FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                                 January 29, 2005

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Contact: Mark Matsunaga, 352-1258

DEBRIS, RAIN CAUSE FOUR WASTEWATER SPILLS

          Environmental Services Department crews report that construction debris and plastic bags caused this aftgernoon’s sewage spill on Kalanianaole Highway near Hawaii Loa Ridge.

          More than 100,000 gallons of untreated sewage overflowed from a manhole near Pu’u Ikena Drive between noon and 7 p.m.  One east-bound lane of Kalanianaole Highway was closed for most of  the afternoon.

          City crews found the sewer main was blocked with pieces of lumber, plastic bags and grease. That caused the sewage to back up and overflow. Some of the spill flowed into nearby Kawaikui Beach Park.

It is unknown how the foreign objects got into the sewage system.  While the rain didn’t cause the spill, it contributed to the volume. 

          Runoff from the rain was to blame for three smaller spills at:

·       Waimanalo Wastewater Treatment Plant, 41-1060 Kalanianaole Highway. About 700 gallons of partially treated wastewater spilled when injection wells at the plant overflowed. The wastewater had been filtered and disinfected.  Some of it ran into an adjacent ravine. The treatment plant is scheduled for $20 million in upgrades to begin later this year.

·       Navy Marine Golf Course, 943 Valkenburgh Street, Aliamanu. An estimated 5,000 to 7,000 gallons of untreated sewage overflowed from a manhole on the driving range of the military golf course. The spill was reported at 2:50 p.m. and ended at 5 p.m.  The wastewater was confined to the driving range. Cleanup is scheduled to begin tomorrow.

·        Kawaihae Street and May Way in Hawaii Kai. Roughly 40,000 gallons of untreated sewage flowed from a manhole. The spill began about 2:30 p.m. and the volume abated significantly by 6 p.m. The spill occurred where the city sewage system that serves Kuliouou joins the privately operated Hawaii Kai system.

            The State Health Department has been notified and warning signs have been posted at all of the spill locations. Contact Athan Adachi, chief of  the Division of Wastewater Treatment and Disposal, at   620-0247 for details on the Waimanalo spill. Contact Jim Baginski, assistant chief of the Collection System Maintenance Division of the Environmental Services Department, at 222-9653 for the others.

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