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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCOM 0732.002 2022-2024 P I GOEac Rcs.441-24 S I E R RA L B µ.752 Y U HAWAI`I ISLAND GROUP February 20, 2024 r-y Sa"3 r " Hawai'i County'Council 25 Aupuni St. -, Hilo HI 96720 -' Re:Support for Resolution 441-23 Aloha Madam Chair Kimball,and members of the County Council, With the authorization of Mr.Stephen Holmes and the Executive Committee of the Sierra Club of Hawai'i,Hawai'i Island Group (HIG),HIG would like to state its strong support of Resolution 441-23 and the testimony provided by Mr.Holmes,who is a member of the HIG Executive Committee and is the designated co-ordinator of Hawai'i island wastewater issues for HIG in recognition and appreciation of his subject matter expertise. Mr. Holmes testimony: "Councilmembers: I urge support of Resolution 441-24 regarding the negotiated EPA islandwide consent decree. While this is an administrative consent decree, it has the effect of law. Failure to adopt simply means EPA Region 9 goes into Honolulu federal district court and it becomes a judicial consent decree where terms might be less favorable. This addresses decades of neglect by the County and violations of federal law impacting our nearshore water quality. Really awful conditions and represent a violation of the Public Trust Doctrine in our Hawaii Constitution. The terms will require the adoption of a wastewater enterprise fund or special fund where new revenues will be required to provide both sustainable funding for O&M costs to prevent this from happening again as well as the increased bond capacity required to meet construction work on very tight schedules. Failure to act swiftly exposes taxpayers to significant penalties.. The rehabilitation of sewer collection lines alone will be significant. This will prevent spills and bypasses of raw sewage but also contamination of nearshore waters and beaches from leaking pipes, an often overlooked source of pollution. Sealing the pipes using cured in place pipe technology can reduce the costs dramatically and sealed pipes mean reduced pumping costs, reduce treatment costs, and it keeps harmful saltwater that causes corrosion of pump stations and the treatment plants themselves. Hilo alone has over 400,000 gpd of infiltration coming in and all the saltwater ate the equipment there. Fixing the lines is critical to protecting the huge public investment in the treatment plants and this agreement calls for this to be routinely scheduled going forward and properly staffed. The agreement requires service areas around existing County facilities to connect homes and get P 0 Box 1137 Hilo,HI 96721-1137 I hawaiiislandsierraclub@gmail.com sierracIi P .EpigRk 34 - " Refo: I. :. Ref.Date_ F 0 2n24 off cesspools. Sewer improvement districts spread costs out over 20 years and are a much better solution than septic conversions which are a huge burden on homeowners and really accomplish nothing in protecting the environment. Connecting all these homes will also create a proper customer base to support these systems. It is basic Economics. New technologies like low pressure collection systems and directional drilling can greatly reduce costs of sewer improvement districts and increasing public acceptance. EPA is offering in this agreement technical assistance and they can bring in experts in this more modern technologies. Reduced trenching costs means getting away from old gravity lines. Sealed low pressure lines mean smaller pipes and sealed pipes means you are protected lines from intrusion going forward. As sea levels rise due to climate change, this is a necessary adaptation strategy. Honolulu successfully met its federal consent decree requirements by leveraging private capital and I urge Councilmembers to look at the many success stories in this regard. You will break the County financing if you don't get creative. I have met with a number of you and shared articles on these award winning projects.You can do this in spite of the some of the legal advice you have been given. Failure to tap private capital just means putting the burden on taxpayers, so push back on bad advice. Mahalo for your support. Feel free to call on me as you meet the challenges. Steve Holmes Former Honolulu City Councilmember Retired in Kona"