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The state Department of Agriculture has been ordered to pay a $465,000 fine for discharging sewage into Halawa Stream on Oahu for two months last summer.
The state Department of Health has also ordered agricultural officials to take “corrective action” to prevent spills by developing an emergency standby power source and a warning system after a power outage forced its wastewater pre-treatment facility offline.
The Agriculture Department’s Halawa animal quarantine facility treats animal and human waste before it goes into the sewage system.
Health officials said on June 13, 2016, a power outage caused the pre-treatment facility’s pump system to stop working. “Without power, wastewater overflowed from the pretreatment facility into Halawa Stream until Aug. 15, 2016, when temporary pumps were installed and water was shut off,” the DOH said Wednesday in a news release.
Keith Kawaoka, deputy director of environmental health, said the Halawa animal quarantine facility is in dire need of modernization.
“An emergency standby power source and a warning system, among other corrections, must be in place to prevent future spills and protect the environment,” Kawaoka said.
Agriculture Department Director Scott Enright said his department plans to appeal the fine.
Enright said his department and the Health Department are in discussions on the amount of overflow into Halawa Stream. The DOH did not specify an amount in its news release.
Enright said his department has asked for capital improvement funds to fix the sewage system at Halawa.
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