KUALOA REGIONAL PARK — The city plans to fight a $300,000 fine levied by the state Health Department over pollution problems that have kept the beach at Kualoa Regional Park closed for months at a time over the past several years, officials said yesterday.

The state also ordered city officials to act immediately to fix the ongoing problem.

The issue goes back to at least 2000 when the Health Department cited the city for a sewage spill at the park. In 2003, the city proposed a new, $1.3 million wastewater system there. Construction stalled over cultural and other concerns, and work isn't likely to begin before the end of the year, city officials said yesterday.

News of the fine set off a new round of frustration in the community.

"I don't care who is responsible. I just want somebody to do something about it," said Wayne Panoke, a member of the Kahalu'u Neighborhood Board and the Ko'olauloa Hawaiian Civic Club. "It's ridiculous. Why are they taking so long? We've waited long enough. When is something going to get done?"

'A VERY SERIOUS MATTER'

The fine imposed this week comes after state investigators found unacceptably high bacteria counts at the beach park, forcing its closure from Dec. 2, 2005, to May 23, 2006, said Lawrence Lau, state deputy director for environmental health.

"Any time the public loses the use of the beach for that long a period, we consider it a very serious matter," Lau said.

The beach was closed again in January and remains closed; Health Department officials said they are still investigating the source of the new pollution, and the fine announced this week covers only the previous violations.

City officials yesterday said they have taken steps to stop bacteria leaching into the ocean from its restrooms at the park, and the new problem indicates that another pollution source has at least contributed to past and present problems.

"We've closed our comfort stations and have been pumping wastewater out of the system there, and yet the bacteria counts continue to be high. That indicates that something else is going on and there was never any proof that we were responsible," city spokesman Bill Brennan said.

The city hopes to put a contract out to bid by the end of the year for permanent repairs to the wastewater system at the park, he said.

BROKEN SYSTEM

The comfort stations are hooked to a septic system that basically separated the solids from the liquids, then would leach the fluids into fields in the park. But the system has not been operating properly for years and the city now pumps waste from the park and hauls it away.

On a calm, sunny afternoon yesterday at the park, only a handful of people were out and about, and no one was venturing into the water. Bathroom facilities at the beach side of the park framed by the Ko'olau mountains were closed, and when a private company showed up to pump sewage out of a holding tank, a fearsome smell engulfed nearby picnic tables.

Lillian Carreira, a Kane'ohe resident who brought two members of her church youth group to the park yesterday, said she was surprised to learn that it had been closed since January. Two small signs warning of the contaminated water were hard to see and located several hundred yards apart, she said.

"I guess the city should get off its butt and start doing something about this," Carreira said.

In addition to the fine for discharging or releasing wastewater from its comfort station into the ground and water, the state also ordered city officials to take immediate corrective action.

"It is such a big loss when people can't use the ocean," Lau said. "We want the beach to be safe for swimming. The city has a responsibility to maintain its parks' comfort stations and protect the health of residents and visitors who use the parks."

Lau said the department's Clean Water branch continues to sample the water in the area three times a week and will keep the beach closed until bacteria counts reach acceptable levels.

Testing in January and February found that bacteria levels were more than seven times Hawai'i's standard.

BURIAL CONCERNS

Panoke said he thought the $300,000 fine sounded fair considering how long the city has known about the problem and not taken stronger steps to fix it. "We thought there was a plan all worked out more than three years ago with the previous administration, but still nothing has been done," he said. "My kids need a place where they can swim."

The city's wastewater project has been delayed in part because of concern by some for ancient Hawaiian burials in the area, believed to be a training site for Hawaiian warriors and sacred ground.

Officials had originally proposed a new "above-ground" system that would limit construction site digging to 2 inches. But the city canceled that plan in 2002 when officials determined that installing the system's structural foundation would require digging deeper into the soil.

$1.3M FOR KUALOA

Brennan said the closing of the restrooms and private pumping of wastewater seemed to have solved the problem until the bacteria counts spiked again in January. "Our system has been constant and we're not doing anything different, so there has to be something else happening," he said.

Lau said the state would consider the city's response to the current problem, but it wouldn't make a difference to its fine for previous violations. "Our conclusion is that they city is definitely responsible for what happened in 2005 and 2006," he said.

The city's Department of Design and Construction has hired a planning and design consultant for reconstruction of the wastewater systems in the park, and budgeted about $2.9 million for wastewater reconstruction at several city parks, including $1.3 million for Kualoa, Brennan said. The project is scheduled to go out to bid at the end of this calendar year, he said.

Meanwhile, a hearing will be scheduled to listen to the city's response to the fine. A final resolution of the case could take up to a year, Lau said.

Reach Mike Leidemann at mleidemann@honoluluadvertiser.com.