Up to 100 truckloads per day of used asphalt has been dumped at the site of a proposed cemetery in Hawaii Kai in the past several weeks, resurrecting environmental concerns about what is being stockpiled on the property.

Some residents are angry that some former and present owners of a 69-acre Kamilo Nui Valley parcel have allowed contractors to take construction debris there under a city-issued stockpiling permit that allows temporary storage of debris.

The pace of activity on the parcel has picked up since mid-December when Grace Pacific Corp. began repaving roads in Ainakoa, Aina Haina and Kuliouou, as well as Keahole Street and roads on Mariner’s Ridge.

The company isn’t paying to dump the used asphalt, aggregate and base rock because property owner Hawaii Kai Memorial Park said it welcomes the debris to use as fill material for its planned cemetery.

Darrell Goo, Grace Pacific vice president in charge of paving operations, said work should be completed in the area by mid-February.

That doesn’t alleviate concerns of Elizabeth Reilly, president of citizens group Livable Hawaii Kai Hui.

"The bigger picture is for years that site has had temporary stockpiling permits with the understanding that what is there will be removed," Reilly said. "It’s a huge problem with the environment."

Concerns include runoff of soil, debris and possible hazardous materials during large storms that pose a threat to the fish and vegetation in Hawaii Kai Marina and ultimately Maunalua Bay.

"How does stockpiling rubbish and concrete fit in … a preservation (zoned) area that’s a watershed area that feeds into Maunalua Bay?" asked Chuck Johnston, a 35-year area resident.

Gary Weller, a member of the Hawaii Kai Neighborhood Board, said construction debris dumped on the site after the first stockpiling permit was issued in 2006 included bricks that were tested by an environmentalist and found to carry lead paint. The debris also included large chunks of concrete, truck batteries, engine blocks and ceramic tiles, Weller said.

Leonard Leong, whose company, Royal Contracting, oversees the stockpiling at Hawaii Kai Memorial Park, said all stockpiled material is there legally. He said the company has prevented runoff problems by placing the material on elevated ground.

Reilly, who lives near the site, said construction companies have continued to bring in fill material over the years and that it is being compacted and graded flat with machinery.

"How can the cement buried 10 feet below be allowed to stay there?" Reilly said. "We were told (by the city) all of this would be removed, and now we are told it could stay?"

Ownership of the property, at 7488 Hawaii Kai Drive, has changed hands several times. Current owner Hawaii Kai Memorial Park LLC bought it in 2010.

Residents at a recent community meeting on the issue complained that they have been subjected to years of large trucks rumbling through their neighborhood, and asked city officials when the activity would stop.

"When do we see it go away?" Weller said. "The city laws are inadequate. I don’t understand how they can do this in perpetuity."

Leong said the truck traffic would occur anyway in the course of developing a cemetery there.

"It’s not a rubbish dump because when the cemetery is eventually built and there’s a need for 50,000 yards of fill, there would be a steady stream of trucks to bring in that fill material," he said.

Hawaii Kai Memorial Park has two stockpiling permits, one with a limit of 35,000 cubic yards and another with a limit of 43,600 cubic yards.

There have been numerous stockpiling permits issued for the property.

City Department of Planning and Permitting Director David Tanoue said the procedures have changed over the past three or four years, causing the city "to look at the entire life span of stockpiling permits before renewing the application. … If you keep renewing, it’s not temporary.

"We’re not turning a blind eye, but it’s difficult to monitor and it’s not only the city. It’s the (state) Department of Health and the EPA (U.S. Environmental Protection Agency). It’s very difficult to monitor."

The storing of old asphalt is permissible under the stockpiling permit, and a DPP inspector has calculated roughly 52,000 cubic yards is now there, Tanoue said.

"Nothing’s been moved out because the intent is to use (the debris) on the cemetery," said Leong of Royal Contracting.

Leong estimates between 40,000 to 50,000 cubic yards of fill has been brought in since 2006. If the site reaches its allowed capacity and more fill is available, "we’d apply for another permit," he said.

AFTER RECEIVING complaints, the Department of Health sent teams from its Clean Water and Solid Waste branches to investigate the site on Dec. 22.

The landowners were last issued a federal pollutant discharge elimination system permit on Jan. 21, 2010. It is due to expire Oct. 21.

Health Department spokeswoman Janice Okubo said the department will request updated cemetery project construction plans because it does not have current plans to review.

She said there is no major water pollution threat, but "if they’re not following the law, we will fine them."

The DPP inspected recent activity and found no stockpiling violations, but did cite Hawaii Kai Memorial and Royal for failure to obtain a permit to clear a path for a roadway on the property.

Royal stopped grubbing — clearing trees and vegetation to clear a path for a roadway — and is awaiting issuance of a permit.

The property was purchased in 2000 for $1.1 million by KAMVAL LLC, which won City Council approval in 2001 to receive subdivision gradings and city building permits despite opposition.

In 2003, Paradise Acquisition Co. bought it for $7.95 million. Paradise Memorial Park bought it in 2006 for $11.365 million and sold it in 2010 to Hawaii Kai Memorial Park for $1.587 million.

In 2006 the city cited contractor Royal Contracting, part owner PMP II LLC and engineer Harvey Iida for failing to follow the stockpiling plans, for which they were fined a total of $25,800 in civil fines. In 2007 the city cited Royal, PMP and engineer Belt Collins on two counts — one for operating on an expired stockpiling permit that allowed 35,000 cubic yards of material and a second for exceeding that limit. To correct the latter, the city issued a new permit, allowed them to stockpile an additional 15,000 cubic yards. No fines were issued.

Leong said his company plans to eventually get a grading permit because all of the fill material will be used for leveling the property and creating roads.

Tanoue said he did not know when Royal and/or the property owner were issued new stockpiling permits, but two stockpiling permits (which are good for one year) expire in August and December. The city could either renew the permits, allow them to expire, which would require the removal of the materials, or grant a grading permit, which would allow the material to remain on site to be used for construction.

WHETHER THERE WAS ever any intent to build a cemetery or not, Tanoue said, "There’s no cemetery being built. I’m not aware of any cemetery application."

Hawaii Kai Memorial Park agent William McCorriston — whose law firm’s profit-sharing plan is a part owner of Hawaii Kai Memorial Park — did not return phone calls to the Star-Advertiser, but is scheduled to meet with community members 6:30 p.m. Feb. 13 at the Mariner’s Cove Bay Club.