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Sewage spill blamed
on kitchen grease
City officials advise holiday chefs
to avoid pouring fat in the sink
The city will ask residents this holiday season not to pour fat, oil and grease down kitchen drains -- actions that sometimes cause sewage spills like one Sunday night in Kalihi.
Accumulated grease clogged a sewer line and caused 2,000 gallons of untreated sewage to overflow from a manhole behind Kuhio Park Terrace and run into Kalihi Stream about 9:15 p.m. Sunday.
The clogged sewage line serves a high-density or high-rise residential area, so officials suspect grease dumping by residents, said James Bagenski, acting city chief of collection system maintenance with the Department of Environmental Services.
City crews arrived at 9:15 p.m. at the site on state property next to 1506 Amelia St. and stopped the spill by 11:30 p.m. Crews cleaned and disinfected the spill site.
Warning signs were posted along Kalihi Stream and Keehi Lagoon, into which the stream discharges.
The state Department of Health is testing the affected waters for contamination and could have the results by this afternoon.
Grease accounts for a fourth to a third of all sewage spills, Bagenski said.
The Kalihi spill emphasizes the need for residents to use caution.
"Don't wash grease down the drain," Bagenski said. "Use paper towels to dry-wipe grease."
City officials plan to remind residents not to pour grease down the drain when cooking a holiday turkey, roast or ham.
The city encourages the use of absorbent material such as newspapers, paper towels and sawdust to absorb fat.
The city discourages use of plastic jugs or glass jars, which can be crushed during garbage pickup and leak on city streets. Bagenski said it is an old practice that needs to be changed, and freezing the fat to solidify it will not prevent it from melting and liquefying later.
Oil-change boxes can be used to absorb large amounts of oil, such as when disposing of oil used to deep-fry turkeys.
The city also discourages use of putting any solid foods into the garbage disposal to grind up food because this taxes the city's sewage system, causing more cost to process.
Bagenski urges people to use the drain for nongreasy liquids and to throw solid wastes into the trash.
