A City official said that the illegal dumping of concrete debris in Mailiili Stream was to create a “temporary path”. But they dumped this material over the course of two years! Take a look at this photo below. How temporary does it look to you? The City did not obtain the required permit to dump the material. And now that the material is in the stream, a habitat for the endangered Ae’o (Hawaiian Stilt), the City cannot remove the material without the proper permits.
Photo by Carroll Cox, EnviroWatch
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City official denies dump allegations
By B.J. Reyes
POSTED: 01:30 a.m. HST, Jul 03, 2009
A city administrator says crews were not using Mailiili Stream as a dump site for concrete, as alleged in a complaint being investigated by city, state and federal agencies.
Jeoffrey Cudiamat, director of facilities maintenance, told a City Council committee that the concrete was being used to “create a temporary path to provide maintenance to remove debris.
“It was not used as a dump site,” he added.
Cudiamat was called before the Council’s Public Safety and Services Committee yesterday but said he could not elaborate on exactly what was done and why because of the pending investigations into the activities at the stream.
Members asked Cudiamat to follow up with the committee to help provide a timetable on when the investigations might be completed.
“We don’t want to interfere with any of the investigations,” said Committee Chairman Donovan Dela Cruz, “but we want to make sure that the Council knows when these investigations are going to be completed so that we can follow up with the administration.
“There’s obviously community concern.”
The Army Corps of Engineers, state Department of Health and other agencies are investigating alleged illegal dumping of concrete at Mailiili Stream, frequented by endangered Hawaiian stilts.
Concrete rubble from sidewalk repairs reportedly was placed in the stream area to restore an access road along the bank that was used to cut brush. The Health Department says no permit was issued for the dumping.
The watchdog group EnviroWatch Inc. first reported the activity in the stream to the city.
Some work already has been done to clear the stream, but city officials say additional permits might be required to finish the removal.
Source: http://www.starbulletin.com/news/20090703_City_official_denies_dump_allegations.html
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