The wetlands are those adjacent to Hamakua Stream.

After Kailua residents complained about the land being filled, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers informed Coluccio and Kane'ohe Ranch Company, Ltd. — the Castle Family LLC property manager — that Clean Water Act permits were required for the filling of wetlands.

Under an agreement with Castle Family LLC, Coluccio had cleared wetland vegetation at the site to create a project equipment and materials staging area, federal officials said.

"We will protect the Kailua wetlands from illegal filling and ensure it is restored to provide water bird habitat, flood storage, and protect the island's coastal water quality," said Alexis Strauss, water division director for the EPA's Pacific Southwest region.

"When wetlands are filled, these important ecological functions are lost," she said, which is why filling these lands requires a federal permit.

In February 2005, the Hawai'i Department of Health and EPA officials inspected the site and noted that large stockpiles of excavated soil and rock had been dumped into the wetland habitat, although neither company had obtained the required permit. Coluccio filled just under 1 acre of wetlands that are part of a larger system running from Kawainui Marsh to Ka'elepulu Pond and the Pacific Ocean.