2017-06-28 Environmental Management Commission Minutes

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o The Department received the signed document from Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to close Na`alehu, Pahala and Pahala Elderly Housing large capacity cesspools (LCC). Public meetings and an environmental review has started for Pahala. The consent agreement and schedule is available online for anyone to look at. Closure of all LCCs will need to be completed by 2022. EPA will not assess any penalties as long as we keep to the fixed schedule. Dr. Bennett asked if a leach field will be used. Director Kucharski responded stating the design is not complete at this time so is unable to answer the question. Dr. Bennett also asked if EPA will require an NPDES permit for this. Director Kucharski responded stating it will depend on what design the Count comes up with. Whatever the design may be, it will certainly be better than what we have now. The Legislature sent a bill (HB 1244) to the Governor on May 3, 2017 which states all cesspools need to be closed by January 1, 2050. o The Department is taking a look at Solid Waste (SW) and Wastewater (WW) fees and collections and doing an analysis. Will be making a recommendation to increase SW & WW fees as these fees should be enough to cover their operations. There are also a number of things the Department needs to do to improve operations. Will be looking at getting additional people for the WW Division. WW has the lowest sewer rate in the state at $27.00 a month. In looking at the number of people connected to the sewer, the numbers are very low. Dr. Bennett asked if he could get a copy of that list. b. Commission Member District Update Reports: o District 4: Mr. Olson stated residents in Volcano are happy with the improvements at the transfer station. However they still have an issue with the intersection of the transfer station and highway. If there could be turn lanes on the highway so residents can turn in and out of the transfer station safely that would be great. Glenwood Transfer Station has the same issue. However, theirs is worse as the intersection to the transfer station is on a curve. The vegetation in that area is not being mowed so residents need to pull out further on to the highway when trying to exit the transfer station. Pahoa Transfer Station is doing well. The bins at Kea` au Transfer Station is not being emptied as often as they should be; they are always full. Could use a transfer station in Hawaiian Paradise Park as that's where the center of the population is. There has been a lot of feedback from residents that they don't know what items belong in which bin. The Department should do a better job of informing people about this. o District 8: Mr. Fear stated that on July 7, 2017 there will be approximately 20 military people cleaning up Hilo Bay for a few hours. Mr. Fear stated he did a survey with moms at a beach in Kona about staph infection and they had no idea it was in the sand. The Mayor's beach clean-up has been pushed back to August because of the homeless problem. Working groups were formed specifically to clean up these areas but hasn't been working. In today's newspaper there was an article stating businesses got together to clean-up the old industrial area. o District 6: Dr. Bennett stated the trash war in South Kona has escalated. Personnel have put up road barriers in front of the Transfer Station when it's closed. People are now leaving their trash in front of these barriers. The barriers are extremely close to the white line of the shoulder, therefore the trash is now on the highway. When the Transfer Station is open, the barriers are moved to the side so it encroaches the entrance. Residents would 5