Don’t Inject – Redirect!

Get rid of injection wells – Lahaina News, Aug. 27, 2009 Editorial

Every day, an average of 3,000,000 to 5,000,000 gallons of treated sewage is dumped into the ground at the Lahaina Wastewater Reclamation Facility, and one million gallons is treated to R-1 quality and reused.

Add that up for years, and you have billions of gallons of nutrient-rich effluent marching toward the ocean.

With injection wells in use around the island, this practice is foolish on several levels.

The treated wastewater pollutes the ocean, harms reefs and the nearshore environment and fuels algae blooms.

Meanwhile, precious potable water is used to irrigate golf courses, parks, resorts and other large properties, while drinking water sources are taxed and quality declines.

In reviewing the injection well permit for the Lahaina Wastewater Reclamation Facility, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency was ready to let the county keep wasting water for the next ten years to the tune of 7,000,000 gallons per week at the stinky Honokowai plant.

Responding to public concerns, Mayor Charmaine Tavares told EPA the county wants to end its use of injection wells and pursue 100 percent reuse of treated wastewater in conjunction with a pilot project to grow algae for fuel production.

Her administration will create a plan to meet that goal within the next 12 to 18 months, and begin implementing the plan within five years to cut down use of the wells.

“We should first explore what options are available; second, analyze the options considering costs, time and other factors; and third, set volume reduction targets — then we will be on a positive path to accomplishing the goal of 100 percent use of reclaimed wastewater,” Tavares explained in a letter to the DIRE (Don’t Inject Redirect) Coalition last week Wednesday.

“I do not wish to be perceived as just ‘another politician’ making promises someone else will have to keep. I do want to put us on a course to complete projects that will increase use of reclaimed water.”

Mahalo to the many residents and scientists who spoke out on injection wells. It’s clear EPA and the Hawaii Department of Health are clueless on the hazards of injection wells, or these agencies would have taken meaningful action 20 years ago.

Also credit Mayor Tavares for taking steps to protect water resources and halt ocean pollution. Her initiatives for environmental protection and alternative energy have been creative and smart.

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A letter to the editor in Haleakala Times

Maui County must stop wasting water. Water is our most fundamental natural resource. Here on Maui, we don’t have enough water to satisfy all of the competing demands. Restored stream flow, aquifer recharge, kuleana/riparian rights, corporate agriculture, golf courses, resorts and housing developments all want more than current levels, and yet we continue to waste water at a rate of 3 million to 5 million gallons a day [in Lahaina alone].

Not only is this water being wasted through the use of injection wells, studies by marine scientists have shown that this nutrient-rich effluent is destroying our precious coral reefs by overfeeding algae, which in turn smothers the reefs.

However bleak the situation seems right now, there is room for hope; the technology and political will exist to use this opportunity to transition to a better long-term water management strategy. There are economic stimulus funds going around right now. May we please have funds to update our wastewater facility to a water management system that phases out the use of injection wells to create a win-win-win solution for people, environment and economy?

Phasing out the use of injection wells will have long-term benefits for ALL of Maui.  We all need water, we all use the toilet, and most all of us want to protect our reefs and oceans.

June 10, 2009 TAMARA PALTIN, Kahana