That order came Friday afternoon following complaints from residents and environmentalists that the company was illegally dumping there without a permit.
In its notice of violation, the City says that the company has been grading without a permit.
Hawaii Kai Marina Community Association President Robert Clark on Thursday said the project has already been halted.
We will have more on this developing story tonight on Hawaii News Now at 6 p.m.
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The state Department of Land and Natural Resources had issued a conditional use permit to allow the dredging in a conservation area. DLNR chair William Aila said he sent a letter to the Hawaii Kai Marina Community Association Wednesday.
"The action that they took, which was to dispose of the spoils in an area that was not in the permit, is a violation," Aila told a special meeting of the Waianae Coast Neighborhood Board Wednesday night. The sludge was supposed to be disposed of at five sites in the Hawaii Kai area.
He added that if the violations were to continue, the DLNR would pull the permit.
Board chair Johnnie Mae Perry called the meeting, continuing the board's tactic of asking residents to pressure government agencies and companies involved in the dumping.
"We have a city landfill. We have private landfills. So maybe the attitude of the general public is, it's okay, because we're already sharing the burden for the entire island," said Perry. "And I think that's not okay."
Area state Rep. Jo Jordan and Sen. Maile Shimabukuro also attended the meeting. Shimabukuro said the Army Corps of Engineers has also found that the Marina Association was not in compliance with the conditions of their permit.
The Corps had been conducting an investigation of the association and the contractors involved in the dredging. However, the investigation was suspended during the Federal government shutdown.
Shimabukuro and other residents also blasted a study conducted by a private company, EKNA Services, to American Marine Corporation, which was hired to do the dredging. The study hinted at a way to dump in Waianae.
The June 14 study said:
In order to use the dredged material as beneficial reuse fill material at a 20-acre farm in Wainae (sic), it will be necessary to characterize the dredged material by sampling and to provide a characterization verifying that there are no environmental concerns with respect to using the material on the farm.
"I don't see five sites. I only see Waianae," said resident Alice Greenwood.
The city earlier issued a notice of violation against SER Trucking for illegally dumping the sludge in Waianae, and ordered a halt to the dumping.
]]>It started with a spill on the H-1 Freeway on Aug. 31 that has now boiled over into a community wide concern on the Waianae coast.
“I’d like to thank the truck driver for creating the spill, otherwise we would not have known. It would have gone undetected,” Waianae Neighborhood Board Chair Johnnie-Mae Perry said.
Sludge being dredged from the Hawaii Kai Marina was supposed to go to islands within the marina. Instead, it was hauled away by SER Trucking and dumped on their property in Waianae, but they didn’t have a permit to do that.
The Hawaii Kai Marina Community Association says, “We wouldn’t put anything in our own marina that would pose a health or safety threat.” They also said, “There is nothing that would be harmful in the silt.”
Others don’t see it that way.
“I’m disturbed this has been promoted as safe for our community because it is not,”Honolulu City Councilmember Kymberly Pine said. “Anything with high saltwater content would be toxic to inland vegetation.”
The Hawaii Kai Marina Community Association says it hired American Marine Corporation to do the dredging work and it was their responsibility to dispose of the sludge legally.
AMC issued the statement saying, “It obtained all necessary documentation to satisfy the transportation and placement of the dredged material.”
AMC also says it was SER Trucking’s duty to perform the permitting, hauling, and dumping.
KHON2 called SER Trucking, but no one answered and we were not allowed to leave a message.
“Ashamed they just throw stuff at us like that this is not right,” Waianae Coast resident Polly Grace said.
The city issued SER Trucking a notice of violation for not having a grading permit.
They have until Oct. 7 to correct it or face fines of $150 a day.
So far, the city says no work has been done to remove the sludge from Waianae.
“They should be fined from the time they first dumped there, not because they got found out,” Waianae Coast resident Alice Greenwood said.
“We need to hold their feet to the fire, that means it’s gotta get done. Enough is enough already,” Waianae Coast resident John Desoto said.
The Hawaii Kai Marina Community Association has stopped all dredging until this situation is cleared up.
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