating correctly. "I'm sure that radiation couldn't hide in my body," he said. But he also said that he had driven past the radiation monitor from Tuesday to Thursday without alarms sounding. Refuse collector Hensley Lopez confirmed his medical test Monday included a small dosage of the radioactive substance thalium-201. The radioactivity did not present a public health risk, he said. Several refuse workers, who drive through the station daily, allege that the lapse was not a first.Ĭity Environmental Services Director Frank Doyle said the source of the radioactivity yesterday was linked to a worker on the truck who had undergone a medical procedure that included a radioactive substance. By Mary top city health official says he will review why a trash truck that set off a radiation monitor alarm twice at Keehi Transfer Station yesterday was allowed to dump its load anyway, breaking disposal procedure.
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