PRINCEVILLE — Saturday started in sewage for a few guests at The Westin Princeville Ocean Resort Villas when a system failure spilled raw human waste into the bathrooms of one of the resort’s guest buildings, affecting about 5 percent of
PRINCEVILLE — Saturday started in sewage for a few guests at The Westin Princeville Ocean Resort Villas when a system failure spilled raw human waste into the bathrooms of one of the resort’s guest buildings, affecting about 5 percent of all of their rooms.
“The sewage backup affected some guest room toilets and a small area adjacent to the elevator landing on one floor,” said June Cappiello, resort spokesperson.
Cappiello said staff responded immediately to the situation and it was contained within an hour. They took the rest of the day to sanitize the affected areas.
She said the sewage was pumped directly back into the sanitary sewer system.
“It was all on hard surfaces and we wanted to make sure to address the sanitation of the affected areas,” Cappiello said. “By the next morning it was business as usual.”
Janice Okubu, director of communications for Hawaii Department of Health, said the agency received a notification of the incident.
“As we understand, the sewage was contained on the property and did not enter state waters,” Okubu said.
Cappiello said the incident didn’t affect visitor flow, and the resort contacted each of the affected guests.
“Only three of the guests requested to be moved around,” Cappiello said, “and several guests chose to stay within the rooms.”
The cause of the spill is under investigation.
