The Hawaii Community Correctional Center might be the cause of a sewer main clog that unleashed up to 41,000 gallons of untreated sewage into the Wailuku River and Hilo Bay on Monday. ADVERTISING The Hawaii Community Correctional Center might be
The Hawaii Community Correctional Center might be the cause of a sewer main clog that unleashed up to 41,000 gallons of untreated sewage into the Wailuku River and Hilo Bay on Monday.
“Blockage is attributed to rags and other debris discharged into the sewer system,” says a county Wastewater Spill Report. “Due to the type of debris (towels, large rags, plastic bags, etc.) it is suspected that the debris may have originated from the Hilo jail … .”
A jail worker said he was unaware of the concern and planned to report it.
Beach parks remained closed Tuesday around Hilo Bay, but some will reopen today. The area running from the mouth of the Wailuku River east to the Kamehameha Canoe Club shed area remains closed to water activities until the state Department of Health rules the water quality is completely safe.
Signage will continue to be posted for the time being.
Test results released late Tuesday showed the water safe enough to use in the area encompassing the Hilo harbor and all of Banyan Drive, including Coconut Island. Signage in those areas was being removed Tuesday afternoon.
Sunny weather is helping mediate the contamination. Sunlight helps break down the bacteria, said county Department of Environmental Management Director Bill Kucharski.
Water testing will continue daily along Hilo Bayfront to Wailuku River until all the water is judged safe.
Parking spots near Liliuokalani Park and Gardens, where a dozen or so people usually can be found fishing most days, were blocked with tape and cones Tuesday and no one was fishing.
The DOH warned that “exposure to water contaminated by sewage increases the risk for bacterial and viral infections.”
County and state officials continued Tuesday to urge people to avoid water activities in Hilo Bay from the bayfront area to the Wailuku River.
According to Hawaii County Civil Defense, Honolii Beach, a prime surfing venue, is outside the area of potential contamination. It’s thought the spilled sewage is heading in the opposite direction from Honolii.
But Kucharski said Tuesday he urges caution even at Honolii.
Liz Pullen, a retired registered nurse from Hawaiian Paradise Park, knows enough about infectious ailments to stay out of Hilo Bay waters until tests show they’re safe.
Pullen and a friend planned to set up painting easels Tuesday at the Wailuku River but changed their minds after learning about the sewage spill.
“We said, ‘Uh-uh, there might be too many Tootsie Rolls in there,’” Pullen said.
They decided instead to paint next to where the Wailoa River enters Hilo Bay, relatively removed from the site of contamination.
Officials said a blockage in a 10-inch main caused sewage to flow into a manhole Monday. The manhole had a 4-inch abandoned lateral line workers didn’t know was there. The lateral line has since been capped at one end and there are plans to seal the other.
Sewage poured from the sewer line at the corner of Waianuenue Avenue and Laimana Street near Hilo High School rather than going to the water treatment plant.
Kucharski said the blockage included plastic bags, towels, shirts, a 12-inch chisel, rags, cloth and candy wrappers — “things that you would not normally associate with flushable materials” or “normally find in a sewer line.”
He declined to speculate about whether the blockage was purposely caused.
A 10-inch main sewage line isn’t giant in scale. But it’s big enough, Kucharski said, “that we shouldn’t have that problem.”
Kucharski said anyone who has accidentally dropped a baby’s diaper in the toilet knows you have to take care of the problem right away, otherwise serious plumbing problems can happen.
“It’s absolutely beyond my comprehension,” Kucharski said, “as to what would have caused such materials to end up in the sewer system.”
The sewage treatment plant has a grate to catch large items and, sometimes, “strange things” are found there, Kucharski said.
But in terms of the clog of a 10-inch sewer main, “I’m really at a loss to describe how this could happen,” he said.
Hooked up to the sewer line that overflowed are Hilo Medical Center, the high school, HCCC and private homes.
The county did extra inspections to make sure no further leaks would occur. During that process, another area of clogged material was found Tuesday and cleared away.
Pullen said a county worker showed up Tuesday morning at Wailoa River and took water samples using a long pole.
Kucharski said there are 11 “sample points” around Hilo Bay where water samples are being taken daily just a short distance from shore. The sample points include at the mouth of the Wailuku, north of the river, at Coconut Island and in the harbor.
A woman was fishing near Pullen on Tuesday, but didn’t catch anything.
“If she caught something, I was going to go talk to her,” Pullen said.
“For the most part, people are adhering to the signage,” said Kanani Aton, public information specialist with county Civil Defense. She said one group of fishermen continued to fish, even after learning about the sewage spill — but most packed up their gear.
Commercial fisherman Theodore Deponte of Mountain View didn’t fish.
Instead, he used the opportunity to take his boat on a test run Tuesday morning in Hilo Bay after making some repairs. All went well after some adjustments to a fuel line.
“I care about every kind of rubbish in the water,” he said after securing his boat along Wailoa River, on the other side of Hilo Bay from where the sewage spill happened.
The bay looked no different from most days, Deponte noted.
“I didn’t see much at all,” he said.
Kucharski emphasized that 41,000 gallons is a lot. But the entirety of Hilo Bay, he said, contains “millions” of gallons of water.
“The county has exercised, really, an abundance of caution with this,” he said.
Email Jeff Hansel at jhansel@hawaiitribune-herald.com.
