LIHUE >> Retired auto dealer Jimmy Pflueger has been charged with seven misdemeanors for failing to obtain county permits before starting an excavation project that resulted in a major mudslide in Pilaa Bay. Kauai developer faces
7 charges involving
botched excavation
By Anthony Sommer
tsommer@starbulletin.comThe charges were filed by the Kauai County Prosecutor's Office. A hearing is set for Feb. 12 in District Court. The maximum penalty for each count would be 30 days in jail or a $1,000 fine, or both.
Heavy rains on Thanksgiving weekend in 2001 resulted in the collapse of a road Pflueger was building along the face of a steep hill facing the bay.
Even though county officials have been briefing the Kauai County Council at least twice monthly on enforcement efforts against Pflueger, there had been no public announcement of the criminal charges, which were filed Nov. 1.
The grading, which began in July 2000, was to develop a subdivision on Pflueger's land on a bluff above Pilaa Bay. He had already been cited by the county for building a berm along the property boundary without a grading permit. He also was fined by the state for diverting stream water without a permit.
Pflueger has been sued by a family living at the base of the cliff where the mud covered their yard, and by environmentalists for endangering the coral reef in Pilaa Bay. The Environmental Protection Agency has accused him of repeatedly violating the Clean Water Act.
Pflueger could not be reached for comment yesterday.
County of Kauai
Environmental Protection Agency
