The Pacific Resource Partnership, a construction union advocacy group, is adding allegations of mold contamination and undocumented workers to its list of building irregularities at the $25 million Maile Sky Court renovation project in Waikiki.

The state Department of Health and the city Department of Planning and Permitting confirmed Tuesday that they have opened investigations at the Maile Sky Court in response to a complaint letter Monday from PRP detailing possible mold at the property.

Per policy, the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement would not confirm or deny the existence of an illegal immigration investigation. However, PRP said at a Tuesday news conference that it had received reports that undocumented construction workers from across the U.S., Mexico and Guatemala had been working at the job site for at least the past six months.

“There are large-scale health and public safety issues that have arisen at this project,” said Kyle Chock, assistant executive secretary-treasurer of the Hawaii Regional Council of Carpenters, which is represented by PRP. “As we started to peel off the layers of the onion at Maile Sky Court, what we found there was strongly disturbing.”

Chock said PRP’s complaints stem from tips from construction workers at the property, which was purchased by California-based Clearview Hotel Capital LLC for $76 million in 2015. The company previously announced that its ownership plans included a comprehensive renovation followed by the repositioning of the hotel into a Holiday Inn Express.

Chock said Clearview’s construction team includes Selby Construction Services, TRG Construction and Texas-based R&R Construction Services. The Honolulu Star-Advertiser could not reach those companies Tuesday.

PRP alleges that R&R Construction Services is not licensed in Hawaii and that the company basically employed “Spanish-speaking workers, who worked seven days a week, 10 hours a day,” Chock said.

There is no current listing for R&R Construction on the Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs’ business registration website.

“That’s a lot of hours even in this heated construction environment,” he said. “Workers get tired, can’t concentrate, don’t work safely and accidents happen.”

Despite the hours, Chock said, some workers were allegedly paid as little as $100 to $180 a day, when the going rate for union construction workers is $55.65 an hour plus benefits. Chock said some workers were allegedly housed in hotel rooms, up to six to a room. Others allegedly had problems cashing paychecks or received checks that were shorted to pay for Hawaii airfare.

Chock said it was PRP’s opinion that the construction site was not properly sealed and that workers were not provided with mold-removal training or personal protective gear. Some construction crew members allegedly reported experiencing difficulty breathing, coughing, throat irritation and migraines while working at the operational condominium hotel, he said.

Chock said PRP obtained multiple drywall and insulation samples from inside the project and sent them to Hawaii Analytical Laboratory for asbestos and mold tests. He said several reports identified Stachybotrys and Aspergillus spore volume within the drywall samples on multiple hotel floors.

Workers also opined that room renovation maintained sections of existing materials and that walls were not fully insulated after removal, which could create hotel fire hazards, Chock said. PRP also alleges that containment measures have not been taken to ensure worker, hotel employee and public safety, he said.

The new accusations come on the heels of a Monday raid by state and federal investigators who were responding to reports of construction irregularities. Investigators from the state Department of Labor and Industrial Relations entered the construction management office and work areas Monday with investigators from the U.S. Department of Labor Wage and Hour Division and the state Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs’ Regulated Industry Complaints Office. Bill Kunstman, DLIR spokesman, said the agencies were examining allegations that the firms possibly misclassified construction employees as independent contractors and conducted work off the books. They also were checking whether the construction companies had licenses to operate in Hawaii, were paying taxes and were complying with federal minimum wage and overtime requirements.

“The situation at Maile Sky Court, should the allegations be true, is of serious concern,” Honolulu Mayor Kirk Caldwell said. “Health and workplace hazards that are in violation of the laws are unacceptable in Waikiki and everywhere in Honolulu. Steps should be taken to address those hazards immediately for the safety of the workers and guests.”

Theresa van Greunen, director of public relations and promotions for Aqua-Aston Hospitality, said that to the best of the company’s knowledge, the mold allegations are unfounded.

“We have had no reports from our guests or employees about mold at the property,” van Greunen said. “The hotel remains open and the project continues. As hotel manager, Aqua-Aston Hospitality has no involvement in the construction project at Maile Sky Court.”

Lee Grossbard, chief operating officer of Clearview Hotel Capital, hung up on the Star-Advertiser on Tuesday.

“I’m tired of this. This is just the union guys screwing around,” Grossbard said.

But Chock said PRP was not, and isn’t interested in, organizing construction workers at Maile Sky Court, who would have to go through a card-check process first. PRP is committed to partnering with government officials, developers, businesses, workers and the public to enforce compliance and punish unscrupulous operators, he said.

Chock said this latest labor investigation follows last year’s Ala Moana Center investigation. Several Ala Moana Center contractors were fined thousands of dollars at the spring conclusion of a state investigation that found them guilty of widespread violations of labor laws and requirements.

PRP said the case bears resemblance to a 2007 sting at the luxury condominium Pinnacle, where illegal immigrants were arrested at the construction job. In 2008, 23 suspected illegal immigrants also were arrested while working at the Honua Kai construction site in Kaanapali, Maui.

But if guilty, Maile Sky Court employers could face much stiffer penalties than those employers because findings would fall under new state guidelines established by the passage of Act 187, which took effect July 1. The new rules raised temporary disability insurance penalties from not less than $25, or $1 per employee per day, to not less than $500, or $100 per employee per day; and increased workers’ compensation penalties from not less than $250, or $10 per employee per day, to not less than $500, or $100 per employee per day.

Kathryn Xian, executive director of the Pacific Alliance to Stop Slavery, urged state and federal agencies to conduct a thorough investigation into Maile Sky Court construction conditions. Xian said labor trafficking in Hawaii must be taken seriously, as it comes with significant harm to the workers and to the state’s economy and quality of life.

“You’ll hear comments like they would get paid way less if they stayed in their home county where they live in poverty,” Xian said. “These are really lame excuses for exploitation, racism, sexism. Labor trafficking victims often work in very dangerous conditions where exposure to mold and chemicals is common. We’ve had clients that have died from pesticide exposure. They also are taking viable jobs from the local workforce at a time when we have the highest rate of homelessness per capita.”