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300,000 gallons of treated wastewater is discharged off Pearl Harbor

About 300,000 gallons of treated and disinfected sewage was released into the ocean off Pearl Harbor Friday and early today, the Navy reports.

The treatment plant discharged the effluent from its ocean outfall at a depth of 150 feet and 1.5 miles from shore, the Naval Facilities Engineering Command said in a statement Saturday.

The effluent was discharged without the usual sand filtration process, but is expected to be naturally dispersed with minimal human health and environmental impacts, the Navy said.

Officials said the discharge, which lasted from 7 p.m. Friday to 1 a.m. today, was caused by higher than normal amounts of solids that passed through the secondary treatment process and caused the sand filtration system to clog.

Officials said the Navy made all necessary notifications to the state Department of Health as required by the treatment plant’s permit.

The effluent went through the ultraviolet disinfection system, the final stage of treatment, before being discharged, the Navy added.

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