The Department of Health says the estimated 3,200 gallons of raw sewage that spilled when a septic truck overturned in a Wailua neighborhood Monday does not pose a public health threat. The accident occurred on Kainahola Road between Kainahola Reservoir
The Department of Health says the estimated 3,200 gallons of raw sewage that spilled when a septic truck overturned in a Wailua neighborhood Monday does not pose a public health threat.
The accident occurred on Kainahola Road between Kainahola Reservoir and the Kapa‘a Poi factory.
According to police, April Soares, of Soares Septic Service, was operating the septic truck when it overturned. Police have said speed may have been a factor in the accident, which occurred on a posted 15 mph road.
Though there is a cesspool in the neighborhood shared by residents, DOH officials said Soares Septic Service would have been required by law to dump what it was hauling at the Lihu‘e Wastewater Treatment plant.
DOH officials said they will be investigating where Soares Septic has been pumping and discharging its loads over the past few weeks.
Soares family members tended to the spill Monday by pouring chlorine bleach directly on top of the area, Janice Okubo, DOH director, said.
Police had called the DOH as well as a hazmat team to respond to the scene earlier that day.
Okubo said one of the department’s initial concerns was whether a nearby waterway or other area might be affected by runoff from the spill, but said after a visual inspection, the DOH determined the “matter was drying up” and that there was no waterway nearby.
“(The department officer) also noticed by visual inspection there wasn’t pooling that could be a hazard to people,” she said.
As a precaution, health officials asked the property owner of the residence upon which the sewage was spilled to relocate his livestock for seven to 14 days, Okubo said.
“After that time, nature will take its course and the bacteria will have been taken care of,” she said.
Okubo said the DOH is conducting an investigation and has forwarded its report to its enforcement division, which would determine whether any fines would be imposed on Soares Septic Service.
Mary Daubert, county spokeswoman, said police haven’t issued any citations in relation to the spill.
The company will have to submit a report on what steps it took to help clean the spill, according to the DOH, by the end of today.
• Amanda C. Gregg, assistant editor/staff writer, can be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 252) or agregg@kauaipubco.com.
