CITY RESPONDS TO STORM WARNING;

RUNOFF CAUSES ANOTHER WASTEWATER SPILL

City buses that would normally use the Pali Highway will continue to be diverted to Likelike Highway tomorrow morning, whether the state clears the highway of mudslides overnight or not, City Transportation Services officials decided tonight. The affected routes are 55, 56, 57 and 65.

The highway was closed in both directions today because of slides near the tunnels and near Castle Junction. The closure and the rain caused lengthy delays in pau hana traffic.

City agencies spent the day responding to flooding and related problems on Oahu and were standing by to respond to heavy rains initially forecast for this evening. With the worst of the rain apparently over, the Oahu Civil Defense Agency’s Emergency Operations Center has been deactivated.

The Department of Facility Maintenance helped remove water from three homes in Kaaawa that flooded this evening. Tonight’s Manoa Neighborhood Board meeting was cancelled.

The rains that fell on an already-saturated Windward Oahu caused another wastewater spill at the City’s Kaneohe Pretreatment Facility this afternoon following three spills there this morning.

A heavy influx of runoff caused an estimated 4,200 gallons of untreated wastewater to overflow from two manholes at the plant between 1:30 and 3:30 p.m. At least some of the wastewater entered nearby Kaua Stream, which leads into Kaneohe Bay.

The state Department of Health has been notified. Water samples are being collected and warning signs are being posted. The public is advised to heed the signs and avoid affected areas.

The Health Department requires that all spills of more than 1,000 gallons and any that reach public waters must be publicly reported.

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Contact:

Bill Brennan, 527-6928

Mark Matsunaga, 527-5767

Thursday, November 02, 2006