The Department of Transportation said it will investigate a complaint that trees cut recently along H-2 Freeway were improperly disposed of along the highway.

A local environmental activist said yesterday that he has found evidence that the tree stumps and branches were pushed over the side of H-2 Freeway near Kipapa Gulch bridge, along with what appeared to be other cuttings and debris.

Many of the trees found near the side of the gulch match the size and type of albizzia trees the state DOT ordered cut down along the freeway earlier this summer, said Carroll Cox of EnviroWatch Inc. A dirt path big enough for a truck leads from the highway to the dumping site, he said.

The dumping poses potential fire, flooding and other environmental dangers, he said.

An anonymous caller first reported seeing trucks of a local contractor parked in the area last month, and Cox said it appears the trees and other debris have been dumped in the same area for several months.

"When I went to the site, I could see the trees and other debris piled up in ways that could lead to fires or problems with the stream below," he said. "I have absolutely no doubt that the trees are the same ones that the state had cut down along the freeway."

Scott Ishikawa, a Department of Transportation spokesman, said the DOT would send a crew to inspect the site early this week and try to determine if the trees were dumped improperly.

He said state contracts require that cut trees be mulched or taken to a recycling area.

Cox said he wants to know if the state contract with the tree-removal company included specific information on how the wood would be disposed of.

The state drew criticism from The Outdoor Circle and others earlier this summer when it ordered about 50 non-native trees along the freeway cut down after it determined that some of the trees were damaged and posed a danger to motorists.

It later agreed to plant monkeypod, crepe myrtle and native kou trees along freeway later this year in place of trees that were removed.

Reach Mike Leidemann at mleidemann@honoluluadvertiser.com.