State orders Pearl City junkyard shutdown as violations mount

HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) – Hawaii News Now has learned the state Department of Health has ordered a junkyard next to Waiawa Stream to shut down. There are multiple city violations, but operations are still going on.

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Hawaii News Now first showed the massive operation on a 2.6-acre property on Lehua Avenue in Pearl City, with refrigerators, cars, metal and trash next to the stream.

“They run heavy equipment seven days a week, sometimes into the evening,” said Andre Perez, a longtime Waiawa resident.

The operation is sending plumes of brown dust into the air and neighbors say it’s blowing into their homes.

“My eyes have been burning, itchy, and red for weeks now, and I never had that problem before,” Perez said.

In February, the Department of Health sent a letter to the property owner, JH Hawaii Property, and operator, “requiring ABC Towing and Parts LLC to cease recycling and salvage activities and initiate closure. The facility is not currently permitted to accept solid waste.”

“We’re hoping that the Department of Health and other agencies are able to see that this is probably the largest illegal landfill on the whole island and we’re hoping that they shut it down immediately,” Perez said.

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“We can’t breathe this for another eight months,” he added.

The company’s solid waste management permit expired in October 2025. The company is facing a $55,000 fine from last year for releasing debris into Waiawa Stream, a violation of water pollution laws.

The health department says after multiple attempts to inspect the site, DOH obtained access and inspected the site on Tuesday.

David Minkin, an attorney representing ABC Parts and Towing, told Hawaii News Now they have been working with regulators on the fines and have been trying to get appropriate permitting and zoning modifications for the site, which has been a recycling and salvage operation for 50 years.

The city permitting department also has three violation notices against the company, including an “unpermitted junkyard” citation, with accruing fines of more than $49,000.

“Where was the state regulatory agencies to manage this?” Perez asked.

“They allowed this to blow out of control, and now the community is paying the price, and we’re paying the price with our health,” he said.

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