The state Department of Land and Natural Resources’ Division of Water and Land Development is paying $20,000 to the engineering firm of Mink & Yuen, Inc., to prepare an “assessment” of the Waiahole Ditch System. The first knowledge that the public had of the existence of the contract occurred when a “Preliminary Draft Environmental Assessment” of the Waiahole Ditch system was distributed at the October 19, 1994, Water Commission meeting.
As reported elsewhere in this issue, the preliminary assessment consisted of roughly 1,200 words (most term papers are longer). It contained no citations nor did it report on original surveys of the authors. Yet it managed to come to no fewer than 11 recommendations, all supporting ongoing transfer of Waiahole water to leeward O`ahu.
According to Deputy DLNR Director Jack Keppeler, he had asked Mink & Yuen for the report the week before the commission meeting. Keppeler said he thought it was time that the public heard from scientists about the importance of the Waiahole water to recharge of the Pearl Harbor aquifer. Coverage of the dispute over the water until now had been “carefully orchestrated” by the windward groups to omit any discussion of science and play to the emotions, Keppeler said. His release of the “Preliminary Draft Environmental Assessment” was intended to shed scientific light on the issue. (Neither Keppeler nor the contractor attended the stream restoration symposium held October 5-7. The Mink & Yuen report omits any of the scientific issues brought out in that forum.)
The Contract
The contract — a “negotiated agreement for services” — was signed by George A.L. Yuen, president of Mink & Yuen, on June 24, 1994. Signing on behalf of the state were Land Board Chairman Keith Ahue and BLNR member Libert Landgraf — although Landgraf did not assume duties as a board member until July 1. There is no notary affidavit to indicate when Ahue or Landgraf signed, however the contract itself states it is to be effective June 30, 1994, the last day of the 1993-94 fiscal year.
At the Water Commission meeting of October 19, when questions were raised as to the origins of the contract, Rae Loui, deputy DLNR director to the Water Commission, stated that the commission had nothing to do with the contract which, rather, had been approved by the Board of Land and Natural Resources.
The contract’s scope of work provides that the contractor is to undertake “background research/data collection” that will involve collecting and reviewing reports, data, and correspondence as well as meeting “with representatives of the department and the O`ahu Sugar Company, to discuss and gather information on the project.” There is no requirement that the contractors meet with prospective windward O`ahu users or other interested parties.
The second element in the scope of work is the “Waiahole Ditch Assessment” (which is at no point described as an environmental assessment). This is to include recommendations.
The third element involves assisting “the department in preparing and presenting testimonies at meetings” and preparing “documents and reports to the public or various entities, if required.”
Deadline for submittal to the department of the draft report is January 31, 1995. Deadline for the final report is February 28, 1995.
Irregularities
Apart from the signature of Libert Landgraf on a contract that encumbers funds from the fiscal year that expired before he became a Land Board member, other irregularities exist in the handling of the contract.
The Land Board approved the hiring of a consultant for the Waiahole Ditch System Assessment Report on January 28, 1994. The board was told at the time by Ed Lau of DOWALD that DOWALD had $10,000 for the job. According to the board minutes, DOWALD “feel it is a small amount, but they can start with the assessment and identification” of users by using information from O`ahu Sugar and Waiahole Irrigation Company. As mentioned earlier, the payment specified in the contract is $20,000. At no time has the Land Board approved this increase.
On March 1, 1994, DOWALD Chief Engineer Manabu Tagomori wrote George Yuen, notifying him that “your firm has been selected to provide civil engineering services” for the Waiahole Ditch Assessment Report. “A copy of the draft agreement will be sent to you shortly for your review. Upon receipt, please review and when ready contact us to schedule a meeting to discuss the scope of services and fee.” No written record exists to indicate how Mink & Yuen were selected or whether any other firms were considered for the work. At no time do requests for proposals appear to have been solicited for the work.
Because the signatures of Ahue and Landgraf are not dated, it is impossible to know when they signed the contract. However, files in DOWALD suggest that it could have been as late as mid-October.
Those files indicate that no work was done on the project until the “Preliminary Draft Environmental Assessment” suddenly popped up (at Keppeler’s request — although no record of his communication with the contractor appears in the files).
In fact, the completed contract was not sent to Mink & Yuen until October 18, 1994 — the day before the Water Commission meeting. A covering letter from DOWALD chief engineer Manabu Tagomori authorizes Mink & Yuen to proceed with the work.
Volume 5, Number 5 November 1994
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