A draft plan by the state Department of Health is raising a stink among local real estate agents and builders who say proposed rules requiring that septic tank systems replace cesspools could add $10,000 to the price of a new home and make buying and selling existing homes less affordable.
A draft plan by the state Department of Health is raising a stink among local real estate agents and builders who say proposed rules requiring that septic tank systems replace cesspools could add $10,000 to the price of a new home and make buying and selling existing homes less affordable.
The proposed rules are just part of a 115-page draft water quality plan that also includes new water quality monitoring initiatives, reducing unpermitted underground injection wells, prioritizing impaired watersheds for restoration and completing guidelines for treatment and reuse of recycled water.
A cesspool is an underground container that discharges raw, untreated domestic waste directly into the ground “where it can spread and contaminate ground water, drinking water sources, streams, and the ocean by releasing disease-causing pathogens,” the report states.
A septic tank system, on the other hand, allows solids to settle in a tank where anaerobic organisms slowly digest organic solids and allow liquids to flow into a shallow absorption bed. The two types of systems are used in rural areas where there is no centralized waste collection system such as a municipal sewer system.
The 115-page plan can be viewed at health.hawaii.gov/water/files/2014/09/2014-DOH-DRAFT-Water-Quality-Plan.pdf.
The plan will be presented during a public hearing scheduled for 1 p.m. Tuesday in Honolulu, with videoconference setups on neighbor islands. For Hawaii Island, the meeting will be videoconferenced at Hilo Environmental Health Facility Training Room, 1582 Kamehameha Ave.
The public can also comment in writing by emailing comments by Oct. 17 to wqpcomments@doh.hawaii.gov.
Hilo real estate broker Bob Williams is among those with concerns.
“It’s got huge implications for those trying to build lower income housing,” Williams said.
Williams said proposed requirements will not only require septic systems in smaller subdivisions that are currently exempt, but will also require existing cesspools be replaced with septic systems shortly after a property is transferred through sale or other means.
“One of the things the government is always preaching is we need more affordable housing, and then they do something like this,” Williams said.
Health Department Deputy Director Gary Gill emphasized that the purpose of publishing the draft rules and holding the public hearing is to understand and address concerns expressed by the public. But he said the rule requiring the upgrade to septic systems upon the sale of a home is intended to ease the transition.
“It was specifically crafted to minimize the impact on the property owner with a grandfathered cesspool,” Gill said. “On the other hand, if a date certain was set … it would be a greater economic impact.”
Hawaii is the only state in the nation that still allows construction of new cesspools. There are currently 90,000 cesspools in the state. The majority, some 50,000, are located on the Big Island. In addition, almost 14,000 are on Kauai, more than 12,000 are on Maui, more than 11,000 are on Oahu and more than 1,400 are on Molokai. Each year an additional 800 new cesspools are approved for construction, according to the Health Department.
The department says the northeast coast and west coast of Hawaii Island from Hualalai to south of Captain Cook have elevated risk of harm to coastal waters and drinking water. Hilo has high concentrations of on-site disposal systems.
The Keaau/Mountain View District has an even higher concentration of on-site disposal systems — 50 percent higher than the level the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency considers “high density,” the report states.
The department says it found a “troubling rate” of human waste bacteria detection (fecal coliform) in 12 percent of the 57 drinking water well samples collected in Hawaii Paradise Park. Pahoa, Kapoho, Pahala, Naalehu, Hawaiian Ocean View Estates and Waimea are also areas of elevated risk.
Hawaii County has been working to decommission large-capacity cesspools using American Reconstruction and Recovery Act funds. The county is replacing them with sewer lines in the town of Honokaa. The county requested and received Wellhead Protection Financial Assistance Program grant funds to provide grants to those lot owners within the Wellhead Protection Area to connect to the sewer project.
“This partnership between the county and the Safe Drinking Water Branch served to protect public health and provide assistance to various lot owners,” the Health Department said in the report.
Email Nancy Cook Lauer at ncook-lauer@westhawaiitoday.com.