Officials with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency have reached a $15,000 settlement with leaders with Bali Hai Villas Limited Partnership over violations of the federal Clean Water Act at a residential project constructed by Pepelani Loop in the Princeville Resort.
Officials with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency have reached a $15,000 settlement with leaders with Bali Hai Villas Limited Partnership over violations of the federal Clean Water Act at a residential project constructed by Pepelani Loop in the Princeville Resort.
In reaching the settlement, EPA officials said stormwater discharged from the Bali Hai construction site, the result of company leaders not having obtained a needed permit to properly discharge stormwater from the site.
Since issuance of notices by EPA, the company has implemented remedies. Builders for Bali Hai Villas were constructing condominium buildings on an 18-acre site near the Pepelani Loop, according to Dean Higuchi, an EPA spokesman in Honolulu. “They didn’t put in place the necessary controls to keep sediment and stormwater from reaching the ocean,” Higuchi said.
Alexis Strauss, EPA’s director for water programs in the Pacific Southwest region, said the controls are needed to protect marine resources.
“As has been seen elsewhere in Hawai‘i, erosion and sedimentation associated with stormwater discharges can cause severe pollution problems for our coastal waters and coral reefs,” Strauss said.
During an inspection of the construction site in January of this year, EPA and the state Department of Health inspectors discovered the violations, Higuchi said.
It is not known whether the visit was prompted by a complaint or whether the visit was scheduled by government officials.
In March of this year, EPA officials issued to the developer a notice of violation and an order to comply with requirements to correct the problems, Higuchi said.
In January, the investigators determined Bali Hai workers:
- did not properly place and install fences around the project to control silt from stormwater runoff;
- failed to implement pollution control measures at storm drains to prevent debris from reaching the ocean. The project is located some distance makai of the ocean;
- failed to prevent discharges of pollutants from construction activities.
- began construction before a government stormwater permit was issued. In response to government directives, company leaders have implemented the necessary runoff controls, and have revised their stormwater pollution control plans for the project, EPA official said.
Lester Chang, can be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 225) and mailto:lchang@pulitzer.net
