Another project with problems

What is it about government construction contracts, especially if they involve transportation?

We learned this week that the $53.6 million state-city Joint Traffic Management Center, now under construction at South King and Alapai streets, apparently has such significant defects that the city issued a notice of default to the contractor, Watts Constructors LLC.

Among other problems, the city said, the roof was installed incorrectly and a weather-resistant barrier not at all, possibly causing water to leak into the unfinished building.

The center is supposed to provide more coordinated traffic management by bringing city and state transportation departments and city emergency services all under one roof — presumably one that doesn’t leak. Among those agencies is the Honolulu Authority for Rapid Transportation, now engaged in building the city’s rail transit system — the Godzilla of delayed, over-budget projects.

The city’s troubles are reminiscent of the state’s recent struggle to complete a new Hawaiian Airlines maintenance and cargo hangar, a project so badly botched that the state finally turned it over to the airline, which spent an additional $34 million to finish it and correct thousands of defects. The total cost was $120 million, according to Hawaiian.

But never mind. Watts pledged to fix the flaws to the Traffic Management Center, originally scheduled to open last June. That construction is behind schedule sounds depressing familiar. It would be a refreshing change if it just stays on budget.

Special education struggles

A sharp spike in the number of special-education students on the Leeward Coast, reported earlier this month, raised concerns anew about the difficulties faced by the state Department of Education in providing a quality education for its most vulnerable students.

The number of special-education students in the Nanakuli- Waianae Complex Area rose from 15 percent last academic year to 18 percent this year. What accounts for this increase of about 200 additional students isn’t clear.

Furthermore, of the 19 new teachers recruited to work with these children, only one is licensed for special education, according to the DOE.

“We have a teacher shortage on the Leeward Coast as it is, and we have a teacher shortage in special education,” said Hawaii State Teachers Association President Corey Rosenlee. “You combine those two things and this is the ground zero of the problem.”

He’s right. And it’s not just a local issue. The U.S. Department of Education said that every state has reported shortages of teachers in key subject areas for this academic year; 46 states needed more special-ed teachers.

Some of the remedies are familiar: Early education for more preschool-aged children; more intensive training and mentoring for new special-ed teachers; and more incentives to attract more teachers to handle the growing workload.

Every solution will require more money and the Legislature will be challenged this session to pony up. The DOE and the HSTA will need to make a persuasive case that if the money is provided, they will deliver results.

Syngenta settlement: Is it enough?

Chlorpyrifos, a pesticide widely used in commercial agriculture, keeps making headlines in Hawaii.

This week, Syngenta Seeds LLC reached a settlement with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency over violations of federal pesticide regulations at its farm in Kekaha, Kauai. The EPA found that Syngenta failed to properly notify workers to avoid fields recently sprayed with the restricted-use pesticide. In January 2016, workers entered the treated fields without appropriate warning or protection.

Syngenta will pay a fine of $150,000, and spend another $400,000 to train farmers in the proper use of pesticides. It’s a far cry from what the EPA originally requested — $4.9 million — in December 2016, when the Obama administration was still in charge. Some claim the more modest outcome is due to the Trump administration and the EPA’s industry-friendly chief, Scott Pruitt.

Nonetheless, if the settlement makes big companies, local farmers and the public more aware and motivated to handle these chemicals much more carefully, that’s a good thing. Research has shown chlorpyrifos has the potential to cause health problems. Syngenta and other agribusinesses in Hawaii have to do better, and with more transparency.