City sues EPA over waste-water records

The city filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency this week, alleging it is withholding documents relating to a pending approval the city is seeking for its waste-water treatment plants.

According to the lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court, the city had for more than a year been seeking EPA documents that it says are crucial to support its stance that the waste-water plants do not need secondary treatment.

Eric Takamura, city Environmental Services director, said in a statement, "EPA has indicated that the final decisions regarding both of our treatment plan waivers is imminent. It is hoped that these documents will help the city to understand, and respond to, the EPA's decision on our ... waivers."

The city is in the middle of a drawn-out process with the EPA, which has tentatively refused to grant an exemption that would allow the city to continue operating its two waste-water treatment plants without upgrading to secondary treatment.

Beginning last year, the city said it submitted requests using the Freedom of Information Act for the EPA to disclose documents from 1988 that showed the EPA supporting the operation of the city's waste-water treatment plants without secondary treatment.

The EPA had disclosed some documents and withheld others, saying they are not public record because of attorney-client privileges. Dean Higuchi, EPA spokesman in Honolulu, declined to comment since it is a pending lawsuit, saying only that "the city was provided records with both of the complete administrative records."

The city contends that secondary treatment is unnecessary since it is not harming the environment, and upgrades would cost taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars.

The EPA says the city has violated the federal Clean Water Act and is behind a majority of the nation's waste-water treatment plants that have already upgraded to include secondary treatment.