Hawaii County officials believe they are capable of repairing the island’s ailing wastewater infrastructure before a series of deadlines mandated by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
The County Council Committee on Government Operations and External Affairs on Tuesday discussed a resolution authorizing the mayor to sign an Administrative Order On Consent between the county and the EPA.
The agreement, developed in the wake of a various of wastewater-related violations at three county facilities over the last decade, establishes a series of goals and deadlines for the county to remediate the problems or else face potential legal consequences and fines.
The agreement includes dozens of deadlines, some of which are imminent. The agreement orders the county to develop a spill response plan, an asset management system plan, and a preliminary priority ranked list of all its wastewater infrastructure in need of repair within the next six months, and work to rehabilitate the Hilo Wastewater Treatment Plant must go out to bid by October.
However, Department of Environmental Management Director Ramzi Mansour told the committee that he believes the county should be able to meet each deadline.
“I feel comfortable with these deadlines,” Mansour said, adding the terms of the agreement had been hammered out over a year of negotiations with the EPA. “They’ve given us a great road map. There’s plenty of redundancy.”
County Corporation Counsel Elizabeth Strance added that failing to comply with the deadlines could result in the EPA filing a lawsuit against the county.
While the agreement makes no mention of the financial cost of the required actions it enumerates, county Managing Director Deanna Sako said a more detailed financial outlook for the agreement should be completed by the last quarter of the year.
The committee members congratulated Mansour for his work negotiating the agreement. Mansour said he distilled thousands of pages of county reports and records into a comparatively svelte and simple 26-page document.
“This holds everyone accountable for a can that’s been kicked down the road for decades,” said Hilo Councilwoman Sue Lee Loy. “Maybe with this, we can finally get this done.”
The committee voted unanimously in support of the resolution, forwarding the matter to the next full meeting of the council in two weeks.
Email Michael Brestovansky at mbrestovansky@hawaiitribune-herald.com.
