History

This section of the DIRE web site recounts important highlights of the history of the injection well issue on Maui.  We’ll have more to come, but for now, let’s start with a warning from October 1992:

1992: What We Knew 17 Years Ago

“In Maui County, water is in short supply. The county is scrambling to develop new sources to keep pace with the development that is underway and planned. . . . What if the county instead took the effluent from its wastewater plants and cleaned that up to the point where it could be recycled as potable water? . . . Consider the alterternatives. Nutrient-laden effluent from sewage treatment plans continues to be dumped into injection wells. Algae thrive on the nutrients, causing blooms to foul the water and the shore. . . . Few argue that the effluent does not eventually work its way to the sea. . . . According to a study done for the county, the injected effluent moves “upward without significant change until it eventually intercepts the seaward flow of fresh water.” After that it’s a free rid to the ocean. . . . Our limited knowledge should not preclude action based on simple common sense. Yes, nutrients in the effluent reach the sea. Yes, algae thrive on such nutrients . . . . [U]nder the state’s rules for wastewater treatment plants, it is a violation for such treatment plants to to pollute “the waters of any beaches” or to “give rise to nuisances” — and there can be little argument that the algae blooms have been nuisances of the first order.”

Editorial, “Effluent Fate: Sooner or Later, It Reaches the Sea,” Environment Hawai’i, October 1992, p. 2

1993: The National Academy of Sciences Warns About Nutrient Discharges into Coastal Waters

“In the collective judgment of the Committee, in general, a wastewater constituent may be considered to be of high concern if it poses significant risk to human health or ecosystems (e.g., if it contaminates fish, shellfish and wildlife, causes eutrophication, or otherwise damages marine plant and animal communities) well beyond points of discharge and is not under demonstrable control.” (pp. 26-27).  The NAS report then lists “nitrogen” as a “High Priority Constituent of Concern.” (p. 27)

Recommendation: Greater attention should be focused on preventing excess regional enrichment of nitrogen and other nutrients at levels that are harmful to ecosystems.” (p.8)

National Academy of Sciences, Managing Wastewater in Coastal Urban Areas (1993).

[more to come]