A federal agency is closely scrutinizing the deteriorating wastewater infrastructure on the Big Island.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and Hawaii County have drafted an agreement detailing a series of improvements the county must make to its wastewater systems by 2035, or face penalties.
The agreement — officially called an “Administrative Order On Consent Agreement” — cites a litany of deficiencies and violations within the county’s wastewater infrastructure and related systems between 2017 and 2022, and concludes that the Hilo, Papaikou and Kula‘imano sewage treatment plants are not operating within EPA-approved standards.
In particular, the agreement highlights a series of mechanical failures across all three treatment plants, and lists multiple instances of the Hilo and Kula‘imano plants discharging sewage into the ocean.
“Inspectors have determined that (Hawaii County) is not operating and maintaining its sewer collections systems to prevent sewage spills,” reads a portion of the agreement. “(The county) also has not sufficiently assessed the condition of its sewer systems and does not have a program in place to systematically repair, rehabilitate or replace its aging force mains prior to failure.”
Ramzi Mansour, director of the county Department of Environmental Management, was frank about the agreement, saying the county has “a history of violations over the last 10 years or so.”
Mansour, who was appointed to his position in 2020, said the county and the EPA have negotiated the agreement over the course of the last year, and that DEM’s current plans to renovate its wastewater facilities — construction of a multimillion-dollar project to improve the Hilo plant is expected to begin later this year and take more than seven years to complete — are steps toward fulfilling the county’s obligations under the agreement.
The agreement lays out a series of actions the county must take by certain dates. By the end of September, the county must put a construction proposal for the Hilo plant out to bid, and the project must be completed and operable by July 2035.
Similar start and end dates are mandated for the other two plants: a Kula‘imano rehabilitation project must go out to bid by Oct. 30, 2026, and be completed by July 2030, while the Papaikou plant should be out to bid by March 2028 and be completed by July 2031.
The agreement also lists start and end dates for improvements at the Kealakehe Wastewater Treatment Plant (out to bid by Sept. 2025, completion by July 2029), but that plant largely is absent from the EPA’s list of violations.
Additional steps also are required. Most pressingly, the county must develop a priority-ranked list of wastewater infrastructure in need of repair by the end of July, with a final ranking by the end of 2026. A county integrated wastewater master plan must be completed by the end of January 2027, and a wastewater sewer service expansion program must be developed by the end of 2026.
Should the county fail to comply with any of the terms of the order, Mansour said, the EPA could levy fines or take the county to court.
Despite the severity of the agreement’s tone, Mansour suggested it is a positive development and a good step toward fixing the county’s wastewater woes.
“We’ve narrowed what we have to do down to measurable goals,” Mansour said. “They’ve given us lots of details for what we have to do.”
Kohala Councilwoman Cindy Evans today will introduce — at Mansour’s request — a resolution authorizing the mayor to sign the agreement, although Mansour suggested it is highly unlikely the agreement will be rejected after such a long negotiation period.
The resolution will be discussed by the County Council Committee on Governmental Relations and External Affairs, which will meet at 1 p.m.
Evans did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
