Illegal-dumping The state has expanded its investigation of illegal dumping on city land to a second site in Waianae.
inquiry expands
State officials find construction
debris at a site near the
Waianae refuse centerBy Diana Leone
dleone@starbulletin.comOn Monday, state health officials found construction debris that was dumped at the site off Hoopuhi Street near the Waianae refuse convenience center.
The discovery comes as the state Health Department is demanding answers from the city about how tons of home appliances and construction debris came to be illegally buried at the former Waipahu incinerator site.
Mayor Jeremy Harris is pledging to "get to the bottom of this," city spokeswoman Carol Costa said yesterday.
"He (Harris) said we'll do what it takes to deal with this," Costa added. "He said we don't condone this."
City officials "will provide as many answers as they can" to the state's formal request for information about crushed home appliances that were unearthed at the seven-acre Waipahu site 11 days ago, said Steve Chang, Solid and Hazardous Waste Branch chief.
The site, which ceased to be used as an incinerator in 1994, is not an approved landfill and nothing should be buried there, Chang said. However, it appears that much more than the 30 tons of crushed appliances removed March 1 is buried there as the state's investigation into the matter began, he said.
Carroll Cox, president of Oahu's EnviroWatch group, alerted the state to both improper dump sites. He estimated the amount of visible debris at the smaller Waianae site at about 3 tons.
"I've called and asked the mayor to come out" and tour the sites, "but he hasn't had time," said Cox, who said some city workers tipped him off to the presence of buried refuse.
"I think the mayor should come out and say that city workers should come clean (about what they were asked to do) and they will be protected," Cox said yesterday.
The Department of Health has asked the city to provide documentation of its disposal methods over the past five years for appliances collected at refuse convenience centers and from residences, as well as hazardous-waste test data for the Waipahu site and an explanation of how and why the objects are buried there and who was in charge of the site.
Chang said he also expects the city and a consulting firm to explain how they will test for hazardous materials at the site before proceeding with removal of illegally buried waste.
That sampling will determine how the rest of the cleanup is conducted, Chang said.
"If there are hotspots, they will have to take appropriate precautions," he said.
The state is authorized to enforce U.S. Environmental Protection Agency rules regarding solid-waste disposal, said EPA spokesman Dean Higuchi. "The investigation now is to really see what's happened there, how long it's been going on, what kind of items were stored and were being left there, and what's the next step," he said.
In addition to potential civil fines of up to $10,000 a day for the city as the responsible landowner, state and federal criminal investigations could be initiated, Higuchi said.
State Health Department
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency