The second-in-command at Maui’s largest affordable housing provider says she was demoted after uncovering widespread asbestos at one of the nonprofit’s rental properties and was prevented from remedying the health hazard through proper channels.
Robyne Nishida Nakao says her efforts to deal with asbestos in the ceilings and floor tiles at Hale Mahaolu’s Lahaina Surf complex were resisted by the nonprofit’s longtime executive director, Roy Katsuda.
Katsuda said there was no retaliation and that the nonprofit corporation looks out for the safety of its tenants and workers.
Hale Mahaolu — which listed assets of $36 million for the 2011 tax year — owns and manages 14 rental properties, providing about 1,000 affordable housing units for low-income families and the elderly in Maui County. Nishida Nakao, 39, has worked for the organization for nearly 20 years, assuming the job of deputy executive director in 2010.
Through the past two years, Nishida Nakao said, she pushed for testing and proper removal of the hazardous material at the Lahaina apartment complex. She said Katsuda wanted maintenance employees to collect samples and to perform renovations, saying that using certified contractors would be too expensive.
After months of back and forth and working under "increasingly antagonistic" conditions, Nishida Nakao said Katsuda told her in April he was terminating her deputy executive director position. She is on medical leave due to stress and anxiety — she still holds the title of development director — and has hired an attorney to try to resolve the personnel matter.
Meanwhile, she filed an "alleged safety or health hazard" complaint last week with the Hawaii Occupational Safety and Health Division, reporting that untrained employees were handling and disposing of harmful materials at Lahaina Surf and two other Hale Mahaolu properties in Kahului.
The complaint, filed June 3, also says "administrative controls and safe work practices are not being utilized for asbestos removal and disposal activities" and that employees are "not provided personal protective equipment."
The division is "in the process of conducting an investigation," said Bill Kunstman, spokesman for the state Department of Labor and Industrial Relations.
"My whole thing is just the health and safety of the staff and residents — that’s my motivation," Nishida Nakao said in a phone interview Tuesday. "Being on the front line, you see the kids there. With asbestos, it’s not a month, or six months or a year or five years — you find out in 20 years or 30 years, and I don’t want to see anyone at risk for cancer because we didn’t abate it properly."
Katsuda, 67, who has been executive director for 32 years, said he can’t comment on personnel matters, but said Hale Mahaolu tries its best to comply with workplace safety rules and provide safe living conditions for its residents.
"We do care about our workers and our residents," Katsuda said. "If there are any kind of corrections that we have to make, we will make them. We want to do what’s right."
Nishida Nakao said some work has been done to cover up ceilings or make partial replacements, but she estimates that 88 percent of the 112 living units still have asbestos. She said Lahaina Surf has a Section 8 contract for 22 of its units, referring to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s housing assistance program for very low-income families, the elderly and disabled.
Asbestos is considered a hazardous air pollutant. Breathing fibers can cause lung cancer and other lung diseases. Exposure through as little as a few days has caused mesothelioma in humans, according to the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration, which regulates the material along with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
"Where there is exposure, employers are required to further protect workers by establishing regulated areas, controlling certain work practices and instituting engineering controls to reduce the airborne levels," OSHA’s website says. "The employer is required to ensure exposure is reduced by using administrative controls and provide for the wearing of personal protective equipment."
Katsuda said maintenance staff undergo annual training on how to properly handle materials containing asbestos.
"It’s not training to be an asbestos removal company, but just how to safely handle small things in a limited manner," he said. "The Lahaina Surf project is getting older, it was first occupied in 1972, so there are lots of challenges we’re trying to address."
Speaking in general terms, Kunstman said investigations of safety and health hazard complaints determine whether citations should be issued. Serious safety issues are generally required to be "abated" within a certain time frame. Employers can appeal citations with the state labor board.
Nishida Nakao’s attorney plans to seek legal relief.
"We expect to file documents next week that will result hopefully in a court order to preserve company records and prevent anyone from being required to do any work with regard to asbestos abatement unless properly certified and trained," said Wailuku attorney James Fosbinder.
Fosbinder sent Hale Mahaolu’s board President Richard Nishihara a letter on May 29, outlining the events leading to Katsuda’s "retaliatory action" against Nishida Nakao and requesting a meeting with the full board "to resolve this matter without the need for legal action." The board has yet to respond.
Nishihara declined comment for this story.
Katsuda said Hale Mahaolu "does not retaliate against anyone," adding that "even if it’s a complete fabrication, we don’t retaliate, period. We do try our best and I’m saddened by all of this."
According to the letter, Nishida Nakao became aware of the asbestos problem in 2011 when she was asked to run a crisis management program at Lahaina Surf to deal with management issues. When she raised the asbestos concerns with Katsuda, she said, he told her the building’s exposure levels weren’t harmful, based on a 1981 letter from HUD.
"I told him the tolerance levels have changed and we needed to have updated testing done," Nishida Nakao said.
Nishida Nakao said she insisted the company at least obtain estimates for testing. Katsuda, according to the letter, objected to a $4,000 estimate and requested a revised cost estimate to have Hale Mahaolu staff handle the collection of samples.
In March 2012, test results showed 10 of the 17 sampled materials contained more than 1 percent asbestos fibers — the threshold for regulation under the federal Clean Air Act.
Nishida Nakao said Katsuda wanted staff members to handle the removal because hiring certified contractors would be too expensive.
In May 2012, Nishida Nakao solicited proposals from certified asbestos abatement contractors to remove materials in eight units needing immediate repair. Water damage in the units was causing fragments of the popcorn ceilings to fall on residents’ dining tables, the letter said. Removal per unit would cost an estimated $11,300 to $13,900.
In July 2012, before any removal work began, Katsuda told Nishida Nakao to "scale back her management involvement to simple administrative support" at Lahaina Surf, the letter said.
"Mr. Katsuda stated that Ms. Nishida Nakao’s proactive approach to remedying the asbestos issue would cause a ‘publicity nightmare,’" the letter said.
That fall, unlicensed asbestos contractors began remedial work on just the high-risk units, the letter said.
"I feel like I’m going through a divorce because I’ve poured my heart and soul into this company. I thought I was going to lead it. I feel like I’m attacking something that I love a lot," Nishida Nakao said, sobbing during the interview. "It’s very difficult because Roy was a mentor to me and he did a lot for my family and I. It hasn’t been a pleasant experience, but I know in my heart that I’m doing the right thing."
