2020-01-22 Meeting Minutes - Laserfiche WebLink

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matters are the purview of the DOH’s Wastewater Branch, and the county has no say about what is approved. Director Kucharski said the county can be stricter than the DOH, but not more lenient. Chair Bennett said the state’s Cesspool Working Group has been meeting for over a year and has a subgroup looking at alternatives to cesspits. It does not appear a priority alternative has been proposed yet. Director Kucharski said there are already approved systems that are better than cesspits. The subgroup is looking at other available technologies that have not yet been adopted. Chair Bennett said that by and large, the issue is outside the purviews of the EMC and county. If a viable alternative is identified, the EMC can inform the Council about it but not advocate for it, as it would not be a function of DEM. This balkanization of authority hampers the EMC, but commissioners can advise the Council on their own volition as individuals. d. Continued discussion on the costs and financing of the Kealakehe Wastewater Treatment Plant R-1 upgrade. This is to include the financing costs, breakdown of the component cost, including but not limited to the UV system, the treatment wetlands, the nutrient removal beds (aka SAT ponds), and the irrigation system. Chair Bennett asked Director Kucharski if he was prepared to address this, and Director Kucharski said he could do so but not specifically as it is written on the agenda. As far as funding, DEM is in the process of getting grant funds from the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation. A feasibility study and EIS are needed before funds can be granted to start construction. The R-1 system is at 90-95% design completion, but they have been hit hard by SRF rule changes. A contract cannot be done until there is a promise of SRF funds or the county comes in with bond money. All the money needs to be guaranteed before a contract can be issued. Previously the county did not have to tap into bonds, but now they do. He cannot move forward, because the R-1 program’s estimated budget could exceed the bonding capacity of the county. All the extraneous items have been separated out from the basic R-1 treatment system. If they look at the wetlands and SAT, it would be another $50-60 million for something the county may never use. A disposal system is also necessary, but it is not known whether an NPDES permit will be required due to the Maui injection well lawsuit. If the NPDES permit is required, there will be potentially greater costs due to new treatment and discharge standards. For these reasons, the project is on hold. There are very serious financing issues, and he cannot give them the costs because what is going to be done is unknown. Chair Bennett said he has researched the project extensively. In 1991 the EPA funded the Kealakehe WWTP and a water irrigation recycling program. For reasons that are obscure and ludicrous, the recycling component did not happen. He has a letter from the DPW director at the time, informing the county that if the irrigation component was not built, the EPA would want the money back. He filed a complaint with the EPA’s inspector general, asking why the money was never accounted for, and the EPA basically responded that it was too small of an amount to worry about.