2018-04-25 Meeting Minutes (EMC)

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Chair Bennett said this agenda item stemmed from a conversation at the last meeting. The State Department of Health has regulations and criteria regarding wastewater qualities, but missing is any expression on the chemistry of the nutrients—nitrogen and phosphorous in all their forms. The R-1 upgrade in progress is addressing these issues by implementing some technology to reduce the loads of these nutrients, but he would like to ultimately form a subcommittee to come up with some guidelines, goals, and objectives for the management of these nutrients, not only at Kealakehe but at all County wastewater facilities. He would also like to be able to provide guidance to the state in dealing with the issue of individual waste treatment systems and nutrient management. The State and County have yet to have a formal policy on how to manage the nutrients. He would like to know if any commissioners would be interested in serving on a subcommittee, which they would form under the rules of the Sunshine Law. The ultimate goal would be to come up with recommendations to the County regarding nutrient management, and the County could perhaps share the recommendations with the State. Vice Chair Olson asked whether he understood correctly that the State sets the standard, which is the floor, and the County can exceed that standard. Chair Bennett said his understanding is that the State has no standards for nutrients, nothing at all. As far as he knows, there is no policy. Director Kucharski said there are nutrient discharge requirements placed on NPDES permits in Hilo, and the only issue the County has is that the standards imposed are not achievable by any known technical means. Commissioner Fritz asked if the standards were federal or state standards. Director Kucharski said he does not know whether the federal standards were just accepted or whether the State went above them. However, states generally don’t exceed federal standards, they tend to adopt them. He can try to find an answer. Chair Bennett said given the Maui court ruling, NPDES permits will be required for indirect discharges because they constitute point source discharges which find a conveyance to the sea. It will be an ongoing, arduous process, and he is seeking to get ahead of the curve a little and come up with some policy recommendations and be proactive in attempting to manage nutrients. On the Kona side, all the accessible beaches, from Miloliʻi to Mahukona in the north, are federally listed as impaired. The law requires the State to come up with management plans so that further degradation does not occur, but the State has no such plan for this island. The EMC has an opportunity now to make recommendations about nutrient management in impaired water sheds, while realizing there are individual homeowner systems and County systems, which together represent a nutrient loading to the sea. Director Kucharski said he fully agrees and would like to try and put it into perspective. According to the DOH’s cesspool report to the legislature, cesspools on this island contribute between 20 and 25 million gallons per day of untreated wastewater. The County currently discharges approximately 4 million gallons per day from the treatment systems. The bigger problem is the unpermitted personal home systems, which are contributing multiple times more untreated wastewater of much lower quality than what is being discharged from the County’s permitted facilities. 4