Toxic contamination is not the only military health hazard in Hawaiʻi. Unhealthy living conditions in newly built military housing are also a threat to military families. The Honolulu Star Advertiser reports that more than 100 families living in military housing built and managed by Lend Lease company have had mold infestations in their new homes:
Two military families say they are being paid $31,500 combined and were moved into new housing after severe mold problems in their relatively new military homes in Aliamanu made them sick and ruined their furniture and other belongings.
More than 100 other families islandwide in homes built by the same developer have recently experienced some mold in their dwellings as well.
The military has struggled in the past with mold in some older homes retrofitted with central air conditioning, but now the problem may be cropping up in newly built homes.
“It (the mold) was terrible. It was growing on my walls and the floor and tile. It was so bad that they gave me three hours to get out,” said 25-year-old Raquel Garcia, whose husband is a staff sergeant in the Army.
The mold caused serious health problems for a number of families:
“It (the mold) was terrible. It was growing on my walls and the floor and tile. It was so bad that they gave me three hours to get out,” said 25-year-old Raquel Garcia, whose husband is a staff sergeant in the Army.
Garcia said she was put on steroids and takes medication for itching; her youngest child was vomiting, and her husband had breathing problems.
The homes are part of a massive privatization program in military housing. The homes were built by Lend Lease and are managed by Island Palm Communities, a partnership between Lend Lease and the Army:
Island Palm is building and managing 5,388 new Army homes on Oahu and renovating 2,506 others as part of a $2.33 billion project over the initial 10-year development period and worth $5.35 billion over the 50-year management term.
Lend Lease is also building Air Force homes.