HWEA held its first in-person quarterly luncheon since the beginning of the pandemic at the usual location in Dave & Buster's Kakaako on April 26. It was a joyous occasion to see friends and colleagues in person again after more than two years, share a delicious meal, and catch up about recent developments. The highlights of the event, beside than the traditional raffle, were the presentations and the subsequent conversation about Hawaii's cesspool issue.
After HWEA President Alicia and Vice President Cari shared some general updates, HWEA Government Affairs Committee Chair Joachim updated the attendees about a legislative measure, House Bill 2195, that was recently transmitted to the Governor. If and when the bill passes into law, it will create a grant program for low-income homeowners to receive financial assistance for converting their cesspool. A cesspool is a hole in the ground that disposes of untreated wastewater, for example from toilets and/or kitchen sinks. There are approximately 88,000 cesspools across the islands that pose a threat to both environmental and public health, and all of them have to legally be converted by 2050 according to Act 125 (2017).
For the main presentation of the event, Sina Pruder from the Department of Health Wastewater (DOH) Branch and Christin Reynolds from One World, One Water provided a status update of the Cesspool Conversion Working Group (CCWG) that was established based on Act 132 (2018). The CCWG is nearing the end of its appointed timeline and therefore the submission of its final report to the legislature, in which it will outline findings, recommendations, and proposed legislation. Sina and Christin explained that, while the biggest challenge is funding for this ~$2 billion statewide problem, other hurdles include community misconceptions as well as a need for more cesspool-related workers. The presentation was followed by a Q&A session before the end of this enjoyable luncheon.
Additional information can be found at the DOH website: https://health.hawaii.gov/wastewater/ccwg/ https://health.hawaii.gov/wastewater/cesspools/
Joachim “Joko” Schneider HWEA Government Affairs Committee Chair government-affairs@hwea.org