The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency ordered the city to clean and restore Ma'ili'ili Stream after the illegal unloading of concrete rubble, metal debris, used asphalt and other construction debris by city employees.

Jeffrey Cudiamat, the city's director of facility maintenance, said crews from his agency are responsible for the material in the stream and that an internal investigation is under way. Cudiamat and other city officials said the debris wasn't dumped into the stream, but rather was placed along the bank to create a temporary access path.

The EPA order, issued yesterday, calls on the city to submit a removal and restoration plan, including the placement of erosion and sedimentation control measures, within 60 days. The city is also required to submit a final report when the work is done.

State Health Department inspectors first were alerted to the debris in the bed and bank of the stream in June by EnviroWatch, a nonprofit environmental watchdog group.

State and federal officials, with the cooperation of the city, later determined that the materials were put into an area estimated at 1.08 acres of the stream and along both banks between February 2008 and May 2009. EPA officials said the fill was about eight yards wide and stretched about 175 yards.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers issued a notice of unauthorized activity to the city on June 18. The EPA has since taken jurisdiction over the matter.

Dean Higuchi, EPA spokesman, said the city violated the federal Clean Water Act, which prohibits the placement of dredged or fill material into waterways without a permit.

"Anytime you fill a stream, or alter it, you need to get permits from the Corps and in this case they didn't even do that," Higuchi said. A major concern for the EPA is the potential for the fill to wash downstream and into the ocean during a big rain, he said.

"That could impact not only water quality, it could also impact the ecosystems," he said. "You basically could bury a coral reef with all that stuff."

FEDERAL PROBE

A federal investigation is ongoing and the order does not preclude the EPA from taking other action, including issuing fines or penalties.

"We're still looking into this situation and trying to figure out why this went on without them even asking the question," Higuchi said.

Larry Lau, the Health Department's deputy director for environmental health, said his agency considers the situation "serious" and that the Clean Water Branch is also investigating the matter.

Cudiamat said the city is cooperating with the EPA order.

"We are working to ensure full compliance with such requirements in the future, and have already taken affirmative steps to complete the action items set forth in the EPA's order," he said.

The city began removing the material about a month ago after being notified of the situation by regulators, but then was "advised to await further guidance," Cudiamat said.

He and other city officials declined to answer specific questions about who was responsible for creating the road or failing to obtain the permits, citing a city investigation.

EnviroWatch president Carroll Cox said he doesn't buy the city's explanation about the building of a temporary pathway, noting that debris was being transferred there over a period of 15 months.

"There's no such thing as a temporary road in a river bed," he said.

TAXPAYERS FOOT BILL

Cox said he was tipped of by workers in the Department of Facilities Management who said the materials were originally from Honolulu-area roads and sidewalks and were being disposed of in the stream to avoid paying tipping fees at the privately owned PVT Landfill, the only O'ahu disposal facility allowed to accept construction waste.

City workers responsible should lose their jobs and criminal charges should be brought, Cox said.

What's most disturbing is that the island's taxpayers are going to end up footing the bill for cleaning the situation up, Cox said.

City Councilman Donovan Dela Cruz, who heads the council's Public Safety & Services Committee, said he looks forward to reviewing Facility Maintenance's cleanup plan "and evaluating the costs associated with the cleanup in order to restore Ma'ili'ili Stream to its previous condition."