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LINDA LINGLE / t CHIYOME LEINAALA FUKINO, M. D.
GOVERNOR OF HAWAII g4.~ 1~ DIRECTOR OF HEALTH
g a
STATE OF HAWAII
DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH
P.O. BO% 3378 In reply, please refer to:
HONOLULU, HAWAII 96801-3376 Pile:
.iurle 15, 2005
WW 171C Draft Dec CL
D:C1 WB050436
Mr. Garrett Leong
Brown & Caldwell
119 Merchant Street, Suite 200
Honolulu, Hawaii 96813
Dear Mr. Leong:
Subject: Variance Application No. WW 171C
Docket No. 05-VWW-05C
Transcontinental Development Company /Waikoloa Development Company -
Golf Course Clubhouse / Restroom
Use of Large Septic Tank at Waikoloa Development
150 Waikoloa Beach Drive
Waikoloa, Hawaii 96738
TMK: (3) 6-9-008: 012
Please find enclosed a draft of the Decision and Order regarding the above mentioned
application for variance request. We are also enclosing for your information the Findings of
Fact and Conclusions of Law.
If you disagree with our proposed decision, please call Mr. Harold Yee, Chief of the Wastewater
Branch on Oahu, at phone 586-4294, fax 586-4300, or at our direct toll on Hawaii 974-4000,
ext. 64294, or no later than the close of business on Friday, July 1, 2005. If we do not hear
from you by the above date, the draft will be finalized. If you wish to discuss our decision and
add any additional information, please call our office before the above date.
Sincerely,
THOMAS E. ARIZUMI, P.E.,
Environmental Management Division r,_
LNKM:erm
Enclosures: Draft Decision and Order
Findings of Fact and Conclusions of Law ~
c: Clean Water Branch
Environmental Planning Office
Safe Drinking Water Branch ~
Department of Water Supply -County of Hawaii Comm. No. 3 d.~D
District Health Office -Hilo R„f, rp;
Wastewater Branch -Kona Staff Engineer f~~N ~ 7 7 n(
~OHawaii County Council ~k ~ '
STATE OF HAWAII
DEPARTMENT OFHEALTH
In the Matter of the Application ) Docket No. 05-VWW-05C
Variance Application No. WW 171C )
for Individual Wastewater System )
Transcontinental Development Company / ) pFtJ~F7~~~)GNA~"U;RE NO"~'t~EQt11EEQ
Waikoloa Development Company )
Golf Course Clubhouse / Restroom )
Use of Large Septic Tank )
at Waikoloa Development )
150 Waikoloa Beach Drive )
Waikoloa, Hawaii 96738 )
TMK: (3) 6-9-008: 012 )
DECISION AND ORDER
Pursuant to Chapter 342D, Hawaii Revised Statutes, and Chapter 62 of Title 11,
Administrative Rules and based upon the application and staff review, the Variance Request from the
provisions of Chapter 11-62, Section 11-62-03 pertaining to the definition of an individual wastewater
system is hereby GRANTED with the following provisions:
1. Plans for each IWS shall be submitted to the Wastewater Branch for review and
approval before any construction begins. In addition, the IWS shall be approved in
writing before being placed into :service.
2. Each septic tank shall be fitted with an effluent filter(s).
3. The project shall connect to the'Waikoloa sewer system when it become available to
the area.
4. All food wastes from commercial kitchens shall be pretreated following applicable
county codes before it enters the proposed septic system.
5. The proposed seepage pits shall be properly registered/permitted by the Department's
Underground Injection Control program.
DATED: Honolulu, Hawaii,
Draft `.gnattir_N,'bT r±rgr~ired,
Thomas E. Arizumi, P.E.
Chief, Environmental Management Division
:iTATE OF
DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH
it
~ the ivietter Gf fhe AppiiGatiGn ) nc ~ ni n~ r~
GCnc~ ivy. ~.r ulrvw-05.,
Variance Application No. WW 171C )
for Individual Wastewater System )
)
Transcontinental Development Company / ) D,Rh1Fs~;,~ ~t~1+~''f~lF3E Nt~;~Ft~t1~lt~?,~D
Waikoloa Development Company )
Golf Course Clubhouse /Restroom )
Use of Large Septic Tank )
at Waikoloa Development )
150 Waikoloa Beach Drive )
Waikoloa, Hawaii 96738 )
TMK: (3) 6-9-008: 012 )
FINDINGS OF FACT ~4ND CONCLUSIONS OF LAW
An application from Mr. Garrett Leong, Project Manager at Brown & Caldwell, 119 Merchant
Street, Suite 200, Honolulu, Oahu, Hawaii, whG represents Transcontinental Development
Company/Waikoloa Development Company, for alive-year variance from Hawaii Administrative
Rules, Chapter 62 of Title 11, Section 11-62-03 pertaining to the definition of an individual
wastewater system was reviewed by the Department of Health staff, and a public notice of the
application was printed in the April 27, 2005 issue of the Honolulu Star Bulletin and in the May 1,
2005 issue of the West Hawaii Today publications. Three (3) Department of Health agency
comments and one (1) public comment pertaining to the application were received during the 30
days following the publication of the public notice.
Findings of Fact
The applicant, Transcontinental DevelGpment Company /Waikoloa Development Company
- has applied for afive-year variance from the Hawaii Administrative Rules (HAR), Section 11-62-03
pertaining to the definition of an individual wastewater system for the Golf Clubhouse and Restroom
facilities.
The Transcontinental Development Company /Waikoloa Development Company is
requesting the variance from Section 11-62-03 for the use of a large septic tank to serve the golf
course clubhouse / restroom facilities of the Waikoloa Golf Course located at 150 Waikoloa
Beach Drive, Waikoloa, Hawaii, and identified .as TMK: (3) 6-9-008: 012.
The applicant has made the following statements.
1. Requested variance is from HAR Section 11-62-03: The projected flow
Waikola Cluhouse -Variance Application WW 171 C, Docket No. OS-VWW-0SC,
Findings of Fac[ and Conclusions of Law, Page 1
exceeds 1,000 gallons per day. The projected maximum flow is estimated at
3,980 gallons per day.
2. The large capacity septic system proposed to serve the facility would not
comply with HAR Section 11-62-03 because the IWS would receive more than
1,000 gallons per day of wastewater.
.'3, The BXSting large capacity cesspool(s) needed to be Closed and replaced w;th
a new treatment individual wastewater system on or before April 5, 2005 in
order to comply with federal requirements.
4. The current State requirement of a wastewater treatment plant would
significantly add to the <:onstruction cost as well as require a much greater
ongoing maintenance cost.
5. The facility has been in operation for 14 years in this location using the
existing cesspool. The existing cesspool is located below grade between the
golf clubhouse and the 1 S`h green of the golf course. The installation of a
wastewater treatment plant would have to located above grade and in view of
resort golfers. This resort golf course depends heavily on providing an
aesthetically pleasing facility and there is no location on site that would be out
of view of golfers. Customers to the golf course would likely be reduced.
6. The applicant believes this variance request is in the public interest because
the LCC will be upgraded to an IWS (septic system). The IWS plans will be
designed by an engineer and will be submitted to DOH for review and
approval. The new IWS will provide a better wastewater treatment system
compared to the existing LCC. Therefore minimizes impact to the
environment.
7. The LCC serving the facility has been in operation for 14 years. The current
State requirements of a wastewater treatment plant would significantly add to
the construction cost, as well as require a much greater ongoing maintenance
cost. The owner may be forced to close his existing business and lay off my
employees.
8. The existing LCC will be upgraded to an IWS (septic system). The IWS
(septic system) will provide a better treatment system prior to effluent disposal.
The IWS will be designed and constructed to meet the Department of Health
standards. The impact to the environment will be minimized compared to the
current wastewater disposal.
9. The owner of the facility simply cannot afford to build and operate wastewater
systems meeting all the requirements of HAR Chapter 11-62 such as small
aerobic wastewater treatment plants.
10. Although the location of the facility is not physically restrictive, the potential
locations for an aesthetirally acceptable facility is severely restrictive. This
resort golf course depends heavily on providing an aesthetically pleasing
W aikola Cluhouse -Variance Applira[ion W W 171 C, Docket No. OS-V W W-OSC,
Findings of Fact and Conclusions oC Law, Page 2
facility, and there is no location on site that would be out of view of golfers.
Customers to the golf course would likely be reduced.
11. The variance is requested for the maximum of five (5) years.
The following Department of Health agencies submitted the following comments:
A. The Clean V"v afar Branch fecoi~nmei~ds to deny this variance application stating chat
the subject project should connect to the regional sewer system.
B. The Safe Drinking Water Branch submitted the following comments:
1. The site is located below the Underground Injection Control (UIC) line. There
are no program-recorded drinking water wells within 1/4 mile of the facility.
2. Because the proposed improvement is being driven by the federal ban on
large-capacity cesspools, we have no objection to granting the variance; and
3. The public notice should have explicitly stated that the cesspools are going to
be used as seepage pits. A UIC permit application has been submitted to
register the cesspools as seepage pits.
Please contact Norris U~ehara at telephone (808)586-4258 if you have any
questions.
D. The Wastewater Branch submitted the following comments:
1. Plans for each IWS shall be submitted to the Wastewater Branch for review
and approval before any construction begins. In addition, the treatment IWS
shall be approved in wril:ing before being placed into service.
2. Each septic tank shall be fitted with an effluent filter(s).
3. The existing cesspools shall be abandoned per the requirements of the
Underground Injection Control program of the Safe Drinking Water Branch.
4. All food wastes from commercial kitchens shall be pretreated following
applicable county codes before it enters the proposed septic system.
5. The project shall connect to the Waikoloa sewer system when it become
available to the area.
E. One public comment was received from Mr. David Kimo Frankel, P.O. Box 1185,
Volcano, Hawaii 96785, dated play 3, 2005 regarding Variance Application Nos. W W
171 A, 1716 and 1761 C, Docket Nos. 05-VWW-056A, B and C.
I am writing to urge that you deny the three wastewater variance applications
submitted to you by the Waikoloa Development Company (as published in the May 1,
2005 West Hawaii Today) for the clubhouse/restroom facilities of the Waikoloa Golf
Waikola Cluhouse -Variance Application W W 171 C, Docket No. OS-VWW-0SC,
Findings of Fact and Conclusions of law, Page 3
Course, the King's Grill Restaurant at the Waikoloa Golf Course, and the Grounds
Maintenance building at the Waikoloa Golf Course.
To begin, let me urge you to consider the three applications together. They have
been submitted by the same applicant for the same location for the same project: the
Waikoloa Golf Course. It is a i'undamental tenant of environmental law, that projects
should not be segmented to avoid proper analysis.
When several proposals that will have a cumulative or synergistic
environmental impact upon a region are pending concurrently before an
agency, their environmental consequences must be considered together.
Only through comprehensive consideration of pending proposal can the
agency evaluate different courses of action.
Kleppe v. Sierra Club, 427 U. S. 390 (1976)
When these applications are viewed together - or even if they are looked at
piecemeal -you will find that they do not meet the criteria laid out in H.R.S.
§342D-7. The law provides:
No variances shall be granted by the department unless the application
and the supporting information clearly show that:
(1) The continuation of the function or operation involved in the
discharger of waste occurring or proposed to occur by the
granting of the variance is in the public interest as defined in
section 342D-6;
(2) The discharge occurring or proposed to occur does not
substantially endanger human health or safety; and
(3) Compliance with the rules or standards from which variance
is sought would produce serious hardship without equal or
greater benefits to the public.
In determining the "public interest,"
the director shall consider the environmental impact of the proposed
action, any adverse environmental effects which cannot be avoided
should the action be implemented, the alternatives to the proposed
action, the relationship between local short-term uses of the
environment and the maintenance and enhancement of long-term
productivity, any irreversible and irretrievable commitments of
resources which would be involved in the proposed action should it be
implemented, anti any other factors which the director, by rule, may
prescribe; providErd that any determination of public interest shall
promote the optinnum balance between economic development and
environmental quality.
It is hard for me to understand how variances from the public's wastewater
rules are in the public interest; or how the discharge of wastewater into an
individual septic system instead of a real wastewater facility benefits the
environment of the public.
W aikola Cluhouse -Variance Application W W 191 C, Docket No. 05-V W W-OSC,
Findings of Fact and Conclusions of Law, Page 4
2. Each septic tank shall be fitted with an effluent filter(s).
3. The project shall connect to the: Waikoloa sewer system when it become available to
the area.
4. All food wastes from commercial kitchens shall be pretreated following applicable
county codes before it enters the proposed septic system.
5. The proposed seepage pits shall be properly registered/permitted by the
Department's Underground Injection Control program.
DATED: Honolulu, Hawaii,
Drafi:!"?8lgrta#i[e N4regtiir~d
Thomas E. Arizumi, P.E.
Chief, Environmental Management Division
The foregoing findings of fact and conclusions of law are hereby adopted.
W aikola Cluhouse -Variance Application W W 171 C, Dockel No. OS-V W W-OSC,
Findings of Fact and Conclusions of ]aw, Page 6
T'sa~raittal I~at~~- y
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S ~~JEC`To _ _ _ _ _
'over Leger, lit l~rr'ice ~ ~~iance .Applicatira~x ~ -
Draft Decision Comer Letter, ]decision tar Order and Findings of Fact ~Conclusios+s F~ Law
Final Decision Cover Letter, Signed Decision F~ Order and Findangs of Fac'i ~ Conclusicar~ ~f Lax~~
Director of Health N Chiyome Leinaala Fukino
Deputy Director for Environmental Health Administration -Laurence Lau ~
Chief, EMD -'d'homas E. Arizumi
Attorney 4yeneral's Office, AG Mark Bennet, Deputy Mark McConnel, Deputy Ben ~ober~s
- "lea?z Water Branch. -Dena-c Lau _
_ ~n~ronmental Elanninq Office -June Harrigan Lum
Safe Drinking Water Branch ° William Wong _
Sanatatio_n Branch -Commercial Properties Only! _ _i
-Wa_~teava~r Branch Noighbnr ls~nd Stiff - -~p7~ . ~~PJ~!
6~ BYi A_d01 -
Board of Water Supply -Clifford Jarrxille
~~ountaa crf~Ha~aii Deb of Water Sux~Hzly ° Milton Davao
( ~ -~~vrtcl r~N/d~ui D~i~k nf~,'a~~:ex S~ap¢~l~ m ~eorge'~~, `fen~~b
i:zuaa'Jour,ty Y~ep~ti~trxaei~,t ~rf ~Yater~ ~-a-nest ~'.W. Lau
District Health Office -Maui -Herbert Matsubayashi, Chief Sanitarian
Disdaict Health Offaee -Kauai -Clyde Takekuma, Chief Sanitarian
District Health Office Kona - Pau10'kvna, Supervising Sanitarian
° istrict Health Office -Hilo -Aaron Cleno, Chief Sanitarian
Oahu %Telghborhood Board _
City & County of Honolulu, Departmt;nt of Planning & Permitting
~ !.ll;L! I 4L ~ GOw~i I-
~C`I'lO1V' REQC7ES1`k~J. _
l~egardang the Cover Letter, Prsblic Alotice Sr Variance Application, please check one boat;
~ ~ Pee~ommend to Sl2Ad~l°1" this variance application.
~ Pecoa~zapfend to DES fhi_~ variannce applications
_ ~lease'~~el free to siaY~alrant com^nents •o~lnen returning this route slip ?o tl~ aeldress listed belo~+r°
1Zec~~r,iu3e) ties .Ds~,- l~e~n~~ra~a, plea
.e feel arse to Wvrate waoa~rections,/comgrzents ®n tkae attached
' ~ drl~ aa~~k=r t.~ ~~,~/or ~ ak*x~gat f~.>rt~a]_co,raments ire ~r~itx%a~ try the ade~ress limed helowe _
x'2egarrtlian~ the FT1~AL S1SfIP~D Decision, ties acted is for yoarr ~Lnfoa~anaationOfalee Ple~~ f`sle or
L--_._._.,_eliscarrl_~s your dise:~etion °i~1nk you~^~-----
-'ie~sca ibel ~°et t , a h~9rai~ e ".r~,n~~~a~xat~ ~r,~s~ P~lr. y~[~okd fee, Chief, l~asterwateE~ B~°~n~+~q, °~i~ ~~P~a ~aa~~a Blvd.
Bloom ~O"3, ,Flonolcz5u, llraa~raii ~jEiSX4-4'2,0 or phone (8"0$) 5~~-4294 feat !<3'O~) ~~~°4300.
@ec:eti~ecR Bey 6tTWi~ v: udarce xo,ate slip.dac as of 2/10/2005 varvu