LIHUE — The County of Kauai is fighting stricter water quality standards at its Wailua Wastewater Treatment Plant, which already has a history of exceeding certain pollutant limitations. A new discharge permit for the facility, issued by the state Department
LIHUE — The County of Kauai is fighting stricter water quality standards at its Wailua Wastewater Treatment Plant, which already has a history of exceeding certain pollutant limitations.
A new discharge permit for the facility, issued by the state Department of Health in October, “establishes effluent limits not technically feasible to achieve,” the county Department of Public Works wrote in comments to DOH in August.
DPW added it is concerned “that the people of Kauai will be burdened with pursuing an endless quest to achieve such compliance.”
The county has since filed a request for a contested case hearing, asserting that DOH “has not properly evaluated the factual and legal issues” and “acted arbitrarily and capriciously” in issuing National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System and Zone of Mixing permits for the plant.
Deputy County Attorney Jodi Higuchi-Sayegusa said in a statement that the county is meeting the fundamental regulations set by the Environmental Protection Agency, which have not changed for years.
“In the contested case, the county hopes to clarify the application of new conditions in the county’s (NPDES) Permit for the Wailua Wastewater Treatment Plant based on all the available data and scientifically defensible analyses,” he said.
In other words, the county says complying with the new standards, specifically for ammonia nitrogen, will be next to impossible.
The Wailua plant discharges up to 1.5 million gallons of treated effluent per day through a “deep ocean outfall” that begins approximately 670 feet offshore of Lydgate Beach and 30 feet below the ocean surface.
The diffuser sits approximately 1,500 feet south of the keiki pool at Lydgate Beach Park.
In a Summary of Compliance related to the issued permit, DOH outlined several incidents in which the Wailua plant exceeded water quality standards between 2009 and 2012. Those pollutants included chlorine and Enterococcus bacteria, an indicator of fecal contamination.
Water quality specialist Dr. Carl Berg said the main issue is that the plant is not working properly.
“Too high bacteria loads being dumped,” he said after reviewing the documents. “Rules changed and they have to meet new bacteria and ammonia standards which they can’t meet.”
Berg questioned why the county would choose to spend taxpayer money fighting stricter environmental controls.
The “county should have done the pono thing and upgraded the WWTP years ago and stopped dumping in the ocean,” he said.
During an executive session April 9, the Kauai County Council voted 7-0 to approve a request by the county attorney to expend $20,000 to retain special counsel to represent the county in the contest case.
Although he could not discuss the issue in detail, Council Chair Jay Furfaro said the council has concerns about changes in permit requirements and is seeking clarification.
In a response to county concerns, DOH maintained that implementation of the new standards is “not discretionary” and must be done “in a manner protective of water quality.”
The department established a 10-year compliance schedule to provide enough time for the county to identify methods to meet the new objectives, specifically for ammonia nitrogen. The first of 14 required tasks is to secure funding to evaluate its alternatives and submit a report by Oct. 30.
“DOH assumes that substantial and costly facility alterations may be necessary, but identifying specific methods to comply … is the responsibility of the Permittee,” it wrote in its response to county concerns.
“Additionally,” DOH said, “the (county) may evaluate alternative methods besides treatment to achieve compliance,” including other disposal methods and reuse.
The county, however, called the 10-year schedule “unreasonable” because DOH did not address whether achieving the final effluent limits is in fact feasible.
County spokeswoman Mary Daubert did not have an estimate of how much future upgrades to the plant would cost, but said it “may be substantial.”
DOH Public Information Officer Janice Okubo said because it is a contested case, she could not discuss the matter in detail. However, DOH has the ability to fine the county up to $25,000 per day, per violation for noncompliance, she said.
“A lot of times (when) we pursue an enforcement case there are variables to penalties,” she said.
For years, the Kauai Surfrider Foundation’s Blue Water Task Force has been collecting monthly water samples off of Lydgate Beach. Berg said that on multiple occasions Enterococcus bacteria counts there have registered “in the thousands” for a single sample, despite the fact that anything above 104 bacteria per 100 ml is considered polluted.
In December of both 2009 and 2011, the Wailua plant exceeded effluent discharge limitations for Enterococcus, according to documents.
Berg said his greater concerns include the county using the ocean as a dump site and that what they refer to as “wastewater” actually contains valuable nutrients that could be used elsewhere.
“The ocean is not a dump site,” he said. “I am just appalled that at this day in age an island community would even consider (discharging treated effluent).”
In its 16-page request for a hearing, the county outlined several additional concerns about the new permits, including required testing methods and shoreline monitoring schedules. It has requested that the permits be revised to exclude certain effluent limits as well as the 10-year compliance schedule.
“The County will be able to further elaborate on the case once administrative litigation is completed in Nov. 24-26, 2014,” Higuchi-Sayegusa said in his statement.
• Chris D’Angelo, environmental reporter, can be reached at 245-0441 or cdangelo@thegardenisland.com.
