DOE, contractors fined $1.45M over debris disposal

The state Department of Education and several contractors have been fined $1.45 million for violating solid-waste laws during the renovation of Radford High School’s track field last year.

The DOE last spring announced it was halting renovation work on the school’s athletic field, which is near the Navy’s former Makalapa Crater landfill, after debris and soil samples tested positive for contaminants, including lead and arsenic. The DOE said at the time that it was working with the Health Department and the Navy to remove debris found during initial excavation work.

The state Health Department on Thursday said it issued four violation notices tied to the removal, transportation and disposal of contaminated soil and concrete waste from the school construction site to a private residence in Kaneohe, a construction site in Kapolei and an unpermitted concrete recycling facility in Kailua. Some 130 truckloads of hazardous soil and concrete slabs were dumped.

“Based on analytical laboratory results provided by DOE and its consultant, the transported soil was contaminated with heavy metals such as arsenic, barium, cadmium, lead, and mercury at amounts that exceeded DOH environmental action levels posing a potential health risk to the public,” the Health Department said in a statement.

The imposed penalties include:

» $20,000 on the DOE, MEI Corp. and Central Equipment for the disposal of two truckloads of contaminated soil and debris at a private residence.

» $1,122,000 on the DOE, MEI Corp., ALU Transportation Services, Kuaana Trucking Inc., XTreme Trucking Inc., Alliance Trucking, Hawaiian Western Transport LCC and Thunder Trucking LCC for disposal of 103 truckloads of contaminated soil at a residential development under construction in Kapolei, and for the disposal of 24 truckloads of concrete slabs at an unpermitted concrete recycling facility in Kailua.

» $292,000 on Royal Contracting Co. for the operation of an open dump/unpermitted solid-waste facility by accepting contaminated soil and a truckload of concrete waste without approval from the Health Department.

» $13,530 on Kapaa Quarry Recycling Inc. for the operation of an unpermitted solid-waste facility by accepting and processing concrete waste without approval from the Health Department.

Business records show Kapaa Quarry Recycling is registered to the same Hauula address as MEI Corp. The other companies appear unrelated.

“Property owners, operators and contractors are responsible for the safe handling of construction waste generated by their projects,” Keith Kawaoka, the Health Department’s deputy director for environmental health, said in a statement. “It is equally important for property owners and operators that accept soil for their property or projects to ensure that they receive only clean, uncontaminated soil that is free of waste.”

The Health Department said the parties can request a hearing to contest the allegations.

DOE Assistant Superintendent Dann Carlson said in a statement that the department has requested a hearing to dispute the findings, adding that the DOE was surprised by the decision.