Laserfiche WebLink
• <br /> w. At Kula'imano WWTP on September 19-20,2021,an in-plant spill of approximately <br /> 6,240 gallons of untreated sewage occurred at the headworks due to a plugged grit <br /> screw and was contained on-site. <br /> • x. At Hilo WWTP on April 15,2020,approximately 3,403 gallons of waste activated <br /> • sludge was spilled to ground due to a disconnected flexible hose during maintenance <br /> activities and was contained on-site. <br /> y. At Kula'imano WWTP on December 28-29,2018,approximately 66,000 gallons of <br /> • secondary treated sewage discharged through the outfall to coastal waters fronting <br /> Pepeekeo town when a pump failure caused the disinfection treatment system to fail. <br /> z; At Kula'imano WWTP on November 27-28, 2017,approximately 94,666 gallons of <br /> primary treated sewage discharged through the outfall to coastal waters fronting <br /> Pepeekeo town when the aeration basin treatment system failed due to a power <br /> interruption. <br /> 23.Operations and Maintenance Affecting Health and Safety: From a review of the <br /> records provided by Respondent and observations made during inspections,inspectors have <br /> identified potential health and safety concerns due to failure to properly operate and maintain ' <br /> equipment.At Hilo WWTP,significant corrosion of the floating roof at the sludge digester tank <br /> prevents operator access due to unsafe conditions.At Hilo WWTP,lightning rod wiring at the <br /> top of the sludge digesters had corroded to the point where there was no connection to <br /> ground, in an area where there may be potential presence of methane in the digesters,which <br /> may create a hazardous condition.At the non-NPDES Kealakehe WWTP facility the EPA <br /> inspectors observed hypodermic needles in the primary lagoon due to inadequate influent <br /> screening,which pose a risk to operators. <br /> 24.Sewer Collection Systems Spills and Operations and Maintenance: Based on a review <br /> of the records provided by Respondent,including spill reports and observations made during <br /> inspections,inspectors have determined that Respondent is not operating and maintaining its <br /> sewer collections systems to prevent sewage spills.Respondent"also has not sufficiently <br /> assessed the condition of its sewer systems and does not have a program in place to <br /> systematically repair,rehabilitate,or replace its aging force mains prior to failure.Based on age, <br /> many force mains appear to be reaching their end of life and failure may result in significant <br /> spill volumes. Most force mains do not have back-up redundancy in case of failure.A review of <br /> sewage spills from the sewer collection systems since 2016 indicates that large spills have <br /> occurred primarily due to debris blockage,overflows at pump stations(especially during large <br /> storm events),ruptures in force mains, and corrosion. Inspectors have documented the <br /> following significant sewage spills(greater than 1000 gallons)from 2017 to December 1,2022, <br /> from the collection systems: • <br /> . a. On May 16,2021,approximately 67,800 gallons of sewage spilled from the gravity line <br /> along Hawaii Belt Road in.Papa'ikou, reaching Kapue Stream and ultimately reaching <br /> In re County of Hawai'i,Docket No. CWA-309(a)-24-003. Page 8 of 17 <br />