Don’t allow sewage spill repeat

It’s certainly not the image of world-famous Waikiki Beach that Hawaii wants televised nationally, let alone globally. But there it was, on the national and international news reels: “BEACH CLOSED” signs along the sandy shore, with brown murky water due to storm runoff and 500,000 gallons of spilled sewage.

The optics are cringe-worthy — particularly so, realizing that one decision, better timed, could have averted this public-health debacle. One of two pumps at the key Keawe Street wastewater pumping station had been taken offline in order to connect a new force main — but this work should have been delayed given the threat of Tropical Storm Kilo and flash-flood advisories triggered by heavy rains. It was not, and the pumping station got overloaded.

A crucial lesson learned, as both pumps are now back on line — just in time as another tropical storm threatens from the East Pacific. Let’s hope no other snafus compound problems for Oahu’s notoriously deteriorated sewage system.

For now, the contaminated mess remains. Beachgoers are urged to keep out of waters in the 4-mile stretch from Waikiki’s Kapahulu Groin to Kakaako’s Point Panic, while the brown water is being tested and gets a chance to clear.

“We want to make it clear it is dangerous,” warned Honolulu Emergency Services spokeswoman Shayne Enright on Monday. “ … Please stay out of the water for at least a couple of days or until we have the OK to go in.”

She added ominously: “We don’t know what’s in the water. You could get a serious infection, get extremely sick or even worse.”

With reports of sewage gushing from manholes at Ala Moana Beach Park, onto streets by Ala Moana Center and from a pumping station, “all I can do is apologize to the public,” said Lori Kahikina, the city’s director of environmental services. “This is unheard of. It’s unprecedented.”

Unfortunately, it’s hardly the first time storms have overwhelmed the city wastewater system, causing beach closures or inviting negative scrutiny.

Heavy rains on Oct. 30, 2004, caused major flooding through Manoa Valley and millions of dollars in damage at the University of Hawaii-Manoa, a disaster exacerbated by poor maintenance of storm drains. That episode underscored the necessity of keeping storm drains clear of plant and other debris, upkeep that must continue statewide with vigilance.

In 2006, in one of Oahu’s worst spills, some 48 million gallons of raw sewage poured into the Ala Wai Canal and Waikiki beaches when an aging line ruptured. That and other violations of the Clean Water Act led to the 2010 consent decree with the Environmental Protection Agency, a $5.2 billion mandate to upgrade Oahu’s aging sewer system. Ironically, it was a new main hookup under this consent decree that took the Keawe Street pump offline, which hobbled capacity and contributed to Monday’s half-million-gallon spillage into Waikiki waters.

With every major sewage spill, questions resurge about capacity and overload. The prospect of some 30 new high-rises slated for Kakaako, especially, have many residents and businesses there worried. Sewage odors have plagued the area for years, and residents in the One Waterfront Towers luxury condos two years ago even threatened to sue over the stench. At the time, area state Rep. Scott Saiki noted that the “HCDA’s (Hawaii Community Development Authority’s) consideration of infrastructure improvements seems to be piecemeal and after the fact, meaning that they are considering these issues after applications are being approved.”

In a January 2014 report to the City Council, though, the city Department of Environmental Services said that the city does check sewers for capacity before adding new connections. Still, the doubts continue — and they are raised anew whenever the city’s sewer system fails to handle existing demands, as happened this week.

It’s already been a busy hurricane season of near-misses for Hawaii — Kilo was the latest, but now, Tropical Storm Ignacio is starting to form. If mere downpours managed to leave behind Waikiki’s sewage mess, we fear what havoc a direct hit would wreak. From battening down hatches to keeping pumping stations pumping, we all need to plan smarter and be prepared.