KEKAHA — Amfac/JMB Hawai’i faces penalties of over $67,000 for hazardous waste violations at the company’s former Kekaha Sugar operation. Earlier this year, state Department of Health officials discovered a 1,000-gallon tank two-thirds full of creosote at the Kekaha Sugar
KEKAHA — Amfac/JMB Hawai’i faces penalties of over $67,000 for hazardous waste
violations at the company’s former Kekaha Sugar operation.
Earlier this
year, state Department of Health officials discovered a 1,000-gallon tank
two-thirds full of creosote at the Kekaha Sugar herbicide mixing plant, and
cited Amfac/JMB Hawai’i for storage of hazardous waste without a permit and
failure to determine that hazardous waste was on the site.
Several other
unlabeled 55-gallon drums were also found at the site, the DOH
reported.
Creosote, a known carcinogen and a regulated hazardous waste, was
used at the plant as part of its wood-preserving operation. One Amfac Sugar
Kaua’i worker said the operation had not been used for over 20 years.
The
DOH filed a complaint and order against Amfac/JMB Hawai’i (Kekaha Sugar
Company, Limited) for the violations of the state’s hazardous waste rules.
The company has 20 days to respond to the order. Company officials were
unavailable for comment yesterday.
In addition to paying the penalty,
Amfac/JMB Hawai’i has been ordered to clean up the site and comply with state
hazardous waste rules for the cited violations.
Addressing this hazardous
waste violation will be part of a number of major cleanup efforts Amfac/JMB
Hawai’i is presently undertaking at Kekaha Sugar and other plantation sites on
Kaua’i and Maui, the DOH stated.
