A pair of community groups are poised to sue a landowner in federal court for alleged violations of state and federal clean-water laws. The violations allegedly occuried at Pila’a Beach, a remote slice of coastline south of Kilauea, allegedly as
A pair of community groups are poised to sue a landowner in federal court for alleged violations of state and federal clean-water laws.
The violations allegedly occuried at Pila’a Beach, a remote slice of coastline south of Kilauea, allegedly as the result of ground-clearing activities, some done without permits, and construction of a culvert that allegedly is spewing mud and muck onto a coral reef.
Max Graham, attorney for the landowner – Pilaa 400, LLC (limited liability company), one of whose members is Honolulu car dealer James Pflueger – said he has been in contact with state Department of Health Clean Water Branch personnel, and is committed to doing whatever is necessary to prevent further ocean discharges.
That includes removing, if necessary, the culvert that was constructed without a permit in the shoreline management area, said Graham.
The nonprofit, public-interest, Honolulu office of the environmental action law firm Earthjustice is representing the Limu Coalition and Kilauea Neighborhood Association in the suite.
On June 1 the two organizations gave the land owner the required 60-day notice of intent to sue in federal court if the land owner doesn’t come into compliance with federal and state clean-water laws, said David Henkin, Earthjustice staff attorney. The federal clean-water act requires the 60-day notification period.
“I’m not sure that we need to respond to Earthjustice, but we’ve had meetings with the Department of Health Clean Water Branch, and we’ll try to do everything so that there are no further discharges, so it’s all in compliance,” said Graham.
“We acknowledge that we’ve got to do whatever’s necessary to make sure there’s no more discharge into the ocean. I’m hoping we can do that,” Graham continued.
If that means tearing out the culvert, “no problem,” they’ll do that, but it gets a bit complicated because even remediation work in the SMA and conservation zone could constitute further un-permitted work.
It will be done only after consultation with the state Department of Land and Natural Resources and county Planning Department, Graham said.
“If Mr. Pflueger and his associates don’t clean up their act at Pila’a and get into compliance with the clean water act within 60 days, we’ll file suit,” Henkin said.
“In order to come into compliance with the clean water act, among other things, the (ocean) water at Pila’a that has been impacted by the runoff and the muck and stuff that has flowed off of Mr. Pflueger’s construction activities, that water has to meet state water-quality standards,” Henkin said.
“And, currently, the turbidity readings, in other words the suspended sediments and that type of thing, are just off the charts as far as the state standards are concerned,” he said.
“My understanding is that he’s violated a whole host of state and county regulations as far as the work that he’s done in the shoreline management area and the conservation district without a permit,” said Henkin.
But, where the pending lawsuit is concerned, the notice letter alleges violations having to do with illegal stormwater discharges, he continued.
“Basically, it’s illegal under both federal and state law to have sediment – mud, mucks, the type of thing that you’ve been getting running off of his land associated with construction activities – going into the ocean, unless you get a permit to do that activity, and you comply with some very stringent standards and put into place some very precautionary measures that will avoid the type of things that we’ve seen at Pila’a,” Henkin said.
“There’s no question that we need an after-the-fact grading permit, SMA permit,” and there was work done without permits in the conservation district, Graham said.
Engineering work is being done in order to apply for the various permits, Graham said.
Staff Writer Paul C. Curtis can be reached at mailto:pcurtis@pulitzer.net or 245-3681 (ext. 224).
