State cites 3 for illegal junk heaps

Property owners face fines totaling nearly $100,000

An auto recycling company -- accused of improperly storing 1,000 derelict vehicles in Pearl City -- and two Big Island residents face a combined $98,888 in state fines for alleged solid-waste violations within the past year.

The latest violations bring the total number of fines issued this year to more than $3 million from seven individuals and companies.

PEDDLING THE METAL The Health Department fined an Oahu auto recycling company and two Big Island residents a total of $98,888 for solid-waste violations: » Karla Rudell, $54,848, operating a junkyard without a permit and dumping solid waste in a lava tube » ABC Auto Parts, $24,240, piling unprocessed vehicles on unprotected land » Wallace Beck, $19,800, operating a junkyard without a permit Source: State Department of Health

"We have been trying to be more aggressive in enforcing these types of violations," said Health Department representative Janice Okubo, who noted the state has also issued numerous warnings without a fine.

"Our concern is the possible detrimental environmental impact it could have on the public," Health Department environmental engineer Lene Ichinotsubo said. "The improper disposal of solid waste could contaminate the water and soil."

Kailua-Kona resident Karla Rudel was fined $54,848 for allegedly illegally dumping solid waste including a shower stall, a lawn mower and household waste in a lava tube from October to January.

Rudel said she will contest the fine, and said her neighbors are doing the dumping.

"It's not me," Rudel said. "You can tell it's from the neighbors by the way it's all piled in the lava tube."

Rudel's fine is the third highest this year. She was ordered to stop accepting solid waste and to dispose properly of the existing waste on the property.

On the other side of the island, the state issued Hilo resident Wallace Beck the same instructions and fined him $19,800 for operating a junkyard without a permit.

"Without a permit, we can't regulate them to make sure they are not putting the public in danger," Ichinotsubo said.

Beck could not be reached for comment.

In November the Health Department found 130 derelict vehicles on his property, leased as agricultural property from the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands.

On Oahu, Pearl City's ABC Auto Parts was fined $24,240 after the Department of Health found about 1,000 vehicles containing potentially hazardous fluids stacked on an unprotected surface at its lot on March 29.

"We're concerned that when they are compressing them and using a forklift to stack and move these unprocessed cars, they could puncture a hole and leak these fluids," Ichinotsubo said.

The company's solid-waste management permit requires them to drain vehicles of fluids before piling them.

"We didn't know that these problems existed, but we're working with the state to fix it," company owner Sun Jae Yu said.

Yu said she thought the fine was an absurd amount, and promised to appeal.

An inspection in early October found 800 unprocessed or partially processed vehicles stacked on the same lot. The state issued a warning letter later that month.

The largest fines issued this year are nearly $2.8 million to the Waimanalo Gulch Landfill in February and a $93,410 fine to Pacific Waste Services Inc., also known as GMI, issued last week.