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comments on Communication 363: Keaukaha Health Impacts
for Hawai'i County Council Committee on Environmental Management
2:30 PM Tuesday, August 1, 2017, Hilo chambers
from Cory Harden, Sierra Club, Moku Loa group
There is a long history of environmental injustice in Keaukaha, involving many hazards, including sewage.
In the late 80s there was a large hole in the sewer outfall coming from the old treatment plant on Puhi Bay
(now a marine lab). The County denied any problem. So divers videotaped the sewage plume pouring out
underwater while people swam just above. They named the video "Jacques Costeau Meets the Tidy Bowl
Man" and showed it to County Council.The hole was repaired.
In 2014 there was another leak in the sewer outfall, and the Environmental Protection Agency stepped in
and ordered repairs.
Now, in 2017, we had sewage leaks in Puhi Bay.And we face a 2050 deadline to stop using cesspools.
But are sewers the only alternative?Why do we purify millions of gallons of water to drinking water
standards---then contaminate it,try to treat it, and dump it into the ocean? Maybe sewage isn't really
waste--but a resource.
Looking at sewage as a resource opens the door to many alternatives. There are community-level
systems, like low pressure collection systems and constructed wetlands (best done in less rainy areas).
There are containerized package plants that recycle water, reducing the demand for potable water and
generating income.
We can find experts to help design systems through USDA Rural Utility Service grants, the UH School of
Engineering, and the Environmental Protection Agency. Sewer improvement districts can be set up to
spread costs out over 20 years using bonds.
For smaller systems that serve one home, or a few homes,there are composting toilets (I have one).
There are incinerating toilets,though safety and odor can be problematic. There are aerobic digesters
(Biofil) and anaerobic digesters(Bioloo). High schoolers in Kenya developed an anaerobic digester that
produces biogas. And there's LooWatt,which generates biogas or fertilizer.
It's high time we found alternatives to environmental injustice.
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