LIHU‘E — North Shore landowner James Pflueger, the Pila‘a 400 Limited Liability Corporation and Pflueger Properties have agreed to pay out up to $1.2-million to correct un-permitted grading within Pflueger’s 1,000-plus-acre estate south of Kilauea at Pila‘a. The remediation plan
LIHU‘E — North Shore landowner James Pflueger, the Pila‘a 400 Limited Liability Corporation and Pflueger Properties have agreed to pay out up to $1.2-million to correct un-permitted grading within Pflueger’s 1,000-plus-acre estate south of Kilauea at Pila‘a.
The remediation plan calls for re-vegetating areas, removal of a 140-foot-long coastal rock berm once surrounding areas are stabilized, installation of silt fences and “rock-check dams” to prevent stormwater from flowing into the ocean from un-permitted graded sites, which total no more than 10 acres within Pflueger’s property.
The plan is part of a consent degree that grew out of a lawsuit Kaua‘i County officials filed in Fifth Circuit Court against Pflueger, Pila‘a 400, LLC and Pflueger Properties.
During a meeting at the Lihu‘e Civic Center Tuesday, the Kaua‘i County Planning Commission reviewed the plan. The commission was authorized to do so because the Kaua‘i County Planning Department has jurisdiction over coastal areas in Pila‘a Bay that are subject to the Special Management Area (SMA) Usepermit rules. Pflueger’s property is adjacent to the bay.
The lawsuit alleges violations of the county’s grading ordinance and the county’s SMA rules, county officials said.
Officials said representatives for Pflueger had said the work was to have started on June 25, but has been held up by performance bonding delays.
The June 25 startup date was part of a recent “stipulated partial settlement” in which government agencies, including the Kaua‘i County Department of Public Works and the Kaua‘i County Planning Department, citizen groups and Pflueger and his associates agreed to implement the plan, county officials said.
But officials voiced concerns that the work hasn’t started, and fretted over the possibility that winter storms could generate runoff and sediment that could flow through three gullies within Pflueger’s property and pollute shoreline waters.
The remediation plan is separate from an emergency plan Pflueger had implemented after torrential rains in November 2001 created mudslides that inflicted damage to a home on a beach fronting Pila‘a Bay.
The home is owned by Amy Marvin and her family, who have filed a lawsuit against Pflueger seeking damages.
The emergency plan, which was reported to have been implemented at cost of $7 million by Pflueger, was intended to prevent more runoff into Pila‘a Bay.
The newest plan is intended to return to its original condition, as much as possible, land that had been graded without county approval, county officials said.
The land is separate from sites where un-permitted work caused damage around the Marvin home and claimed damage to reef areas in Pila‘a Bay.
The latest work was ordered after county officials found additional un-permitted work on Pflueger’s property during an inspection of his land.
County officials said aerial flights confirmed the ground sightings.
Following heated calls by the residents and community groups for government action after the 2001 mudslide at Pila‘a Bay, the Kaua‘i County Council appropriated funds to cover the cost of aerial flights to identify un-permitted work islandwide.
The remediation plan calls for:
• Stabilization of a vertical cut of a hillside by Pila‘a Bay;
• Establishment of a pedestrian pathway to allow Huddy family members access to their home on Pila‘a Bay. The pathway would connect to an existing driveway that provides access to the Marvin family home;
• Landscaping of un-permitted grading areas with native plants;
• The removal of a rock berm, measuring about 140 feet in length and rising to eight feet in height, when a nearby gulch is stabilized. Pflueger had the rock berm installed as part of his emergency plan. The structure was built to prevent runoff from un-permitted grading sites from flowing into the ocean, and possibly damaging coral and other marine ecosystems. But scientists and attorneys for Pflueger have told government investigators that Pila‘a Bay has been subject to runoff for years. They said the runoff that threatened the Marvin home and spilled into Pila‘a Bay in 2001 was higher than normal because of torrential rains;
• Vegetation of a half-acre site located on the western side of the Pflueger’s property. Silt fencing and “rock-check dams,” a filter about two feet in height, will be installed to catch sediment during rains;
• Re-compacting and vegetation of a 3.3-acre site, also located on the western side of the Pflueger property. A soil report noted the earthfill at the site was not stable, according to county officials;
• Re-stabilizing of a 0.4-acre site located in the middle of the Pflueger property;
• Use of a construction staging site on a plateau for the remediation work. The staging site was created during the implementation of the emergency plan to store soil that had been dug up in the creation of the rock berm, county officials said.
At the time the emergency plan was implemented, seven other basins were built around the plateau on which the construction site was built, an official said.
The latest plan was developed by Belt Collins, Hawaii, an O‘ahu-based consultant specializing in engineering, planning, landscape architecture and environmental consulting.
If the remediation work is not done, Pflueger could be subject to state fines, county officials said. County officials are caught in a bind, they said. If Pflueger is not able to complete the work, the potential for more environmental damage would exist.
Only a performance bond would ensure that all the work set out in the remediation plan is carried out, county officials said.
The plan is part of stipulated partial settlement that was reached under the scrutiny of Fifth Circuit Court Judge George Masuoka.
The plan has been agreed to by leaders in the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the state Department of Health, the state Department of Land and Natural Resources, two county agencies, the Limu Coalition and the Kilauea Neighborhood Association.
Representing the county in the settlement was Deputy County Attorney Laurel K.S.
Loo and Wesley H.H. Ching, an attorney representing Pflueger and his associates.
A second remediation plan is in the making, and is anticipated to be the final part of a settlement in the county’s lawsuit against Pflueger and his associates.
Related to the November 2001 mudslide incident, Pflueger has pleaded no contest to three counts of violating the county’s grading ordinance for un-permitted work on his properties in Kilauea in 2001 and 2002, and was ordered by Kaua‘i District Court Judge Trudy Senda to pay a $3,075 fine and to perform 450 hours of community service.
The state Board of Land and Natural Resources also imposed a $46,500 fine for damages to the reef, and is seeking millions in other fines that are under contention by attorneys for Pflueger.
Earlier this year, Pflueger pleaded guilty to 14 counts of violating state water-pollution laws in Fifth Circuit Court.
The criminal action was sparked after investigations by employees of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the state Department of Health and Kaua‘i County, and after calls for government action from environmental groups and residents.
Civil lawsuits are pending against Pflueger, including those filed by environmental groups.
Lester Chang, staff writer, may be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 225), or at lchang @pulitzer.net
