KEN IGE / KIGE@STARBULLETIN.COM
Carroll Cox of EnviroWatch looked at scraps of appliances last Wednesday at a dumping area near the old incinerator building at the end of Waipahu Depot Road.
In the wake of allegations that a city supervisor ordered the illegal burial of crushed appliances on city land, acting Environmental Services Director Frank Doyle is ordering workers to immediately report any suspected illegal acts on the job. City employees ordered
to report suspicious actsBy Diana Leone
dleone@starbulletin.com
In a memo to be distributed today, Doyle tells workers if they are "concerned that reporting the act to your immediate supervisor will be a problem, or that you will get no response, go up the chain of command to someone you feel comfortable with and, if needed, to the mayor.
"Had the situation at the Waipahu incinerator site been reported when it started, we would not be in the situation we are in today," Doyle's memo to his department's 1,100 workers continues. It concludes, "We now need to recapture public confidence by demonstrating daily our ability to perform our duties in a safe and environmentally acceptable manner."
Doyle told the Star-Bulletin that he expects an internal city investigation to be completed this week into how at least 30 tons of crushed household appliances came to be buried at the city's Waipahu incinerator site.
Investigators need to re-interview Peter Kealoha Jr., the disposal services supervisor who allegedly ordered the improper crushing and burial of white goods, Doyle said.
Kealoha has not been working since the investigation began March 1. He was on emergency and sick leave until Monday, when he was placed on paid administrative leave, Doyle said. No other employees are on leave because of the investigation, he said.
During most of 2001, the city was not recycling appliances with Hawaii Metal Recycling while it negotiated prices. When the city reached an agreement with the company, Doyle said he assumed the appliances, which had been stored at Waipahu, were taken to the islands' only major metal recycler.
"We eventually found out that didn't take place. They were crushed and buried," Doyle said. "The real question is why."
Part of the investigation is to determine whether four trucking companies paid any city employee to dump construction debris at the Waipahu site, said Doyle and Steve Chang, state Department of Health's Hazardous and Solid Waste Branch chief. Chang's branch and the state Attorney General's Office are conducting their own investigations.
Doyle confirmed that one of the trucking companies being questioned is Maunalei Trucking Inc. State records list Kealoha as one of the company's officers. Doyle declined to name the other companies.
Results from tests conducted Monday at the Waipahu site are expected tomorrow, Doyle said. Those will reveal whether heavy metals or asbestos are present and dictate removal procedures.
The testing was done by Enviro Services and Training Center, which the city has retained as a consultant.
City & County of Honolulu
