LIHU'E, Kaua'i — A pungent smell prompted officials to evacuate two West Kaua'i elementary schools Tuesday, sending some students to a nearby emergency room and renewing calls to find out what's making kids sick on campuses.

St. Theresa and Kekaha schools moved children outside for about an hour, but fire and police officers "were unable to smell the reported odor or locate its origin," Kaua'i County spokeswoman Mary Daubert said yesterday.

"It was such an intense chemical smell, I told the Health Department I thought maybe it was a methamphetamine house," St. Theresa Principal Mary Buza-Sims said.

Kekaha Elementary Principal Jason Yoshida said three students were taken from the school by ambulance and 15 more were picked up early by parents.

West Kaua'i Medical Center said 14 people from schools were treated and released Tuesday.

Other recent instances of chemical odors affecting schools included fumes from the pesticide malathion at St. Joseph School in Waipahu on Feb. 15 and three-day closure at Kahuku Intermediate and High schools last May, after 15 students were sickened by pesticide drifting from a nearby turf farm.

Pioneer Hi-Bred International grows seed corn in the Kekaha area, but there weren't any activities Tuesday that would have contributed to the odor, company spokeswoman Cindy Goldstein said yesterday.

"I'm very troubled and very disturbed that this seems to be an ongoing trend and unresolved issue," said state Sen. Gary Hooser, D-7th (Kaua'i, Ni'ihau.)