Along a quiet stretch of the Pearl Harbor bike path in Pearl City, neighbors say life has turned into a fight against dust. Residents who live beside the Waiawa Stream report waking up coughing, with scratchy throats and a chemical tang in the air, which they blame on a sprawling junkyard across the path on Lehua Avenue.
The roughly 2.6-acre industrial lot, stacked with old cars, refrigerators and other scrap, sits just across from homes, residents say. The state has already stepped in. The Hawaiʻi Department of Health issued a Notice of Violation and Order with a $55,000 enforcement penalty against ABC Towing & Parts and property owner JH Hawaii Property for unauthorized discharges to Waiawa Stream, according to the Hawaiʻi Department of Health. Regulators say the site has been operating without required NPDES permit coverage and warned that water‑pollution violations can carry penalties as high as $60,000 per day.
Neighbors Say Dust and Trucks Never Let Up
Residents who live along the path told Hawaii News Now that the junkyard has turned into a daily nuisance and a health worry. They describe trucks constantly moving scrap, kicking up clouds of fine dust that drift straight into nearby homes.
“All that dust is coming through my house,” resident Albert Kim told the station. Another neighbor, Corrie Young, put it more bluntly: “I’m just scared for our health.” Neighbors say the problem went from bad to worse after March’s Kona‑low storms, which they believe washed junkyard material into Waiawa Stream and left more debris and sediment behind.
Owner Maps Out Months of Cleanup as DOH Meeting Looms
The general manager of ABC Towing told Hawaii News Now that crews are working to clean up the lot and that the effort could stretch to about eight months. The company also said it has a meeting scheduled with health officials at the property on Tuesday…