Crews with the city Department of Environmental Services used Vactor trucks to scoop up about 150,000 gallons of raw sewage spilled from a broken pipe onto undeveloped Navy land next to the Waipio Soccer Complex in Waipahu, a city official said Wednesday.
That’s just under a one-fourth of the estimated 614,400 gallons that spilled out of the broken wastewater force main late Saturday night.
Vactor trucks are designed specifically to remove sewage.
Frank Coluccio Construction was hired through an emergency procurement contract to excavate the 1.5-acre spill site and repair the ruptured 48-inch pipe, city spokesman Andrew Pereira said. The repair is expected to take about a week, and how much Coluccio will be paid won’t be known until then, he said.
None of the sewage reached either nearby West Loch or the ocean, and the soccer complex kept its regular hours.
City settles case involving inoperable lift
The city has agreed to pay $5,000 to settle a disability discrimination case brought by a person who tried to visit the satellite city hall location at Fort Street Mall.
The customer filed the claim with the Hawaii Civil Rights Commission because the elevator leading to the underground facility from the mall’s ground level was inoperable. City Customer Services Deputy Director Randy Leong said the elevator was down for one day.
Under the settlement, the city must review its nondiscrimination policy, provide training for satellite city hall staff to ensure understanding of disability discrimination in public accommodations, and maintain legible signs at the stairs and elevator to the Fort Street Mall facility.
The case was settled with no admission of wrongdoing by the city.
“It is the policy of the City and County of Honolulu to provide equal access for all persons, regardless of disability, to its services, activities, programs, and facilities,” Customer Services said in a release. “The settlement confirms the commitment by the city that its programs and services are accessible to persons with disabilities under Title II of the (Americans with Disabilities Act) and to train facility managers and staff on the importance of maintaining an accessible route.”
Alala released into the wild on Big Island
The ‘Alala Project released five Hawaiian crows into the forest on the windward slopes of Mauna Loa this week, boosting the number of wild alala to 16.
The birds — two females and three males — join 11 formerly captive alala now thriving within the Pu‘u Maka‘ala Natural Area Reserve, the first wild crows on the Big Island in 15 years.
Project officials reported that it took 53 minutes for the first bird to venture outside the release aviary after it was opened.
“All but the last one flew. It strolled out and quickly joined the others already exploring their new home,” a news release said.
The project, a partnership between the state Department of Land and Natural Resources, San Diego Zoo Global and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, says it will release another five birds in October.
Ford’s time in isles
After Christine Blasey Ford relocated to California, her studies included a 1994-95 Ph.D. internship at the Counseling and Student Development Center at the University of Hawaii at Manoa.
UH spokesman Dan Meisenzahl confirmed that Ford, then Christine Blasey, studied in Hawaii.
