Heavy Metals Update

Here's a little update to my post earlier today, on Terry Lilley's claim that he'd found dangerously high levels of heavy metals in Hanalei River and Bay.  The Hanalei Watershed Hui sent along a report by Andrew Hood, a hydrologist and principal of Sustainable Resources Group.  He compared Lilley's findings to natural background concentrations of metals in soils and found:


In short, it does not appear the concentrations reported warrant immediate attention or cause for alarm. 


The reported arsenic levels in Hanalei River mud were slightly above the "selected action level," which could mean conducting additional samples or investigating potential sources, Hood wrote. All the other metals were well below action level. Hood noted that arsenic is a "naturally occurring element found in numerous minerals associated with volcanic rock. Arsenic levels in Hawaii soils have been elevated above background in some areas where sugar cane was cultivated."


Anyway, here's his report, so you can see for yourself.