A long-awaited, federally mandated wastewater treatment plant with sewer collection for Naalehu took a step forward with the publication Sunday of a draft environmental assessment.
The draft EA, which has an anticipated finding of no significant environmental impact, was prepared by the Honolulu consulting firm Wilson Okamoto Corp.
A legally required 30-day public review and comment period starts. Comments are due by Oct. 11.
The document is available at https://tinyurl.com/34yuex3f. Comments can be emailed to documentpubliccomment@wilsonokamoto.com.
In addition, the county Department of Environmental Management has scheduled a meeting at 6 p.m. Oct. 10 at the Naalehu Community Center to present the project and receive public feedback. The meeting can also be attended via Zoom. For more information, go to https://bit.ly/3AYQ594.
“This is not going to be a cheap project. It’s going to be hundreds of millions of dollars for both of these communities. But it’s going to be a permanent solution,” DEM Deputy Director Brenda Iokepa-Moses told a small audience at a community meeting Aug. 22 in Naalehu.
An administrative order of consent between the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the county calls for it to replace seven large-capacity cesspools, also known as “LCCs” or “gang cesspools” — four in Pahala and three in Naalehu. Those gang cesspools were installed by the former C. Brewer &Co., parent company of the former Ka‘u Sugar.
“The project will improve the longevity of the sewer systems in these communities as well as assure compliance with the EPA mandated conversion of LCCs,” the draft EA states.
The agreement calls for approximately 272 properties still served by the gang cesspools in both communities to be connected to new county wastewater treatment facilities. An additional 95 properties not currently served by the cesspools also would receive access to the new wastewater treatment facilities.
“Pahala is almost a year ahead of Naalehu,” Iokepa-Moses, who is a Pahala resident, said at the August meeting.
In fact, the Pahala project has completed its environmental review process, with the final EA submitted to the EPA and pending the federal agency’s approval.
According to Iokepa-Moses, the design process is 30% complete for Pahala and has been initiated for Naalehu.
The Pahala sewage collection system advertised for bids on May 30.
“The county has to go through a condemnation process for the land acquisition, Iokepa-Moses told residents. “We’re further along in that land acquisition with Pahala because we’re in front, but we’re working with the landowner for the other acquisition.
“I think going through that process with Pahala, we’ll have some lessons learned when we come to Naalehu, so hopefully, it will be … smoother when we’re here in Naalehu.”
The closures of the gang cesspools, part of the consent order, must be done in Pahala by Jan. 22, 2027, and in Naalehu by Dec. 31, 2027.
Iokepa-Moses told the August meeting the county has secured $10 million in Clean Water State Revolving Fund grant money from EPA.
“We’ve been relentlessly trying for grants because this community is a disadvantaged community,” she said. “… There is some loan forgiveness because our community is considered a disadvantaged community. … We also had to go for bonds, because in this administration, we could not allow deferred maintenance.
“In prior administrations, they just didn’t have the money, so they deferred. … We have to address this, as it’s under EPA.
“It should have been done a long time ago.”
Email John Burnett at jburnett@hawaiitribune-herald.com.