The state Department of Transportation has sent a letter of apology to Thomas Shirai Jr. for inadvertently allowing a contractor to disturb his family's burial site at Dillingham Airfield two years ago, and now he's waiting for the state to re-inter a bone taken from there.

The Shirais have a historical tie to Kawaihapai (now Dillingham Airfield) and have documented with the state their ancestors' burial site. So family members were shocked when they were informed that a contractor had removed truckloads of sand from near the burial site in 2005.

"The excuse at that time was they didn't know, but that's not true," Shirai said. His family had gone through the documenting process in 1997 and he had been declared a lineal descendent.

"I was angry at the time," he said. "They had the recorded site, and the information was available and included in their environmental assessment ... They still said they weren't aware of it. I felt this was quite insulting."

Shirai didn't know where all of the sand went, but he said some of it ended up at a private Mokule'ia home and he believes some of his ancestors' iwi, or bones, could still be there.

Once the sand was removed, brush that was cleared from the field to make room for parachute landings was placed in the hole and buried. Shirai said he asked for a letter of apology.

Instead, Rod Haraga, then-director of the DOT, wrote a letter of apology to the O'ahu Burial Council in August 2006.

Shorty after Barry Fukunaga became DOT director this year, he wrote an apology letter to Shirai.

The May 1 letter offered "sincere regret" and "our pledge that no further excavation will occur at Dillingham Airfield without proper coordination with the Army and state Historic Preservation Division, and a proper archaeological inventory," Fukunaga wrote.

DOT spokesman Scott Ishikawa said the department wanted to make sure that the apology letter went to the family, and to let them know no other sand would be removed.

"We did offer a couple of sites for re-interment at the airfield, and we're waiting for a response from the state Department of Land and Natural Resources."

Shirai said he was impressed with the letter because it was spontaneous.

"The state has proceeded to make things right with me through the effort of Mr. Fukunaga," Shirai said. "He went that extra mile where others wouldn't to ensure things are pono."

Now Shirai waits for the state to rebury the remains found during the project.

But Shirai wonders whether other iwi were removed and might also be at the private home. He asked that all the sand taken to the home be replaced, but that hasn't happened, he said, adding that he won't push the issue.

"We let nature take its course," he said.

Reach Eloise Aguiar at eaguiar@honoluluadvertiser.com.