2019-09-25 Meeting Minutes (EMC)

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Kucharski to speak to this at the next meeting. The concern is that a two-year delay is going to add tremendous cost to the project, and it may also cool the interest of people who have expressed interest in using the reclaimed water. Chair Bennett jumped to agenda item 6 so that the meeting could end with the presentations scheduled under agenda item 5b. 6. REPORTS/CORRESPONDENCE a. Chair’s Informational Report on the status of commercial sewage injection wells in Kailua-Kona and the relationship to sewer service connections. Chair Bennett said the Department of Health operates the Underground Injection Control (UIC) program by extension of federal law which has states manage underground injection wells. Some states inject very nasty material deeply into the ground, well under drinking water aquifers. However, the geology of Hawaiʻi has perched groundwater that floats on marine water which infiltrates nooks and crannies. As a result, the only thing allowed to be injected is Class V material, which is storm water runoff. Chair Bennett explained the different types of wells that exist and what they are used for. Most injection wells are not disinfected and contain pharmaceuticals and personal care products. The good news is that on the stretch of coast from Kealakehe to Keauhou, the hotels which used to use injection wells are now on sewer, except for one. In the area south of Queen Kalama, there is a large condo that is still operating a sewage injection well, and people are looking at how to get it sewered. The balance of the sewer injection wells are north of the airport and serve the resorts. It is difficult to get information on the wells from the UIC program, as most of the data is still in hard copy format, but there is some information available. The program basically only has one person working on getting agencies to comply with federal regulations on the management of underground injection wells. He will be trying to get more data to further report on this. b. Director’s Informational Report. The Director’s Informational Report has been deferred to the October 23, 2019, meeting. 5. NEW BUSINESS b. Presentations by Bradley Romine, Ph.D., of the University of Hawaiʻi Sea Grant College Program, on the rise in sea level, and by Bethany Morrison, of the County Planning Department, on the County’s long range policy efforts to implement sea level rise adaptation.