City 'frustrated' by $83,000 fine for waste violations

By Treena Shapiro
Advertiser Staff Writer

Hanging on to containers of old paint and thinner has cost the city $82,532 in hazardous waste fines from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

The amount of the fine has frustrated city officials, but one environmental watchdog said it was happy to see the city has been forced to take responsibility for its actions.

The case dates to June 2001, when visiting EPA inspectors discovered 147 containers of leftover paint and thinner improperly stored at the Honolulu Corporation Yard's former location at Kewalo Basin, where two city departments store vehicles, heavy equipment and road maintenance supplies.

Some 104 of the containers were rusted and deteriorating.

The EPA said the city promptly disposed of the hazardous waste upon being informed of the violations, and no spills occurred.

"We're happy the city has corrected the issues we were concerned with," said EPA press officer Dean Higuchi.

However, the city is less happy with the end result, especially after proposing environmental programs and community outreach in lieu of the monetary penalty.

The EPA liked the idea of the community outreach but wanted a fine as well, said city spokeswoman Carol Costa.

"In the end, we found it was more expedient to pay the fine," she said.

According to Costa, the paint was temporarily stored at the Kewalo site as the base yard was in the process of moving to a new location in Halawa. She said the city had planned to dispose of it properly.

"We're frustrated that the EPA has fined us, because we have moved to a new facility that is many times better from a safety and environmental standpoint than the old Kewalo base yard," she said.

The new facility has an environmentally designed paint-storage facility, Costa said.

Although there was no environmental impact in this case, Higuchi explained that leaks or spills from the deteriorating cans could have caused ground contamination and that hazardous chemicals could have been washed into storm drains during heavy rain.

"It could easily run off into the ocean and that could cause you bigger issues to the larger environment," he said.

According to the EPA, the city:

• Failed to transfer hazardous waste from 104 rusted and deteriorating containers into containers in good condition.
• Failed to comply with special requirements for ignitable wastes by storing the containers near the facility's fence, which was adjacent to a public road.
• Stored 147 containers of waste paints for longer than 90 days without a permit.
• Failed to inspect hazardous-waste containers weekly.
• Lacked a hazardous-waste training program for employees and a contingency plan in case of spills.

The fine is not small, but other hazardous-waste penalties in Hawai'i have been much larger. In 2002, the University of Hawai'i was fined $505,000 and forced to spend $1.2 million for an audit of its waste-handling programs and facilities. In 2001-2002, Chevron was fined $800,000, while Tesoro Hawai'i was fined $731,720.

The hazardous-waste violations are not the only environmental fines the city is dealing with.

In May, the state Health Department fined the city $542,549 for illegal dumping in two locations at the former incinerator in Waipahu, as well as at the closed landfill across the street and in a gully near the Waipi'o Soccer Complex. The city is appealing the fine.

Carroll Cox, president of EnviroWatch Inc., who led the inspectors to the illegal dumping sites, disapproves of any waiver for fines for the illegal dumping case and was happy to hear yesterday that the EPA held its ground on the hazardous waste case.

"It's not allowing them to work it out or get around it," Cox said. "At least some fine is better than none. I don't have any objections to that amount. I wish it was higher."

Reach Treena Shapiro at tshapiro@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8070.