Pila’a landowner James Pflueger was arraigned in Fifth Circuit Court in Lihu’e late last month, charged with 14 counts of violating state water-pollution laws. Pflueger waived the indictment and pleaded not guilty to all the charges. His next court date
Pila’a landowner James Pflueger was arraigned in Fifth Circuit Court in Lihu’e late last month, charged with 14 counts of violating state water-pollution laws.
Pflueger waived the indictment and pleaded not guilty to all the charges. His next court date is February 26.
The charges, all felonies, each carry a $5,000 to $50,000 fine and maximum imprisonment of three years.
According to state Deputy Attorney General Colleen Chun, the charges stem from a plateau and a culvert built on Pflueger’s land fronting Pila’a Bay in 2001 that led to muddy rainwater running into the bay.
The first count, Chun said, refers to the creation of the plateau on Dec. 6, 2001, that diverted water from “the lower road” on the property. The third count, she said, refers to the installed culvert that also diverted water from the road. The rest of the counts refer to documented cases, from January, 2002, to August 2002, where the creation of the two caused muddy rainwater to go directly onto Pila’a Beach and into Pila’a Bay.
“Every count has an eyewitness,” said Chun. “The culvert emptied directly onto the beach and into the ocean.”
Most of the cases were documented by the state Department of Health, or by neighbors, said Chun.
Pflueger, a retired Honolulu automobile dealership owner, pleaded no contest in March to three county petty misdemeanor charges for violating the county’s zoning ordinance for un-permitted work on his properties in Kilauea in 2001 and 2002. He was fined $3,075 and ordered him to serve 450 hours of community service in a plea bargain agreement reached between defense attorney Phil Lowenthal and the Kaua’i County Prosecutor’s Office.
“We are asking for time,” said Pflueger’s new defense attorney, Benjamin Cassiday. “We are looking for a global settlement, and we are almost there.”
Cassiday said that Pflueger has been taking responsibility for all the problems that were caused by unpermitted work on his land in 2001.
“We’ll take full responsibility for the actions that occurred,” said Cassiday. “We have been forthright with the state, and we are an open book to all who have asked.”
“We’ve done remediation voluntarily,” said Cassiday, and Pflueger will continue to make steps to cure the problems that he caused.
Pflueger continues to discuss settlements in pending lawsuits brought by the state, county, and various environmental organizations, said Cassiday.
While settlements involving the civil trials have been ongoing, Chun said that, while discussions have been held, no negotiations have occurred in the criminal case.
“We are open to any plea negotiations,” said Chun.
“I don’t know anything about (the negotiations in) the civil case.”
“We are not signaling this person out,” she said.
“Where there’s a crime, we’ll prosecute it.”
“This administration is becoming more and more active in prosecuting environmental crimes,” she said, adding that the case was referred from the Attorney General’s Health and Human Services division.
