EPA fines real estate company Koloa, citing illegal cesspool

KOLOA — The Federal Environmental Protection Agency has fined real estate company Hale Kaua’i $40,000 after finding a large-capacity sump pit on the company’s Waikomo Road property, which operates under the name of Hardware Hawai’i.

KOLOA — The Federal Environmental Protection Agency has fined real estate company Hale Kaua’i $40,000 after finding a large-capacity sump pit on the company’s Waikomo Road property, which operates under the name of Hardware Hawai’i.

The EPA says the sump pit is considered illegal under federal law because it can serve 20 or more people per day.

“Companies like Hale Kaua’i and Halona Pacific (another fined entity) need to do their part to protect water resources from disease-causing pathogens found in large sumps,” said the regional administrator of the EPA Pacific Southwest, Martha Guzman, in a statement. “The EPA is committed to finding and closing all remaining large sumps in Hawai’i.”

But Hobey Beck, a Hale Kaua’i board member and grandson of company co-founder Sam Wilcox, challenged the EPA’s decision when contacted by The Garden Island.

“Hale Kaua’i owns the Hardware Hawai’i building, which has a hand-washing sink and an employee-only restroom,” Beck said in an email. “Our system’s water consumption has never increased to show that more than five people use it every day.

“Under the EPA’s loose interpretation of the law, ‘We have the ability to be an LLC,'” Beck continued. “So we get fined for this without warning or notice.”

In August 2020, the EPA requested sewage disposal information on the Hale Kauai property. The agency has since determined that it qualified as an illegal large-capacity sump pit, according to a press release.

Seven public drinking water wells in the Koloa area are at risk of contamination from a sump discharge on the Hale Kaua’i property, the EPA said.

In addition to the $40,000 fine, Hale Kaua’i must backfill the sump pit and install a state-approved septic tank by March 15, 2023, as part of the federal agency’s enforcement action. .

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Scott yunkerjournalist, can be reached at 245-0437 or syunker@thegardenisland.com.