Hawaii County is planning to provide wastewater treatment services to Puna residents, according to an environmental impact statement preparation notice published Sept. 23 by the state’s Office of Planning and Sustainable Development.
According to the document, the proposed project “would provide efficient, technologically advanced, and resilient wastewater collection, treatment and disposal infrastructure and services, primarily to town and village centers” designated in the Puna Community Development Plan.
“The County of Hawaii currently does not provide wastewater collection and treatment facilities in the project area,” Kelly Hartman, environmental planning manager at the county Department of Environmental Management, said Thursday. “Most residents are served by individual sewerage systems including cesspools, septic tanks and household aerobic treatment units.”
The county on March 11 issued a notice to proceed with the project, with a projected completion date of Sept. 11, 2024. That, however, is only for a programmatic EIS outlining the planning phase and not the actual construction of facilities — which doesn’t yet have an established timeline.
A state law passed in 2017, however, requires that by Jan. 1, 2050, all cesspools in Hawaii be upgraded or converted to a septic or aerobic treatment unit, or that the source of the sewage be connected to a sewer system.
According to Hartman, there are about 16,000 cesspools on 15,400 properties within the project area that discharge about 8.5 million gallons of raw sewage effluent daily.
“Cesspools are a dated and substandard sewage disposal method, and their use presents a risk to human health and the environment,” she said.
Options for wastewater systems include a centralized wastewater treatment plant, decentralized package plants, pump stations, collection system and onsite systems. In addition, the county is considering the conveyance of wastewater from Keaau to the Hilo wastewater treatment plant.
“Cost analysis and plant capacity will be part of the feasibility criteria for this option,” Hartman said, referring to the wastewater pipeline, and added all options will “be studied for feasibility and cost.”
Dora Beck, the county’s Wastewater Division chief, said that if a sewer system is built in Puna, properties accessible to a sewer hookup will be required to connect. According to Beck, the county doesn’t currently charge a fee to connect to a sewer system but added a sewer connection fee “is being considered.”
It’s not the first time county sewer connection fees have been under consideration.
The county is under an Environmental Protection Agency consent order to close plantation-era gang cesspools in Naalehu and Pahala — which are in Ka‘u and not a part of the area covered by this EIS preparation notice.
The prior administration committed to the two large sewer treatment plants at an estimated cost of $130 million and agreed to pay hookup fees for those who are currently hooked up to the gang cesspool. Homeowners who are not connected to the cesspools where homes are within 300 feet of the new county sewer lines were told they’d be required to connect and pay for the sewer hookup, estimated at $400,000 per home — higher than the value of the properties.
In January 2021, current Department of Environmental Management Director Ramzi Mansour told the county Environmental Management Commission he is looking at more cost-effective alternatives, such as modular units that can be assembled on site and added to or subtracted from as the needs of the community change.
“My alternative hopefully will save millions and millions of dollars,” Mansour told commissioners at that time.
The EIS preparation notice document for Puna noted previous disasters that have impacted the district, and the U.S. Department of Commerce Economic Development Administration on Jan. 19, 2021 — the final full day of the Trump administration — announced a $2.25 million grant to the county for the planning of wastewater infrastructure development.
“The eruption of the Kilauea volcano and … Hurricane Lane severely impacted the Big Island in 2018,” then-Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross said at that time. “This investment will provide the resources Hawaii County needs to plan infrastructure that will attract business and create a stronger and more resilient economy for the future.”
The 30-day public comment period for the EIS preparation notice ends Oct. 24. The document is available, and comments can be made, at https://bit.ly/3SGxrGH.
A public scoping meeting to receive input, feedback and answer questions is scheduled for 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. Oct. 12 at the Keaau High School cafeteria.
Email John Burnett at jburnett@hawaiitribune-herald.com.