Citing data that they claim shows excessive human and animal waste residue in Kalapaki Bay, Kaua’i High School science students are asking state health officials to find the source of the pollution and correct the problem. They claim people are
Citing data that they claim shows excessive human and animal waste residue in Kalapaki Bay, Kaua’i High School science students are asking state health officials to find the source of the pollution and correct the problem. They claim people are becoming ill from the pollution, and want the state to post signs that warn that the waters are polluted.
Water Samples taken at the northeast and northwest parts of the bay and Pu’ali Stream from April 1 to April 7 showed concentrations of enterococcus bacteria in excess of federal and state safety standards, said their instructor Patrick Cockett.
Cockett is an 11th grade science teacher who participated in the testing that involved 75 of his students. They were assisted by Dr. Carl Berg, a marine scientist from Kaua’i.
The test results point to a continual pollution of the bay. Over the years, fuel and sewage has spilled into the bay, forcing its periodic closure.
The student water test results contradict what the state has found in periodic testing for the bacteria in the bay, Cockett said.
State water quality specialists take samples from the middle of the shoreline of the bay and usually find no dangerous levels of the bacteria, Cockett said.
Yet, the student tests show excessive bacteria counts at both ends of the beach, he said.
“Violations are occurring, up to 1,000 times of the state standards,” Cockett said. “The DOH is taking samples in the wrong places.”
But DOH official Gary Gill said the bacteria is found naturally in tropical areas and that its presence is not a signal that “the waters are unsafe or unhealthy.”
Earlier this year, at least 50,000 gallons from a 258,000-gallon sewage spill at a county treatment plant near the Lihue Airport found its way to Nawiliwili Stream, which empties into the bay, Berg said.
The beach along the bay and its offshore waters, which front the Kaua’i Marriott Resort & Beach Club, one of the island’s premier hotels, is a popular recreational area for visitors and residents.
Cockett’s students plan to send letters to Gill that essentially ask his department correct the problem.
Student Phillip Pembrook wrote that people have gotten sick swimming in the bay and that he wants the DOH to get to “bottom of what’s causing the waters to be so polluted in Nawiliwili Bay.”
Berg contends that people have developed conjunctivitis (red eye), sore throats and other illnesses after swimming in the bay or streams.
The DOH, however, has issued no reports of people becoming sick after being in the water.
Another student, Isaac Dotimas, said he learned how to swim in a stream by the bay, but noted now “I don’t swim there at all because of the bacteria.”
The most recent sewage spill prompted the student water survey, Cockett said.
“DOH said the bay could be reopened a few days after the spill, that the water was safe and that there was no problem,” Cockett said. “It wasn’t so.”
Safe federal levels for the bacteria are 35 per 100 milliliter (about a half cup) of water; the state is 7 per 100 milliliters of water.
One of Cockett’s classes conducted tests along the northeastern part of the bay and registered readings from 70 to 100 per 100 milliliters in their samples.
Another class conducted tests along both sides of Nawiliwili Stream, registering a range of 200 to 300 per 100 milliliters.
And a third class registered an average reading of 500 per 100 milliliters for samples from Pu’ali Stream.
The source of the bacteria was never determined, Cockett said. Moving upstream, he said he took test samples at the county wastewater treatment plant and found no evidence of the bacteria.
Cockett said the DOH needs to put signs on the beach to warn the public about potentially hazardous health conditions, find the source of the bacteria and correct the problem.
Gill said he is aware of the testing and noted the bacteria is commonly found in tropical areas, and “in particular, we see a high level of enterococcus bacteria even when there is no input (or organic matter) to the water.”
Gill said the bacteria most likely “lives and replicates in the soil in tropical areas, so it can also come from birds or living things.”
“In the tropics after a rainstorm, you have runoff from agricultural or urban areas,” he said. “We see the bacteria spikes that don’t indicate a health problem.”
Gill said the sample test kits used by Berg are a “good education tool,” and that DOH doesn’t want to discourage students from studying the environment.
Gary Ueunten, the DOH water quality specialist on Kaua’i, has worked closely with Berg and apparently with the students, Gill said, adding “We appreciate their concern and we will continue to work with them.”
Staff writer Lester Chang can be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 225) and mailto:lchang@pulitzer.net
