Officials at the City and County of Honolulu have revealed how much overtime was earned during the dumping of concrete inside Mailiili Stream in Leeward Oahu, which resulted in a violation of the U.S. Clean Water Act.
Director of Facility Maintenance Jeoffrey Cudiamat revealed the information Tuesday during a hearing before the City Council’s Public Infrastructure Committee.
“Based on a review of foreman daily reports on days where concrete was placed in Mailiili Channel the overtime costs is estimated to be about $52,800 on the high end,” Cudiamat told committee members.
However a former city worker who was part of the crew that performed work in and around the waterway tells Khon2 city officials don’t know the true extent of overtime abuse at the Division of Road Maintenance, one of three divisions within DFM.
The worker, who asked Khon2 not to reveal his identity for fear of retaliation, said overtime performed at Mailiili Stream was logged by superiors as having been performed at another location.
"The working supervisors they control it,” he said. “They control the overtime; they keep your time (and) there's no punch clock.”
The former worker says supervisors also ordered Road Maintenance employees to cut kiawe trees removed from Mailiili Stream into prized fire logs that were set aside for personal use.
“A lot of the overtime time hours were charged to just cutting wood in the yard. I don't know if the taxpayers would approve of those kinds of things.”
According to the whistle blower, employees who normally perform desk work took part in accruing overtime during the dumping of concrete inside the channel.
“We had people that were clerks that worked in the office and then when there was overtime during the week and the weekends they would come out on the crew and work,” he said. “They never worked on the crew when we worked our regular eight hours.”
The city has already been fined $1.7 million by the State Health Department for illegally dumping 255 truckloads of sidewalk remnants onto 1.08 acres of land that included the stream’s north and south banks as well as a portion of the channel.
Within the concrete is a mix of metal debris, used asphalt and dirt, which represents a potential hazard should there be severe storm. The work at Mailiili Stream was performed during a fifteen month period, from February 2, 2008 to May 9, 2009.
During Tuesday’s hearing Cudiamat said the city has already set aside $1 million to comply with an EPA order to remove concrete from the stream and restore it to its original condition.
An additional $100,000 has been set aside for inspection during the removal phase, which is expected to begin this fall and is scheduled to finish in the spring of 2011.
The former city employee said there was a sense among the work crew that what was being done to the stream was wrong, but no one dared question the supervisor in charge.
“As far as the workers we did amongst ourselves kind of question: 'we're really gonna put cement in that stream bed?’ But if you're a laborer, you're a worker you just follow orders. They can make it hard for you to get another job.”
Department of Facility Maintenance Deputy Director Kioki Miyamoto told Khon2 the supervisor who spearheaded the project at Mailiili Stream has hired an attorney as an internal city investigation continues.
Honolulu Police Department spokeswoman Michelle Yu said Wednesday there is no criminal investigation into allegations of overtime abuse related to work performed at Mailiili Stream.
Cudiamat told members of the Public Infrastructure Committee his department has taken extensive steps to ensure a similar incident is never repeated at another waterway. Those measures include the following:
- Environmental permit training for employees who perform work near waterways
- More stringent controls and procedures
- Screening activities that require heavy equipment before any equipment is approved for use
- Retaining of an auditing firm to restructure the Department of Facility Maintenance’s organization, in particular the Division of Road Maintenance
Cudiamat said an internal departmental policy was also instituted more than a year ago to monitor and scrutinize the use of overtime. “Last year DFM saved about $3 million in overtime in fiscal year 2010,” said the director.
Cudiamat ended his testimony in front of the committee by urging any worker with direct knowledge of what transpired at Mailiili Stream to contact his department directly or call the city’s Integrity Hotline at 1-877-365-6248.
“We will fully investigate any credible complaints,” he said.
Although the city is appealing the $1.7 million fine levied by the State Health Department, the former worker who spoke to Khon2 says the waste of taxpayer funds is hard to fathom.
“Maybe we could've put some of that money away and save furloughs for city workers” he said. “Others should've been involved in the decision making versus just a superintendent.”
Depending on the final cost of the cleanup the dumping of concrete in and around Mailiili Stream could easily exceed $2 million.
Have a news tip? Contact Andrew Pereira at 368-7273. Follow Andrew on Twitter at Khon_Reporter
