HomeMy WebLinkAbout2021-10-27 EMC testimony (09-24) Holmes, Stephen - Innovative Technology at Honolulu's Reclamation Plant | Veolia North America
From: Stephen Holmes
Date: Fri, Sep 24, 2021 at 8:42 AM
Subject: Innovative Technology at Honolulu's Reclamation Plant | Veolia North America
To: Kate Logan
Cc: Ramzi Mansour, Dee Fulton, Rick Gaffney, Georjean Adams
Kate:
Here is the link for Veolia which entered into a water recycling contract with Honolulu as I discussed in
an earlier email. Included is a video clip by Barry Usegawa of the Honolulu Board of Water Supply.
https://www.veolianorthamerica.com/case-studies/innovative-technology-honolulus-reclamation-plant
While Hawaii County Corp Counsel has raised the Konno court decision as an impediment for Hawaii
County to do similar projects and leverage public sector resources, setting up dialogue with Corp
Counsel in Honolulu on how to structure these solutions and avoid litigation seems logical. We have a
Hawaii State Association of Counties to do exactly this. Learn from each other and benefit from
successes.
Based on my experience on both the Honolulu City Council and later as an Executive Assistant to Mayor
Harris, I don’t buy that Hawaii County needs legislation to do this.
I could list numerous public private partnerships that Honolulu entered into after the Konno decision.
Same state, same laws.
I mentioned earlier the cesspool problems in Puako and how the County could initiate a sewer
improvement district and have Mauna Lani Resort treatment plant handle the flows in a mutually
beneficial arrangement. The City & County of Honolulu did this in Aina Haina where flows went to a
private treatment plant in Hawaii Kai. It has been done and all we need is to set up a Zoom call to
Honolulu to convince County attorneys that this is so and how to structure it to avoid litigation.
With Pahala and Naalehu, there is no existing County treatment plant. Given EPA has already set in place
a consent decree and the current plan is a hot mess, why not contract it privately but mandate they hire
union employees? Find middle ground.
Ramzi Mansour and his team have a full plate with so many other projects competing for funds. It only
makes sense to triage the current crisis. Use sustainability as a model and do water recycling in these
agricultural communities to support the local economy. Connect all of the homes to address the looming
cesspool conversion deadline and meet all of the needs of those communities for proper treatment.
Please run this up to Mayor Roth as policy direction comes from him. He is an attorney himself, so
reaching out to Honolulu Corp Counsel for free advice should sound appealing. With term limits, every
mayor has a narrow window to make things happen and create a legacy that he can be proud of.
Here is one of the proudest moments of my time in elective office at the grand opening of the Ewa
Water Recycling Facility with Mayor Harris (on the left):
Steve Holmes