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7 companies, including Hawaiian Electric, hit with air pollution fines by state

State Department of Health officials said today that they have issued citations and fines to seven companies for air pollution.

Hawaiian Electric Co. was hit with a $45,300 fine for exceeding emission limits on their boilers at the Waiau generating station in Pearl City and the Kahe station in Nanakuli, according to the Health Department’s Clean Air Branch.

The state also issued fines of $9,400 against AES Hawaii Inc. in Kapolei for going over a three-hour average hydrogen chloride permit limit; $9,500 to Ala Imua LLC in Kapolei for operational and notification violations; $6,000 to Esaki Surveying & Mapping Inc. in Lihue for failing to submit annual fee and semi-annual monitoring reports; and $8,600 to Ludwig Construction Inc. in Keaau on Hawaii island because it did not conduct annual performance tests on its mobile crushing plant in 2015 and 2016 and was late to submit a permit renewal application and monitoring reports.

Puna Geothermal Venture in Pahoa was also fined $11,100 for operational, emission and notification violations, and T.J. Gomes Trucking Co. in Wailuku was assessed a $10,600 penalty for operational and notification violations.

The companies may request hearings to contest the citations and penalties, which are paid into a revolving fund that helps prevent damage to the environment, according to health officials.

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