LIHUE — Cesspools are front and center at two meetings scheduled for Kauai at the beginning of August and the public still has the chance to get in on one of them.
LIHUE — Cesspools are front and center at two meetings scheduled for Kauai at the beginning of August and the public still has the chance to get in on one of them.
Tonight, Hawaii Department of Health is holding a meeting at the Kapaa Neighborhood Center from 6 to 8. On the agenda is an overview of how septic systems and cesspools work and details on the December DOH report on priority areas for cesspool replacement.
In that report, 14 areas were identified throughout the state as places where cesspools were impacting drinking water, streams and watersheds, and beaches and water quality in surf areas.
Kapaa/Wailua was identified as a priority 2 area with 2,900 cesspools and the Poipu/Koloa area was also identified as a priority 2 area with 3,600 cesspools. Priority 3 areas like Hanalei are places were cesspools have the potential to impact important waters.
Statewide, 43,000 residential cesspools were identified for replacement.
Tonight’s meeting is the last of five that DOH has held statewide.
Also on Thursday, other water experts will be meeting at the Aqua Kauai Beach Resort to chat water quality, cesspools and pesticides in the groundwater. It’s the Fourth Joint Government Water Conference, with the theme of “protecting Kauai’s groundwater” hosted by the state Department of Health Environmental Health Administration office.
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Ask this: who allowed cesspools to be permitted and installed in the first place? Our state government did that’s who. Probably 75% of people with cesspools bought their home with it already in place..so they had no choice. Don’t come back at these homeowners who did nothing but buy a house with a cesspool that THE STATE permitted and then have THE STATE write new laws making them replace the cesspool. If the State wants to acknowledge its original mistake in allowing this in the first place, then they need to issue large (20-30k) tax credits. But since that’s more taxes than most people pay in several years, it’s gonna costs a lot of tax money for our state. If they’re willing to give up billions for this cause then cool, but don’t put their mistakes and bad judgment on the backs of local homeowners!
SO true unclean.
May I suggest the county pay for it? Mayor.
It always comes down to who pays….why should Hawaii taxpayers subsidize homeowner upgrades? Why should homeowners foot the entire bill? Cesspools have been a bad idea for at least 50-60 years, and septic tanks have been around for just about as long. Now, we find out just how bad an idea crapping in a hole in the ground really is. On the mainland, if a municipality upgrades to sewer from septic tanks, area homeowners have no choice: they must upgrade. In many areas, the municipalities offer 20-30 year, low cost to no cost loans to cover the cost, like a second mortgage. Did the state screw up? Sure! Will they stop? Ask the home and property owners in the Puna district. Should they be responsible for the entire cost? Lets confront Aryioshi, and some of the former state regimes who were in charge, and make them financially responsible. Ya, right! The problem has to be resolved, and the cesspools have to go. Some homeowners gotta pay for that. I do not expect my neighbor to pay for improvements to my property. Accommodations must be made for the improvements that are beyond necessary, and can easily be made without impacting either homeowners who already have septic systems, or non home and property owners. The state can accommodate with low or no cost, long term loans and can be designed to have minimal financial impact ( state tax credits, etc), but either the homeowners pay or taxpayers pay: guess what my choice would be!