The number of polluted streams, rivers and coastal waters in Hawai’i is nearly five times higher than reported by the state three years ago, according to the federal Environmental Protection Agency. A recent federal court review concluded that instead of
The number of polluted streams, rivers and coastal waters in Hawai’i is nearly five times higher than reported by the state three years ago, according to the federal Environmental Protection Agency.
A recent federal court review concluded that instead of 19 polluted sites identified by the state Department of Health in 1998, a total of 111 – 30 coastal waters and 81 streams – showed evidence of pollution from bacteria, trash and sediment.
The 16 polluted Kaua’i sites include Hanapepe Bay, Nawiliwili Harbor, Huleia Stream and Hanalei Bay, among the island’s most popular recreational sites for residents and visitors.
Other Kaua’i sites considered polluted are Waimea Bay, Kapa’a Stream, Hanalei Bay, Huleia Stream, Hanapepe River, Nawiliwili Bay, Waimea Bay, Hanapepe Bay, Hanama’ulu Bay, Hanalei Bay Landing, Kalihiwai Bay, Wailua River and Koloa Landing.
If anti-pollution efforts by Hawai’i are not satisfactory, EPA will “step in and take action,” said Dave Smith, an EPA official in San Francisco.
June Harrigan, manager of the environmental planning office with the state health department, said that with the pollution list approved by EPA, the department will develop plans to analyze the extent of the pollution at each site and “bring the water back into compliance” with federal environmental laws.
Harrigan said the job is sizable and will take “quite a while.”
The revised list will help EPA and the state “focus on specific polluted beaches and streams, and how we can address causes of the pollution such as runoff from urban and agricultural areas,” said Alexis Strauss, a water division director for EPA’s Pacific and southwest regions.
Harrigan said the majority of the funds for the work is likely to come from the EPA or from fines assessed against Hawai’i residents who violated the federal Clean Water Act.
Hawai’i has received EPA grants for environmental cleanup projects in the past and likely will again to address the current polluted sites, said Mike Ardito, an EPA spokesman in San Francisco.
In September, U.S. District Judge David Ezra agreed with a lawsuit filed by the O’ahu-based Hihiwai Stream Restoration Coalition that claimed EPA’s approval of Hawaii’s list of 19 polluted water sites was in error.
But Smith said the EPA accepted the sites based on “information Hawai’i had at the time.”
EPA’s revised list is based on water-quality data collected from 1993 to 1998 and visits to nearly 100 bodies of water in 1996-97. The EPA is currently seeking public comment on the new list.
The list may grow as Hawai’i, like other states, is required by federal laws to update the list. Hawai’i is to issue one by next October.
Hawaii’s number of polluted sites, small compared with other states, represent less than 20 percent of all water sources in the state, Smith said.
Most of the polluted Hawai’i waters are streams in urban and agricultural areas, rivers, bays and harbors, according to EPA.
Health department official Gary Gill said Hawaii’s water pollution problems are “usually along the shorelines and in middle-to-lower reaches of streams where silt and excess nutrients can damage the environment.”
Reduced water flow, alien plants and species and concrete channels also harm streams, Gill said.
The list of polluted sources includes 58 sites on O’ahu, including renowned landmarks like Honolulu Harbor, Pearl Harbor, Hanauma Bay and the Ala Wai Canal, 15 on Mau’i and 20 on Big Island.
Staff writer Lester Chang can be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 225) and mailto:lchang@pulitzer.net
