2018-02-28 Meeting Minutes (EMC)

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Regarding Commissioner Fear’s district issues, Director Kucharski said DEM’s recycling staff visits schools and provides materials on recycling and tours of the landfills. If requested, he could have the Recycling Coordinator, George Hayducsko, give a presentation on school training and what is being done as far as education. Chair Bennett said he would like to have that presentation at the March meeting. Commissioner Fear announced a beach clean-up on March 3, 2018, at the old airport. Last year they had over 1,000 people show up, and they saved the county $400,000 in litter clean-up costs. Lunch is provided. They receive overwhelming support from churches and other groups up and down the coast. He provided a flyer and said they are tracking a pile of nets and trash that is currently between Molokaʻi and Oʻahu. Some of it has drafted to South Point, and this kind of debris affects all of us and is only going to get worse. Regarding the discharge of water on Aliʻi Drive next to Huliheʻe Palace, Director Kucharski said it does not appear to be a wastewater discharge. The Department of Public Works does not have any kind of storm drain there, and DEM has no discharge there. They are not aware of any County line that is causing the discharge. He can take a look at it and check groundwater reports. He does not have sampling equipment for ocean water, but he can check with the state. He apologized for not fully understanding what Commissioner Fear wanted him to look at and said he would have a better answer next time. Commissioner Fritz said that he received an email from a Canada company that he does business with, stating that the waters in front of Puakō are polluted, and that there was an article in the Wall Street Journal. Puakō has a major sewage problem. He attended a meeting this past Saturday with Representative Evans, Councilmember Richards, and a woman whose name he did not get but who is a lobbyist for Coral Alliance. There is no easy solution, but he plans to talk to Mauna Lani, as they have a sewage treatment plant. Puakō affects their area of ocean too. He needs to sell them on the fact that they all share the same ocean and need to help each other. He is not afraid to ask the question, and he will report back on what he finds out. Chair Bennett said he had asked Director Kucharski for a list of the beach recreation sites on the Kona side that have restrooms, and he received the information. There are about eight such facilities that are not connected to the sewer, which means they have individual waste systems. They are permitted through the DOH, but they are still discharging to the ground, literally at the shore. He would like something to be done to remediate that. Technology exists that could be a solution, and he has talked with some nonprofits about partnering with the County to explore the possibility of investing grant funds to assist in remediating these sites. He likes the thought of the County partnering with a nonprofit to do the right thing and demonstrate to the public that they can do more than just talk. He will continue working on this. 8. FUTURE AGENDA ITEMS Chair Bennett said they have two items that got brought up for the next agenda— handling wood waste at landfills and bringing in DEM’s recycling specialist for an update on