A group of Maui residents who live near the Pulelehua affordable housing project in West Maui is suing the Texas developer for allegedly failing to control fugitive dust at the construction site that the neighbors say is making their lives miserable and threatening their health.

The plaintiffs allege in a 12-page complaint filed in Maui Second Circuit Court on Dec. 29  that earthmoving activity at Pulelehua that started last May has created “a constant flow of red dirt and dust” that has “deluged” their homes, permeating every nook and cranny.

Trying to keep up with cleaning is like having “a third job,” said plaintiff Chyan LaPlant.

“It’s a constant battle. We wipe our counters down at night and the next day, come home from work, and it’s like living with your windows open. It’s like the equivalent of not dusting your house for a year,” said LaPlant, who rents a place in the Mahinahina subdivision next door to Pulelehua.

Pulelehua is a 304-acre parcel between the Kapalua Airport and Honoapiilani Highway owned by Texas-based real estate developer Paul Sau-Ki Cheng.

Cheng is named as a defendant in the lawsuit, along with his real estate development company Maui Oceanview LP and the construction company preparing the site, Alpha Inc., also known as Alpha Excavation.

Neither Cheng nor an attorney who represents him responded to a request for comment. A phone message left with Alpha Inc. was not returned.

Cheng has asked Maui County for a $50 million subsidy to develop affordable housing at the site. That’s in addition to an $18 million county subsidy he’s already received for phase one of the project.

Cheng told Civil Beat for an earlier story that the average affordable residential unit on Maui costs well over $750,000 per unit to build. Because of the extraordinary cost, no affordable housing project makes normal economic sense on Maui without public subsidies.

Cheng, who spent several years in federal prison in the 1990s for financial crimes related to the savings and loan crisis, has appeared before the Maui County Council by video in his appeal for the funding.

After the Aug. 8 wildfire that killed 100 people in Lahaina and displaced thousands, Cheng reconfigured the project to 100% affordable units from an earlier version that had included some market-rate, for-sale homes. He also accelerated the timeline so that fire survivors could have a permanent place to live within five years.

Paul Starita, a partner with Singleton Schreiber law firm, with offices on Maui and in San Diego, is representing some of the 14 plaintiffs listed in the complaint, a number he expects to grow.

Starita said by phone that his clients have attempted unsucessfully to get the development and excavation companies to address to their concerns and mitigate the dust.

The developer could use taller dust screens, spray water to control dirt from being airborne, suspend excavation on high-wind days and adopt additional measures to harness the red dust. Many of the recommended measures are spelled out in a final environmental impact statement for the project that was published in 2005.

Plaintiffs say whatever dust-control measures that have been taken, if any, are insufficient.

Rather, white carpets turn red, solar panels get caked in dirt and stop functioning, and almost everything inside and outside neaby homes get coated in a layer of grit, Starita said.

“If you open your windows, the dust permeates everything,” Starita said. “If you’re on the opposite side of the prevailing wind, you just get hammered.”

Several clients have had difficulty breathing at times and have had existing medical conditions worsen, he said.

“It’s a nightmare,” said LaPlant.

The situation is lowering people’s property values, requiring them to make repairs and restorations, making it impossible to use and enjoy their homes and generally causing a nuisance.

The plaintiffs are asking for a court order to stop work on the property until proper dust control measures are taken. They also seek an unspecified amount of damages as well as attorney fees and court costs.

As of Friday, neither Cheng nor the excavation company had responded to the complaint. They have 20 days to do so starting with the day it was filed, Starita said.

Civil Beat’s coverage of Maui County is supported in part by grants from the Nuestro Futuro Foundation.

Read the lawsuit here: