We need YOUR help to protect the health of citizens and the reef at Kahalu‘u Bay — Guest blog by Debbie Hecht (5 minutes required)

Did you know there are no sewer lines along Ali‘i Drive from Kahalu‘u Beach (at Makolea Street) to Queen Kalama? There are 69 cesspools and 14 septic tanks that pollute the ocean every day!

Map of Kahalu‘u cesspools & septic tanks from Queen Kalama to Makolea. Courtesy of D. Hecht.

Cesspools are holes in the ground where black-water sewage from your toilet and sinks go straight into the ground and then goes into the ocean where we swim (like at Kahalu‘u Bay). The sewage pollutes the ocean when it seeps through the porous volcanic lava and sand at high tides. And NO! Septic tanks are not the answer, the leach lines are high in nitrates from urine and contain polluting household chemicals and pharmaceuticals. Septic tanks can fill up at king tides, high surf events or tsunamis, and overflow. On the north side of Kahalu‘u Bay when you snorkel, you may see there is more algae. People have gotten sick from staph in Kahalu‘u Bay. This is a public health issue!

Isn’t protecting the health of citizens a fundamental job of the government?

YOUR KŌKUA (HELP) IS NEEDED!

Ali‘i Dr has NO sewer lines north of Kahalu‘u to Queen Kalama. Courtesy of D. Hecht.

Please ask our elected officials to include funding in the 2023-24 budget to get an Environmental Impact Statement and design engineering plans to construct the sewer line. When the project is “shovel-ready” then the county can apply for federal and state funding. We have been talking to elected officials for more than 20 years, through four different administration changes. It is time to get this done to protect the health of citizens and the ocean!

Please send an email to Hawai‘i County Mayor Roth, Deputy Managing Director for the Office of the Mayor, Bobby Command, Director of Finance, Deanna Sako, Council member Rebecca Villegas, Director of Environmental Management, Ramzi Mansour, and ask them to include funding in the budget to get an Environmental Impact Statement and the engineering drawings completed to extend and connect the sewer line in this coming budget year, 2023-2024, so the project can be “shovel ready” to apply for Federal or state grants.

You can send an email by cutting and pasting these email addresses:

MitchD.Roth@hawaiicounty.gov,
RobertH.Command@hawaiicounty.gov,
Deanna.Sako@hawaiicounty.gov,
Rebecca.Villegas@hawaiicounty.gov, 
Ramzi.Mansour@hawaiicounty.gov

You can send the following sample email or better yet, create your own message!

Aloha Mayor Mitch Roth, Director of Environmental Management Ramzi Mansour, Council member Rebecca Villegas, Director of Finance Deanna Sako and Deputy Managing Director Robert Command,

There is a public health crisis in Kailua-Kona. There are 69+ cesspools and 14 septic tanks along a mile of Ali‘i Drive between Kahalu‘u Beach to Queen Kalama Drive that pollute the ocean at high tides. Please connect a sewer line in this area, so the sewage from cesspools and leach lines from septic tanks will stop polluting our ocean for swimmers and surfers, to protect the reef and ocean environment AND to protect the health of citizens from polluted ocean water.

Please include ample funding in the 2023-2024 Hawai‘i County budget to pay for an Environmental Impact Statement and engineering plans to get this one mile of roadway “shovel-ready” to apply for federal and state funding. Please protect the health of the people and the ocean environment on our island!

Mahalo for your service.

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Kahalu‘u Bay. PC to Wikipedia.

Mahalo for your help! This guest blog was written with warm aloha by Debbie Hecht. Find more info and check out her own Thoughts and Theories website.