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order to meet that deadline. As far as the macadamia nut orchard is concerned, the reason why <br />we went to the drip system is to avoid hauling in and tearing down the ground and demolishing <br />these macadamia trees. These macadamia trees with their roots are going to be our disposal <br />field. As we dispose of the effluent, the effluent will be absorbed by the roots of these trees. It's <br />very beneficial to keep the trees for purposes of disposal so it doesn't percolate into the <br />ground. It will be taken up through the roots, and become a win -win situation for the whole <br />operation. And that's going to minimize the area of excavation and disturbance. We are looking <br />at an area of less than 2 acres for the mechanized system versus disturbing 14 acres and <br />excavating lava tubes, and chasing it who knows how deep. The idea is from an environmental <br />point of view we feel strongly that we are doing less impact and we are minimizing the <br />environmental impact from the proposed approach that we are going to take. The director said <br />the testifiers brought up good points, and these points are already being looked at and <br />considered from an operational and design point of view, and he is much appreciative of that. <br />Commenting on previous discussions, Director Mansour said that as Vice Chair Gaffney had <br />mentioned we are working on some challenges. The Director thanked Commissioner Fulton for <br />bringing up Kailua Bay groundwater issues. Keep us posted what you find out and hopefully <br />with the pretreatment programs that can restrict any industrial dischargers, it's going to put <br />more screws on how they can pretreat before they discharge. So that is going to help as we <br />move forward. As far as the chloride counts in our influent and effluent are concerned, they are <br />coming in at 500 mg/liter and leaving at 500 mg/liter, so no increase. Our sewer crew continues <br />to do the sliplining in the sewer pipes. He reorganized the Department to have a person <br />specially assigned for the dedication of the sewer collection for the whole island. That way they <br />pay more attention on the scheduling, cleaning, and televising of the entire system. Director <br />Mansour looked forward to answering questions from the Commission. The County of Maui <br />versus Hawai'i Wildlife Fund decision may also have an impact on our wastewater treatment <br />plants. Currently we have two injection wells, Honoka'a and Kaloko, and Kealakehe is a sump <br />discharge. But because it is reaching the ocean of the bay, that could be considered discharge. <br />All that could be a matter that we are waiting on with the Department of Health and the EPA as <br />we move forward to be able to navigate through these challenges. <br />Vice Chair Gaffney had a followup question about the drip disposal system that has been <br />proposed for Pahala. Would that have to be an underground drip disposal system or could it be <br />surface drip? <br />Director Mansour said it's going to be underground because of the type of effluent that we are <br />going to have. Subsurface drip systems allow for R-3 or R-2 water to be utilized for agricultural <br />use. The County acquired the 14.9 acres so it is going to be entirely fenced, and it is going to be <br />8 inches below ground, he said. <br />Commissioner McIntosh asked about the potential dates for the N5'51ehu sewer project, which <br />were projected out to 2027. Where are those dates coming from? The EPA is still requiring a <br />2023 deadline but the report says we have longer. <br />17 <br />