Two of Hawaii’s water bodies — at Kamilo Beach on the Big Island and Tern Island at French Frigate Shoals — are “impaired” by plastic pollution, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, and in violation of the federal Clean Water Act.
The federal Clean Water Act requires the EPA to designate as impaired all water bodies that fail to meet state water-quality standards. Once a water body is designated as impaired, officials must take action to reduce the pollution in it.
The EPA said state officials must take corrective actions and establish a daily limit, specifically for waters at Kamilo Beach at the southern point of Hawaii island, which has long been nicknamed “plastic beach,” and for Tern Island at Papahanaumokuakea Marine National Monument.
There is readily available data and information for these two water bodies to be on the list, the EPA said. A public notice has been published, and comments can be submitted to the EPA in writing on or before Aug. 19.
The EPA’s decision comes as a result of a lawsuit filed earlier this year by several nonprofits, including the Center for Biological Diversity, Surfrider Foundation and Sustainable Coastlines Hawaii.
In the suit, the nonprofits alleged that the EPA failed to protect 17 coastal water bodies around Hawaii, including the two sites, from wide-scale plastic pollution. These water bodies should have been on a list of impaired waters prepared by the state Health Department years ago, the suit said, which was nevertheless approved by the EPA in 2018.
Maxx Phillips, the Center for Biological Diversity’s Hawaii director, considered the decision “precedent setting” for Hawaii, given that it is the first time plastic will be considered a pollutant in the state under the Clean Water Act.
It also overrules repeated attempts by Hawaii officials to deny evidence of plastic pollution harming bodies of water around the islands.
“Kamilo Beach is notorious for being covered in plastic, and this EPA finding will push state and federal agencies to face that reality,” said Phillips. “Ocean plastic pollution is a crisis here in Hawaii. It chokes wildlife and carries toxins onto our beaches and through our food web. Hawaii’s Department of Health is now being forced to finally address this threat.”
In a letter to the state Health Department, John Busterud, EPA regional administrator, said those two beaches must be included in water quality management plans to reduce the impact of plastic pollution on its waters, beaches and wildlife.
The state Health Department did not respond to a request for comment.
Plastic pollution in Hawaii ranges from microplastics — itty-bitty pieces measuring less than 5 millimeters — to massive piles of plastic waste along Kamilo Beach.
It poses a serious threat to Hawaii’s water quality and vulnerable marine ecosystems, the nonprofits said, with plastics expected to outweigh all fish in the sea by 2050. Microplastics can absorb environmental toxins, then get eaten by fish and other marine life and eventually be consumed by humans.
“While this is a good incremental step in the right direction, it’s really just the tip of the iceberg to truly understanding the impact of plastic on our waters and the species that depend on it, going up the food chain to our human health,” said Phillips.
The center wanted the list to include other water bodies in Hawaii, including those off of Nanakuli Beach on Oahu and several Kauai beaches. A growing body of science, she said, shows “irrefutable evidence” that the majority of Hawaii waterways are impaired by plastic pollution.
Phillips would like the government to go after producers of the plastic, as well as for the EPA to produce a comprehensive guide on plastic pollution in waterways for all jurisdictions required to submit lists of impaired waters.
Volunteers from both Surfrider and Sustainable Coastlines Hawaii have witnessed plastic pollution along state shorelines firsthand for years.
“While we appreciate this monumental step with the listing of these two sites as impaired, there is immense work still to be done,” said Sustainable Coastline’s executive director, Rafael Bergstrom. “Most of the waters and coastlines of Hawaii are plagued by marine debris and microplastic, leaving them unquestionably impaired. Our Department of Health should be concerned about the severity of the issue and not evading responsibility.”
The fossil fuel industry and plastic producers must also be held accountable, he said.
INPUT SOUGHT
All interested persons wishing to comment on the EPA’s action to add to Hawaii’s 2018 List of Impaired Waters under the Clean Water Act, Section 303(d), may submit written comments to Eric Dubinsky at dubinsky.eric@epa.gov or contact him at 415-972-3517 for assistance. Comments must be submitted in writing on or before Aug. 19.
