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WAILUKU – The state Health Department’s proposed cesspool rules would drive up property values, cost homeowners a lot of money and impose an “unnecessary burden” on local Maui families, residents testified during a public hearing Wednesday.
The new rules, if accepted by the governor, would require cesspools to be converted to septic tanks within 180 days of the sale or ownership transfer of residential properties. Property owners on Maui said cost estimates to convert their cesspools ranged from $20,000 to $80,000.
All 29 residents who testified at the Maui hearing, including county and state officials, opposed the Health Department’s more than 20 proposed changes on wastewater systems, and suggested that the “one-size-fits-all” proposal be revised to consider how Neighbor Island communities, where the vast majority of the state’s 88,000 cesspools are located, would be impacted.
“We understand that untreated wastewater from cesspools can contaminate groundwater, drinking water sources, streams and near shore waters,” Mayor Alan Arakawa said in testimony submitted to the Health Department. “However, the proposed changes will cause unnecessary financial and practical burdens to many of our residents.”
Arakawa, Maui County Council Chairwoman Gladys Baisa and others who testified Wednesday requested that the time frame of 180 days be extended to a full year to allow property owners to coordinate the planning, financing and construction of a new wastewater system. They also requested that existing cesspools located in low-risk areas – especially Upcountry – be exempt from the requirement to convert cesspools to septic tanks upon sale or transfer.
“There are many cesspools in the Upcountry area of Maui that are located substantially inland from the shoreline and at an elevation where they pose a very low risk to contaminating water sources,” Arakawa said.
The mayor also requested that the conversion not be mandatory when a property is transferred between family members. Lastly, he requested that the state provide funding to assist the county and property owners in complying with the new rules.
“This is a solution to a problem that doesn’t exist,” said Brent Christensen, who lives in the Wahikuli neighborhood of Lahaina. “Our house is built on lava rock. It’s impossible to dig, and I don’t have access to my backyard for heavy equipment, so I don’t know how you’d do it.”
He added that contractors’ estimates for the job were between $60,000 and $80,000.
“Your proposed solution is going to bankrupt people, raise property values and solve a situation that doesn’t need solving,” Christensen said.
Maui Planning Director William Spence testified that the new rules would cause those with limited incomes to bear much of the cost.
“This affects some of our older neighborhoods where a big part of our affordable housing is in, and the people buying into these neighborhoods are the least able to afford this,” Spence said. “I can’t imagine tacking on another $25,000 or more onto a piece of property when one of our critical issues in this county and the state is affordable housing.”
He said the rules should concentrate only on “high-risk areas” that are near the shoreline or abutting drinking water well zones and aquifers.
Makawao resident Edward Shiek said he wouldn’t be able to comply with the new rules even if he wanted to, since there is not enough room on his property to accommodate a septic tank system.
“The required leach field is larger than the area I have, so it’s impossible to meet your requirements,” Shiek said. Additionally, he was told by a contractor that due to his property’s small lot size, there would be no access for large construction vehicles, so “all the work would need to be done by hand with a shovel and wheelbarrow.”
Owners who’ve had cesspools on their property for decades testified that they’ve never had any problems with sewage leaking or seeping out; contrarily, septic tanks use leach fields that can pose a higher risk of contamination, residents said.
“We don’t need this. It’s just another burden on the landowner,” said Makawao resident Sherman Deponte. “Put it this way – this rule simply stinks.”
South and West Maui Sen. Roz Baker called the proposal a “one-size-fits-all rule that doesn’t address the differences we have in our communities on different islands.”
The Health Department says that the untreated wastewater from cesspools can contaminate groundwater, drinking water sources, streams and oceans with disease-causing pathogens, algae-causing nutrients and other harmful substances. The department changed its rules in the 1990s so that no new cesspools could be installed after the year 2000, though exceptions have been granted in areas in Kula and on Molokai.
“Hawaii is long overdue in eliminating construction of wastewater disposal systems depositing untreated sewage into the environment, such as cesspools,” the proposed rules state.
There are still more than 12,000 cesspools on Maui and more than 1,400 on Molokai.
The department held a hearing on Oahu last week with videoconference sites on the Neighbor Islands, including in Wailuku. County government officials and Realtors complained that there should be full public hearings with oral comment on the Neighbor Islands that would be most impacted by the changes, which prompted the department to hold full public hearings on Kauai, Hawaii Island, Molokai and Maui.
Health Department Wastewater Branch Chief Sina Pruder, who conducted the hearing Wednesday, told attendees at the end of the night that the plan is not “set in stone” and that all public comments will be taken into consideration by the department.
The administrative rule change process does not require legislative review. The governor will make the final decision on the changes.
Written testimony will be accepted by mail as long as it is postmarked by 4:30 p.m. today. Comments may be mailed to Wastewater Branch, Environmental Management Division, state Department of Health, 919 Ala Moana Blvd., Room 309, Honolulu 96814-4920.
The proposed rules may be viewed online at health.hawaii.gov/wastewater/home/public_notice. For more information, contact the Wastewater Branch at (808) 586-4294.
* Eileen Chao can be reached at echao@mauinews.com.