GETTING TO THE ROOT
OF THE SEWAGE PROBLEM
DENNIS ODA / DODA@STARBULLETIN.COM
Work continued yesterday on a broken sewer line at Sand Island State Recreation Area. Equipment operator Doug Howard was at the business end of a process that drilled holes into the ground and then filled them with cement to create a hard barrier against encroaching seawater.
City officials face sharp criticism
for not doing enough to thwart
the sewage spills
So far this year, the city has reported 19 sewer leaks of 1,000 gallons or more to the state Department of Health -- more leaks in two-and-a-half months than in any one of the past five years.
It's a statistic that has federal and state health officials concerned and critics of the city administration alleging that the city is doing too little, too late to fix aging pipes.
"I think it's worrisome," said Alexis Strauss, the Environmental Protection Agency regional water division director. "I think we have to look at the trend (over the past five years) in terms of trying to solve the problem."
The state Health Department and EPA will confer over the city's recent spill history over the coming week, Strauss said.
But Frank Doyle, the city's director of Environmental Services, said all city sewer facilities can handle a "two-year, six-hour storm."
"In most of the places where we had a problem (during recent heavy rains) we know what the problem is" and have it scheduled for repairs, Doyle said.
The city is under a 1995 Environmental Protection Agency consent decree to improve its sewer system. The task is estimated to cost $1 billion, including $348 million of ongoing improvements at the Sand Island Wastewater Treatment Plant, which handles about 64 percent of all city sewage.
State and federal agencies have the ability to fine the city for violating its consent decree to improve the sewer system, which includes orders to reduce spills -- the state can issue fines up to $25,000 per incident and the EPA to $27,500 per incident.
Councilwoman Barbara Marshall said she hopes that any money the city spends goes to actual repairs, rather than fines.
Marshall said she believes the city Department of Environmental Services "is well aware of what needs to be done and is working on getting it done. But the work should have been started 20 years ago."
"I think it's finally soaking in that they've got to fix the sewers," Marshall said. "I'm told we're going as fast as we can."
In 2002 the volume of city raw sewage spills of over 1,000 gallons from city lines was 3.9 million gallons, up from just 62,725 gallons in 2001, according to state records.
In 2003, the reported city spills over 1,000 gallons totaled 7.8 million gallons.
Libby Stoddard, a state Department of Health clean water engineer, said both the number of spills in recent years and the total volume of sewage are of concern.
Despite warnings since 1995, including four administrative orders that cited various violations, neither the state nor the EPA has fined the city. Stoddard and Strauss wouldn't speculate on whether recent incidents will change that.
Of 2.4 million gallons of raw sewage spilled from the city system this year, 2 million gallons surged into Mamala Bay during a three-hour break on Sand Island March 4.
Other major spills from city pipes or facilities this year include:
>> Jan. 2: 85,000 gallons at Waimanalo Wastewater Treatment Plant; 12,600 gallons at Kuliouou, Maunalua Bay; 105,000 gallons at the Sand Island Wastewater Treatment Plant; 194,000 gallons into Honolulu Harbor.
>> Feb. 26-27: 57,000 gallons to Kaelepulu Stream and Kailua Bay; 10,875 gallons to Pearl Harbor; 47,250 gallons at Sand Island treatment plant.The spills resulted in contamination warnings being posted at spill areas for five to 13 days. Only the Sand Island site remains posted because of ongoing repair work that could release more sewage.
"It looks like we're on track for a record year," said Jeff Mikulina, director of the state Sierra Club.
"It seems like this mess has been caused by a combination of bad luck, bad timing and bad management on the city's part," Mikulina said. "They've put off needed upgrades, clearly."
DENNIS ODA / DODA@STARBULLETIN.COM
At Sand Island State Recreation Area, Vee Rohr and Patrick Himalaya prepared a pipe yesterday that will suck up the waste created from "jet grouting," a process that involves pumping cement into holes drilled into the ground. The cement mixes with the substrate, creating a long hard column that keeps water from seeping around the repair site. The area they were standing on can then be excavated and the pipes fixed.
Honolulu City Council Budget Committee Chairwoman Ann Kobayashi said yesterday: "Not enough is done each year to maintain or upgrade the sewer system. I believe that this is why all this is happening. All of this is catching up with them."
Kobayashi has accused Mayor Jeremy Harris of "raiding" the sewer fund of more than $100 million in recent years. She said she thinks people would rather have their sewers maintained than "glamour projects" such as median strips or community signs.
The inadequate sewer system has put a moratorium on development in Moiliili for a decade and it hurts tourism when beaches are closed, Kobayashi said.
"Who wants to swim in sewage?" she asked.
But Doyle said the city is making progress on fixing the sewer system.
He said the huge sewer line that broke on Sand Island would have been checked as part of upgrades of the Ala Moana Pump Station scheduled to begin in October.
Work underway now on Kalaheo Street in Kailua, when completed, will greatly reduce spills, Doyle said. Additional work scheduled in the next couple of years for other Kailua streets, including Wanaao Road and Keolu Drive, would help further, he said.
While those projects "won't start tomorrow," because of the recent spills the city will look at starting them sooner than planned, Doyle said.
"Closing Kailua Bay is unacceptable. Having sewage back up in somebody's house in unacceptable," Doyle said.
