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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2019-03-27 Meeting Minutes (EMC) ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT COMMISSION COUNTY OF HAWAIʻI MEETING MINUTES Wednesday, March 27, 2019 9:00 a.m. to 11:23 a.m. Aging and Disability Resource Center 1055 Kinoʻole Street, Suite 101 (Training Room) Hilo, Hawaiʻi 96720 Commissioners present: Richard Bennett, Ph.D., Chair Jon Olson, Vice Chair James Fritz Rick Gaffney Justin Pequeño Not present: Dee Fulton Staff present: William Kucharski, Director Diana Mellon-Lacey, Deputy Corporation Counsel Mary Fujio, Secretary Also present: Jerome Warren, Sandra Demoruelle, Craig Lekven, George Hayducsko, and several others. 1. CALL TO ORDER Chair Bennett called the meeting to order at 9:00 a.m. 2. APPROVAL OF MINUTES OF FEBRUARY 27, 2019 Motion, second, and vote: Vice Chair Olson moved to approve the minutes as drafted, Commissioner Gaffney seconded the motion, and all commissioners voted aye. 3. STATEMENTS FROM THE PUBLIC ON AGENDA ITEMS Jerome Warren: On March 21 the director addressed 40 Kaū residents at a ʻ meeting in Pāhala. The residents are angry about having to close down their home cesspools. The director made opposing statements. He said that wastewater doesn’t make people sick, and his proof is that county wastewater treatment plant workers are just as healthy as other people. But in his next statement, the director said he needs to close homeowner cesspools to protect the “ʻaina.” The director explains how wastewater lagoons won’t make people sick, yet says that wastewater cesspools in Pāhala and Nāālehu ʻ destroy the ʻaina. It is wrong for haoles to use a Hawaiian word that carries spiritual meaning. It is worse when they make money off of it and represent the government. Evangelism belongs in a church. The director’s job is civil engineering, not social engineering. It should also be noted that the chair did not attend the meetings in February and March for his district. At both meetings, the director did not answer peoples’ questions of how we got to where we are. He said he wasn’t around back then, but his staff was, and they could have been called on. Meanwhile, old sewer lines are crossing through yards and leaking, neighborhoods are run down, and property values are low. The county is not performing its core duty, because it is neglecting to install the new sewer lines in the street which were promised by Mayor Kim in 2004. Sandra Demoruelle: She understands she is not to discuss the lawsuit. Regarding the Pāhala wastewater project, Director Kucharski promised an EIS would be done, that there would be a DEA with a finding of no significant impact. They’re just wasting their time and money by not doing an EIS right up front. You can do an EISPN under Act 172- 2012, or you can do a public notice with no EA as should be done here, because it would clearly require preparation of an EIS for a large wastewater treatment plant in Pāhala. She and others are now seeking attorneys to sue, especially the people who are being paid to do this, who think they are going to get away with a finding of no significant impact. Regarding the Nāālehu project, she provided documentation for her lawsuit in hopes they ʻ can see for themselves it has not been properly presented by the county and lacks the required memorandum of law. On April 2 there will be a decision made, and if it is in her favor, she will be going to the county and talking to them about having an environmental statement on every single CIP project. They should not be moving forward without their environmental impact statements. 4. UNFINISHED BUSINESS a. Chair’s update on water sustainability and water quality white paper and plans. Chair Bennett apologized that this item needs to be pushed to the April meeting, as he has been delayed with other matters. b. Status of subcommittee’s draft recommendations to the legislature on water reuse policy. Chair Bennett said he senses this item is going nowhere and asked if any commissioner wanted to move it forward and comment to the state legislature on the water reuse policy. There is a state administrative rule that fundamentally says an individual homeowner cannot use reclaimed water on his own home or property. This rule 2 is a significant impediment. Some communities in California have been using reclaimed water in individual households for over 30 years. Director Kucharski pointed out that he had submitted comments to the legislature on HB 444 relating to onsite non-potable water reuse systems. The bill would require the Department of Health to issue rules and regulations on water reuse for individual homes. The commissioners can track additional bills regarding this, as he is not allowed to comment more than once on a bill. For HB 444, his comments were positive but noted that DOH would need more staff to manage the rulemaking and enforcement. Commissioner Gaffney said the timing is bad and suggested they wait until May 5 to inform legislators of their opinion, as until then the legislators won’t have a chance to read anything in front of them. Chair Bennett said they would table this to the April meeting and asked if there was a volunteer to draft their comments for review at the next meeting. Commissioner Pequeño said he would work on a draft. c. Commissioner Gaffney’s report on the interconnections of bills in the legislature on cesspit closure, individual home waste management, and reuse. Commissioner Gaffney said he is aware the legislature is a real moving target, particularly now. There are thousands of bills, and some move and some do not. If you search for the word “cesspool” on the website, 86 bills come up, and there is no simple way to track what has happened with each of them. There is also no way for people to know whether or not a bill is actually going to be heard. He pointed out that Director Kucharski had provided the EMC with his testimony on bills and suggested the commissioners follow those. Other matters that would bear watching are: - HB 551: It is important, as it extends the lapse date for funds. - SB 696: It is to extend the funds for a comprehensive cesspool conversion plan. It is directed to the Finance Committee, which is where bills go to die, along with the Ways and Means Committee. - Bills that are related to strengthening the coastal zone management laws for the state include HB 549 - Bills with regard to sea level rise planning, which is critical because there are sewage systems in danger zones across the state. He said that at the end of the day, the legislature is in a high state of flux now, because bills have passed over from the house to the senate and the senate to the house. Second decking is April 5, so if a bill isn’t on deck at that time it is dead. The second crossover is April 11, and if the bill does not cross over at that point, it is dead. Final 3 decking is April 25 or 26. At their April meeting they should have a good idea of what bills are actually moving forward. d. Review of the Commission’s table of Motions, Policy Recommendations, and Various Requests and discuss follow-up. Chair Bennett asked if any commissioner had an item on the table they wanted to bring attention to. The table is to help keep track of what they have done. If there is anything they want to bring attention to, just bring it up so they can take appropriate action. He will continue it on the next agenda. e. Continued discussion on changing Hawaiʻi County Code Section 2-207, which states that the Commission has a 45-day review period to submit comments and recommendations on legislation relating to the functions and duties of the Department of Environmental Management to the County Council, and that failure to act within the 45-day review period shall be considered as an unfavorable recommendations. Director Kucharski passed out a draft of possible changes to HCC 2-207 and said that as he reads the Code, the Council cannot take action on a bill prior to receiving a recommendation from the EMC. He suggested adding the word “final” before “council action” so a bill could go through a first reading before receiving a response from the EMC. What he does not want is to have important legislation held up because the EMC has not responded. The review time could be kept at 45 days, but with two conditions. If during the 45-day review period the EMC has met but not forwarded a recommendation, it would be considered an unfavorable recommendation. If the EMC had not met during the 45-day period, the recommendation would be neutral. Another alternative would be to change it from unfavorable to neutral if no response is received. It would be up to the EMC to decide. He had spoken with Councilmember Richards, who said he would have no problem sponsoring the changes. Motion and second: Commissioner Gaffney moved that they support the recommendation that the language be changed to include “and there has been an official commission meeting within the 45-day comment period,” and also the language “if there has been no official commission meeting within the 45-day comment period, such inaction shall be considered as a neutral recommendation.” Vice Chair Olson seconded the motion. Director Kucharski clarified that the Council requires two recommendations on bills—one from the director and the other from EMC, so it would just be the language regarding the EMC’s recommendation that would change. Vote: All commissioners voted aye. Director Kucharski said he would prepare something and send it to Corporation Counsel for review. If additional modifications to the language were needed, he asked the commissioners if they wanted it returned to them for review, and they said yes. 4 f. Continued discussion and legal opinion by Corporation Counsel on proposal to form standing committees by county regions, east and west. Ms. Mellon-Lacey explained the EMC could not have standing committees due to the Sunshine Law. Ad hoc committees could be created, but they are very structured. Their purpose and scope have to be specifically defined at a meeting prior to their creation, and the members would need to be less than a quorum of the commission. Their findings would have to be presented to the full commission at a meeting and any recommendations voted upon by the commission. Once an ad hoc committee’s business is concluded, it disbands. The same process would also need to occur for a “working group.” Chair Bennett said they would need to wait until they had a need for an ad hoc committee and then address forming one. Commissioner Gaffney asked whether a committee could include community members as well as commissioners, and Ms. Mellon-Lacey said nothing would preclude that. Though an ad hoc committee does not have the public notice requirement, the idea is to open meetings up to the public as much as possible. Commissioner Gaffney said the Aliʻi Drive area has a stretch of homes that are not sewered, and there is a group talking informally with the county, Keauhou Water Services, and Kamehameha Schools. The director of Keauhou Water Services would be a valuable participant in a focus group or task committee. Ms. Mellon-Lacey said the ad hoc committee could investigate the issue on Aliʻi Drive as long as the EMC agrees ahead of time on what the scope of the investigation will be and each member’s authority. They cannot deliberate or make decisions—anything the group learns has to be brought back to the whole Commission. Chair Bennett said they would work on developing the scope of work and bring it back to the next meeting for Commission approval. Motion, second, and vote: Commissioner Gaffney moved that the Commission’s West Hawaiʻi members be tasked with creating a scope of work for a proposed West Hawaiʻi ad hoc subcommittee for the purpose of investigating a possible public-private partnership for the sewering of all the unsewered homes at the south end of Aliʻi Drive. Commissioner Fritz seconded the motion, and all commissioners voted aye. g. Continued discussion on developing users of reclaimed water from the Kealakehe Wastewater Treatment Plant. Chair Bennett said that as Director Kucharski will be speaking on this issue in his report, they would wait until then. 5 h. Review Chair’s proposed letter from the Commission to the Director of the Department of Public Works regarding adoption of the Uniform Plumbing Code. Chair Bennett said the purpose of his proposed letter is for the Department of Public Works to clarify for the County Council that the Council has the option to adopt the later version of the Uniform Plumbing Code and green supplements. A DPW employee had previously incorrectly informed the Council it could not be done; however, the Hawaiʻi Revised Statutes basically gives the counties the option to adopt these codes as they see fit. His letter asks DPW to clarify this for the Council, and it also invites the DPW director to come to their April meeting to discuss how DPW’s programs could be interfaced with the EMC’s interest in wastewater management and reuse. Commissioner Pequeño had some revisions he wanted to make to the letter, and Chair Bennett suggested he and Commissioner Pequeño work together after the meeting to wordsmith the letter. He would email the final draft to the commissioners, have it placed on letterhead, and send it to the DPW director. Motion, second, and vote: Commissioner Pequeño moved that they revise the letter and submit it to DPW, Commissioner Gaffney seconded the motion, and all commissioners voted aye. As engineers from Brown & Caldwell were present, Chair Bennett jumped to agenda items 6b(3) and (4). 6. REPORTS/CORRESPONDENCE b. Director’s Informational Report. (3) Status of the Kealakehe Wastewater Treatment Plant effluent R-1 upgrade and Soil Aquifer Treatment (SAT) preliminary results. (4) Report on projected R-1 water users. Director Kucharski handed out demand estimates on the use of the R-1 system, and introduced Craig Lekven of Brown & Caldwell. Mr. Lekven said he is the project manager for the Kealakehe R-1 Upgrade Project. The EIS on the project is currently out, and comments are due by April 9, 2019. The EIS describes their projections for recycled water demands for the future, and the graphic that was handed out shows their plan for the facility as far as recycled water use, including initial and future use areas. He went through the potential users of the recycled water (the Old Kona Airport Park, Kohanaiki Golf and Ocean Club, the Makalua Project, Queen Liliuokalani Trust developments, the Kealakehe Regional Park, Honokōhau Harbor, and the Lanihau 6 development), and how each user would be using the water. He spoke about pipelines and connections, one of which will allow recycled water to be delivered up to the Kohanaiki Golf and Ocean Club, which has asked the county to increase its allocation to 1 million gallons per day. In addition, the Department of Water Supply has an unused 1 million gallon storage tank on Hina Lani Street, and the intention is to transfer it to DEM and repurpose it for recycled water use. The delivery system at the treatment plant will pump water to the Hina Lani tank, which will provide storage and some pressure to the Kohanaiki Golf and Ocean Club development. Brown & Caldwell is trying to develop a backbone system for recycled water that the county can expand in the future as the area develops. With more development, more wastewater will be generated, which means the county can produce more recycled water that can be used for irrigation. It will mean a drought-free water supply for irrigation. Mr. Lekven spoke about the future development users, including the Kealakehe Regional Park, several QLT developments, and the Lanihau development. These developments intend to use recycled water for irrigation purposes, parks, open space, streetscapes, multi-family housing landscaping, and similar uses. The R-1 system is a backbone system, and there will be opportunities to expand it in the future if the county wants to. Brown & Caldwell is anticipating that basically all of the effluent, 5.3 mgd, will be used. The commissioners had several questions, and below is some of the information Mr. Lekven provided: • It will be an ultraviolet disinfection system and will meet the state’s R-1 recycled water standards. • The piping is currently in the highway and was sized with R-1 water in mind. For the storage tank, they will need to run a line to it, which will either be in the road or the shoulder of the road. • The pipeline from Kealakehe Parkway to the WWTP is estimated to be completed in 2023. Design has not yet started, and it is intended to run in the state right-of-way parallel to the highway, in the shoulder. DOT approval needs to be obtained. • Getting effluent from the harbor to the Kealakehe WWTP is a separate project, and they are in the preliminary design stage of the pump station for that. The state installed force mains for the project, so the highway will not need to be dug up. The project will have its own EA, and the timeline is about 2023. • When the SAT system is up and running, they will close the existing disposal system. The existing sump is about a quarter acre, and the new system will be about 10 acres. The water is spread out over a large area, 7 which allows process interactions to occur between the water and the soil. These will be the first SAT ponds in Hawaiʻi. • On Chair Bennett’s question about how confident they are that the ponds will perform as intended, given the Big Island’s fractured lava and blue rock, Mr. Lekven said they had a recent demonstration project. They are still waiting for the lab results, but the preliminary data was very positive, with greater than 90% removal of the phosphorus. “Our preliminary results are fantastic.” • They have two primary purposes for the SAT. The first is to dispose of effluent that can be recycled. The second is to remove phosphorous, but there will be additional benefits with the removal of trace heavy metals, trace organic compounds, and personal care products. They will be adsorbed into the media of the soil. • The sand will eventually become saturated. They are projecting a useful life of 30 to 40 years for the SAT, partly based on the volcanic rock here, which has so much iron in it that sucks up the phosphorus. There will be monitoring systems in place to confirm performance over time. Commissioner Gaffney commented that all of the R-1 use figures depend essentially on the developments happening, but the various QLT projects seem to be stalled because QLT is land rich and cash poor. The future regional park has been discussed forever, but there is no apparent forward motion that he is aware of. Director Kucharski said the EA is in progress on the regional park, and there is a commitment to double pipe the entire park. Mr. Lekven added that their project includes extending an R-1 pipeline to above the top of the SAT site, where they will put in a small storage tank and make the R-1 water available for use for construction and when the park is phased in. Regarding the EIS, Chair Bennett expressed concerns about irrigating with the wastewater because of its chloride and sodium. In addition, the EIS shows a substantial amount of nitrogen in the irrigation water, with an inconsistent forecast on how much nitrogen will be used per acre of grass. Mr. Lekven said there is an opportunity to make sure salt-tolerant vegetation is planted. The recycled water will be an improvement to what Kohanaiki has been using, and the chloride levels will be comparable to the Lahaina reclamation facility on Maui, which has watered the Kaʻanapali golf course for 20 years. The Big Island’s soils are so young that there is very little clay in them, which is what causes a sodium hazard. The county has done a fantastic job in making repairs to the collection system, patching up areas where brackish groundwater infiltrated the sewer and caused increased chloride levels. The current chloride levels are about 600 to 700 milligrams per liter, which is a substantial improvement. The system has been designed so that the water coming out of the constructed wetland will have a low nitrogen content, and the county will be able to blend it with the water that is going off to create the R-1 recycled water so the nitrogen content is tailored. 8 Chair Bennett thanked Mr. Lekven for his presentation, saying they could discuss this for hours. Director Kucharski said DEM’s recycling staff was present to give their polystyrene presentation, so the meeting went next to agenda item 6b(2). (2) Status of the polystyrene educational program, and PowerPoint Presentation by the Recycling Section of the Department of Environmental Management. Director Kucharski said the industry groups have raised concerns about the ordinance, so there may be amendments being proposed to the Council prior to July 1, 2019. He called up George Hayducsko, DEM’s Recycling Coordinator, who introduced Chris Chin-Chance and Sanne Berrig, who are DEM Recycling Specialists working on the project. As time was running short, Chair Bennett asked Mr. Hayducsko to skip the PowerPoint and give the EMC an abbreviated version of the presentation to the County Council. st Mr. Hayducsko explained that the ordinance bans polystyrene starting July 1 of this year. The ordinance not only bans polystyrene products, but states what can be used as substitutes. The county’s recycling program has to respond to the markets, however, and the markets are no longer taking many of the plastics they used to take. DEM has to make sure that if they are telling people something is being recycled, it does get to the market. The main problem is plastic. The county will no longer be able to accept the popular plastic clamshell containers which they were able to accept when the bill was written. The only alternative, per the ordinance, is that a container be of certified compostable material. They have been researching this and have learned of BPI (Biodegradable Products Institute), which is a third-party independent certifier who looks at products and certifies whether they’re compostable. The rules they have drafted state that containers must be BPI certified, which means they comply with the ordinance. Mr. Hayducsko said their recycling team designed an educational program at the beginning of the year, and gave a PowerPoint presentation to the County Council on it. The Council accepted having products certified by BPI, and that is now written in the rules. They have been having discussions with the local business people on what the next step is and recently, as per the rules, set up and met with a Small Business Advisory Committee. The main recommendation of the businesses, should the ordinance go back before the Council for possible changes, is to keep it a ban on polystyrene. The businesses accept that banning polystyrene is something they want to do, but they would also like the flexibility to look at alternatives other than a certified compostable product. Chair Bennett asked whether the compostable products are readily available and expensive, and Mr. Hayducsko said that from their research and listening to the Small 9 Business Advisory Committee, some items are easily accessible and reasonably priced. However, the plastic products have to be able to handle high temperatures and are several times higher priced. After further discussion about recycling and getting to zero waste, Commissioner Gaffney stated that for the record, a monofilament fishing line recycling program is being started at Honokōhau Harbor. They hope to expand it to the other harbors on the island. They have found a buyer and are working with the Hawaiʻi Wildlife Fund and Hawaiʻi Big Game Fishing Club, who are creating bins to go near the garbage cans. Mr. Hayducsko said to let him know when it’s up, and they’ll put it on their website. Chair Bennett asked Director Kucharski to continue with his report. (1) Status of the proposed Pāhala and Nāālehu Wastewater Treatment ʻ Plants. The department and consultants with Brown & Caldwell had a meeting in Pāhala regarding funding sources for newly accessible parties, since the Code requires connection if a sewer is accessible to the home. They discussed what alternatives there are to fund the costs. (5) Testimony submitted to the State Legislature. Commissioners were provided his testimony on four bills. Chair Bennett directed the meeting back to Unfinished Business, item j. j. Follow-up discussion on Councilmember Tim Richards’ request that the Commission examine a more equitable distribution of costs for wastewater management. Chair Bennett said that Councilmember Richards had asked the EMC to think about how the cost of wastewater management could be more equitably distributed, as it seems unfair that some people have to pay to connect to a sewer lateral when everybody in the county benefits from sewering. He will be meeting with Councilmember Richards and asked if anyone wanted to join him. Commissioner Gaffney wanted to. 5. NEW BUSINESS Begin a discussion examining Hawaiʻi County’s roles, options, and constraints on funding, including using a public-private partnership to provide sewer services to the non-sewered regions of South Aliʻi Drive and Keauhou Bay. Chair Bennett said there is a significant interest in West Hawaiʻi to continue sewering the parts of Aliʻi Drive that are not sewered. There is a stretch of about 60 homes that are on cesspits. The homes on the Keauhou peninsula that are in cul-de-sacs are also 10 not sewered, and Keauhou Bay may have the poorest circulation of any coastal lands on the island. This item is on the agenda so they can start a conversation about options, such as public-private partnerships and improvement districts. There are hurdles, but they can be overcome. Commissioner Gaffney said there is community support moving forward to protect Kahaluʻu Bay. The majority of the unsewered facilities are mauka of it, and the bay has been dramatically impacted. The Kohala Center is getting involved, and the door has been opened to the creation of an improvement district for all those homes. Meetings are being scheduled, and the first is in two weeks with Roy Takemoto from the Mayor’s Office and Councilmember Villegas. Discussion has also begun with the private operator of the Heʻeia plant for Kamehameha Schools, as it makes more sense to go to the closest sewage treatment plant than to move the sewage from the 350-odd homes all the way to Kealakehe. A discussion point was raised on the possibility of initiating a new sewage treatment plant halfway between the Heʻeia plant and the Kealakehe plant. Chair Bennett said he has been working with the Kohala Center’s Kahaluʻu Bay Education Center, which has been collecting data for a decade. The data shows there is as much as 500 pounds of actual nitrogen per month that flows into the bay in the subterranean estuary. The bay got closed about a month ago due to a bacterial warning, and it turns out Hanauma Bay and another Oahu beach were closed at the same time. He researched all the data the education center had collected and discovered that when there is a big tidal flux, the underground estuary starts flowing up through the sand and conveys the bacteria growing in the sand up into the water column. The bacteria in these bays is not caused by a sewage spill. Ocean hydrologists have known of this phenomena since 2006. He just wanted to share with the commissioners the fact that these violation levels of indicator bacteria have nothing to do with sewage. It is just an organism growing in the sand that is being swept up. 7. FUTURE AGENDA ITEMS Commissioner Fritz asked Director Kucharski whether there were plans for the Puʻuanahulu land?ill to have recycling for tires, oil, vehicles, and scrap metal. Director Kucharski said there are plans to generate a large transfer station there so recycling can be done, though used motor oil is generally accepted at alternate locations. Abandoned vehicles are processed on the contractor’s property, and the material is shipped off-island for reuse. The other scrap metal, including white goods, is collected by a contractor who will sort it as necessary, compress it, and it ship off-island. DEM does have plans to put in a large transfer station at Puʻuanahulu which will take multiple materials. It will probably have a $2 million to $3 million development cost which will need to go into their CIP budget. The soonest it could happen would be in two to three years. Commissioner Fritz suggested a public-private partnership to manage things, and Director Kucharski explained that due to the Konno court decision, the state and all the counties cannot contract out services that are normally and customarily done by government workers. 11 Commissioner Fritz said he would like to have what constitutes an illegal junkyard on the next agenda, and Director Kucharski informed him those come under the Planning Department, not DEM, as they are a violation of the Zoning Code. 8. ANNOUNCEMENTS The next meeting was not announced. 9. ADJOURNMENT Motion, second, and vote: Commissioner Gaffney moved to adjourn, Commissioner Pequeño seconded, and all commissioners voted aye. The meeting adjourned at 11:23 a.m. Respectfully submitted: Mary E. Fujio, Secretary (with her signature)