City denies fault in Nuuanu landslide

A Nuuanu homeowner is worried that his hillside house will soon be engulfed in soil after a landslide earlier this year threatened his home and some neighboring houses.

Eugene Garrett, who purchased his home in 2010, said the problem appeared to start after city crews made repairs to a nearby sewer pipe a few years ago. He said soon after the repair work wrapped up, a landslide threatened his neighbor’s home.

He said the problem seemed to snowball with heavy rain earlier this year, forcing him to spend more than $100,000 to hire an engineer and contractors to try to protect his Polohiwa Place home, including putting up fencing in June in an effort to block advancing hillside soil.

Garrett said he now sleeps in the living room because the back rooms have caved in as the soil pushes up against the walls.

“I’ve been struggling to fight the hill. I have no more resources,” said Garrett, who does not have family or friends to stay with in the meantime. “I have to live in this house because I can’t live anywhere else.”

City spokesman Jesse Broder Van Dyke said in an email that the city determined that the shifting soil was not touched off by any leaks in the city’s sewer line in the area near Puiwa Road. The city is conducting an engineering evaluation to determine the cause of the shifting soil and expects it to be completed in the coming weeks, he said.

Broder Van Dyke also said the city has initiated repairs to the pipes after the shifting soil has caused damage in recent months.

“The homeowners informed the city of this situation near Puiwa Road a couple of months ago, and since that time the appropriate departments have been evaluating it,” Broder Van Dyke said. “Last month the city met with most of the affected homeowners, and the city intends to meet with them again after the study is complete in the coming weeks.”

Garrett expressed frustration that the matter has not yet been resolved after he said he called several city and state departments and area legislators for help. He said he is still paying off the mortgage on his home and worries the property will face foreclosure if the problem is not resolved soon.

Broder Van Dyke said the city has encouraged residents to consult with professional firms to protect their property in the meantime.