Renowned reef expert Greg Asner<\/a> backs the mayor up, calling the deadline \u201cvery pie in the sky.\u201d<\/p>\n Alameda\u2019s stance might sound like an about-face from his campaign promise last year to make his island\u2019s waste problem a top priority. But it\u2019s actually a recognition of the depth and scope of the problem.<\/p>\n \u201cIn my talk stories when I was campaigning, I said, \u2018How dare the feds, you know, give us this mandate without any funds?\u2019\u201d Alameda said. \u201cCome to find out, it\u2019s a state mandate!\u201d<\/p>\n When he found that out, he said he picked up the phone.<\/p>\n \u201cI talked to Josh,\u201d he said \u2014 Gov. Josh Green, that is.<\/p>\n Alameda said he told Green he wants to see Act 125 revised. Push the deadline back. Don\u2019t require every single cesspool to be converted. Be strategic.<\/p>\n A portion of Hawai\u02bbi\u2019s new \u201cgreen fee<\/a>\u201d championed by the governor should go to homeowners trying to convert their cesspools in Alameda\u2019s view. Starting in 2026, the new fee increases by .75% the state\u2019s transient accommodation tax to support environmental protection and climate resilience. It\u2019s expected to raise about $100 million annually.<\/p>\n Alameda isn\u2019t depending on the state to do everything either. He\u2019s convening a task force of experts to chart a path forward for Hawai\u02bbi island, including Arizona State University\u2019s Asner, a Big Island resident.<\/p>\n He also directed the island\u2019s Department of Environmental Management to produce a countywide integrated wastewater management plan by this fall. And he\u2019s meeting with hard-hit communities such Puak\u014d that are actively trying to trade cesspools for modern alternatives.<\/p>\n As much as Alameda would like to rid his island of these noxious pits, he said there\u2019s not enough money to compensate homeowners to make the costly conversions. There\u2019s currently no dedicated fund to help them convert to septic tanks, he said, which typically costs between $25,000 and $45,000.<\/p>\n Nor is there an adequate labor force \u2014 the engineers, contractors and others \u2014 to do the work.<\/p>\n He suggests the mandate needs some revision. Not all cesspools are alike. Some are too far from the ocean to be problematic and septic tanks may not even be the answer. They also leach sewage, pharmaceuticals and other pollutants into the groundwater, and then the ocean.<\/p>\n \u201cTraditional septic is not really a solution for us,\u201d agreed Susan Jamerson, a rural development specialist on the Big Island who advises communities on wastewater matters. \u201cIt really isn\u2019t that much better than cesspools.\u201d<\/p>\n Pollution Threatens Swimmers, Drinking Water<\/p>\n Despite its worldwide reputation for turquoise beaches, coral reefs and tropical fish, Hawai\u02bbi\u2019s underwater environment is bombarded by substantial amounts of pollution.<\/p>\n It\u2019s subjected to some 53 million gallons of sewage pollution from underground plumes every day, according to state health officials<\/a>. More than 30 million gallons of that leak into Big Island waters, including at popular beaches in Kona, Waikoloa and Puak\u014d. Those discharges have been traced back to cesspools and septic tanks.<\/p>\n That pollution imperils reefs, fish, seaweed and other marine species, and it exposes surfers and swimmers to unhealthy levels of bacteria.<\/p>\n \u201cWe do know that Hawai\u02bbi has the highest rate of staph and MRSA infections in the entire country,\u201d said Stuart Coleman, executive director of Wastewater Alternatives & Innovations<\/a>, a leading nonprofit helping with cesspool conversions.<\/p>\n The effluent can also infiltrate drinking water wells. That\u2019s especially a problem in the Puna District, the fastest-growing place in Hawai\u02bbi<\/a>.<\/p>\n A 2014 study<\/a> of individual drinking water wells in Puna\u2019s Hawaiian Paradise Park neighborhood found just over half contained total coliform, a fecal indicator bacteria, and nearly a quarter tested positive for E. Coli, according to study author Bob Whittier of the Hawai\u02bbi Department of Health.<\/p>\n Whittier, a source water protection geologist, said he chose Hawaiian Paradise Park because it has the state\u2019s highest concentration of cesspools. With no access to municipal sewer and water, the neighborhood has about 4,300 household waste disposal sites, most of them cesspools.<\/p>\n Despite the many obstacles, meaningful action can and should be taken to protect the reefs, Asner said. Hawai\u02bbi just needs to get tactical about how it approaches the problem by zeroing in on the worst offenders.<\/p>\n That\u2019s a big focus of his research.<\/p>\n In a 2024 published study<\/a>, Asner and colleagues identified more than 1,000 places where freshwater percolates into the ocean. After the study\u2019s publication, his team collected samples from point sources on the Big Island\u2019s leeward side, testing for sewage pollution.<\/p>\n They knew from previous research that groundwater discharge is ubiquitous along the West Hawai\u02bbi coastline. But they wanted to pinpoint the coordinates of the most polluted spots. They did so with high-tech Earth mapping technology from Asner\u2019s airborne laboratory.<\/a><\/p>\n In a study poised for publication in the journal Frontiers in Marine Science, Asner reveals some new findings.<\/p>\n Some 42% of tested locations had elevated levels of Enterococcus bacteria, he said. Another 23% had concerning levels of the bacteria, commonly found in the intestines of people and warm-blooded animals.<\/p>\n These hot spot sites dotted the South Kona and South Kohala shoreline, including resort areas south of Puak\u014d, parts of H\u014dnaunau Bay, and at Miloli\u02bbi Beach Park, within walking distance of Asner\u2019s lab.<\/p>\n As expected, the sites with the worst contamination sit below watersheds with high levels of development, with more cesspools and septic tanks, and with greater amounts of barren land.\u00a0<\/p>\n On a practical level, the research indicates where Hawai\u02bbi County and the state Department of Health, which regulates cesspools and septic tanks, should direct their efforts.<\/p>\n \u201cGoing from strategy to tactics is what I\u2019m all about,\u201d Asner said, \u201cbecause I\u2019m trying to fix this reef.\u201d<\/p>\n Racing To Beat A Reef\u2019s Collapse<\/p>\n At more than 4,000 square miles in size with many far-flung, rural neighborhoods, the Big Island may never be able to extend county sewer lines to every household. It\u2019s too costly.<\/p>\n Decentralized onsite systems for individual homes or neighborhoods may offer a lower-cost solution.<\/p>\n County Council member Heather Kimball is working with Coleman of Wastewater Alternatives & Innovations on a proposal for a community facilities project in Miloli\u02bbi as a potential alternative. This public-private partnership would be a funding tool to move the community\u2019s cesspools onto a decentralized treatment system.\u00a0<\/p>\n Assuming the community agrees to tax itself to cover some of the costs, it could be a solution for Miloli\u02bbi, home to a community-based subsistence fishing area<\/a> of significant cultural importance to Native Hawaiians. And Kimball said it could serve as a demonstration project for other neighborhoods trying to make cesspool conversions a reality.<\/p>\n Many coastal states, including Washington, Oregon and California, are moving away from allowing septic tanks in shoreline neighborhoods, or already have.<\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s something I think we need to look at too,\u201d Kimball said.<\/p>\n The community of Puak\u014d is trying to quickly move in a new direction as well, before its reef collapses. Coral coverage on the Puak\u014d reef, a key marker of health, has declined from as much as 70% to as little as 5% in the last half-century, according to various studies. <\/a>\u00a0<\/p>\n With a highly degraded reef due to cesspool pollution, residents and the nonprofit Puak\u014d For Reefs<\/a> are working with officials to establish a community facilities district. Some $3 million raised by the community over the past 12 years has gone toward design and engineering plans, said Karen Anderson, president of Puak\u014d For Reefs and a former director of The Nature Conservancy in Washington State.<\/p>\n If a community facilities district is funded and approved, Puak\u014d wastewater would be collected from cesspools and piped to a treatment plant not far down the coast at the Mauna Lani resort.<\/p>\n Advocates are hoping to get a rural development loan from the U.S. Department of Agriculture to pay for some of it, and for the county to float bonds to cover additional costs. The County Council has already approved a $1 million revolving loan fund for the Puak\u014d project and future ones elsewhere on the island, Anderson said.<\/p>\n Although many county staff responsible for financing and wastewater infrastructure are new to their roles and still in a learning curve, Anderson is encouraged by what she\u2019s hearing from Alameda.<\/p>\n \u201cWe were able to get a meeting with the new mayor in January,\u201d soon after he took office, Anderson said. \u201cThey\u2019re meeting with us, and they are listening.\u201d<\/p>\n The Nations Largest \u2018Unsewered\u2019 City<\/p>\n Beyond cesspools, the Alameda administration is grappling with critical upgrades to Hilo\u2019s dilapidated wastewater treatment plant known for large, accidental discharges<\/a> of raw or partially treated sewage into Hilo Bay, a body of water that federal regulators have deemed impaired<\/a> since 1998.<\/p>\n Hilo is the nation\u2019s largest \u201cunsewered\u201d city because up to 70% of houses remain on cesspools, according to a Wastewater Alternatives<\/a> presentation during a December 2024 town hall.<\/p>\n On top of that, having a municipal wastewater plant that the Environmental Protection Agency considers one of the worst<\/a> in the nation makes Hilo Bay and its surrounding beach parks a questionable location<\/a> to swim, paddleboard or fish.<\/p>\n Given the precarious state of the corroded plant, Alameda signed an emergency proclamation in February authorizing emergency actions if the plant collapses or discharges a large amount of untreated or partially treated waste. He reupped the proclamation in June and has signed a $337 million contract with Honolulu construction firm Nan Inc. to fix the plant over a five-year period.<\/p>\n A community \u201cblessing\u201d kicked off the long-awaited project this week. Alameda described it as an event to \u201cget everybody all jazzed up and together and, you know, ready to do this.\u201d<\/p>\n Civil Beat\u2019s coverage of environmental issues on Hawai\u02bbi island is supported in part by a grant from the Dorrance Family Foundation and its coverage of climate change and the environment is supported by The Healy Foundation, the Marisla Fund of the Hawai\u2018i Community Foundation and the Frost Family Foundation.<\/p>\n Sign up for our FREE morning newsletter and face each day more informed.<\/p>\n Sign Up<\/p>\n \n Sorry. That’s an invalid e-mail.\n <\/p>\n \n Thanks! We’ll send you a confirmation e-mail shortly.\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The state mandate to get rid of the reef-killing sewage systems is unrealistic, according to Mayor Kimo Alameda.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":55119,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[47],"tags":[192,79],"class_list":["post-55118","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-environment","tag-environment","tag-science"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/55118","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=55118"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/55118\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/55119"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=55118"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=55118"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=55118"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"Big](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/241105-cy-BigIsland-KimoAlameda-9-1024x683.jpeg\")
Clinical psychologist and former Big Island rancher Kimo Alameda at his victory party in November 2024 (Cody Yamaguchi\/Civil Beat\/2024)<\/p>\n![\"Aerial](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/hawaiian-paradise-Park-file-1024x640.jpg\")
Aerial view of Hawaiian Paradise Park. (Cory Lum\/Civil Beat\/2014)<\/p>\n![\"Greg](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/milolii-greg-asner-coral-1024x735.jpg\")
Greg Asner, center, is director of Arizona State University\u2019s Center for Global Discovery and Conservation Science. (Nathan Eagle\/Civil Beat\/2024)<\/p>\n![\"Shoreline](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/img11684_12168l-1024x604.jpg\")
Dye tracer studies starting with cesspools and septic tanks show sewage flow reaches the Puak\u014d shoreline within hours. (University of Hawai\u02bbi\/2021)<\/p>\n![\"The](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Screenshot-2023-07-12-at-12.45.32-PM-1024x578.png\")
The county has signed a contract to fix the Hilo wastewater treatment plant. (Hawaii News Now\/Screenshot\/2022)<\/p>\n![\"Civil](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/1753322412_339_logo10.png\"){kind=logo}
<\/p>\n