Kalapaki Beach reopened Thursday morning after a meeting between state and county officials resulted in an all-clear for resuming water activities in the bay. Chemists had been taking random samplings from Kalapaki Bay since its closure Sunday morning, seven hours
Kalapaki Beach reopened Thursday morning after a meeting between state and county officials resulted in an all-clear for resuming water activities in the bay.
Chemists had been taking random samplings from Kalapaki Bay since its closure Sunday morning, seven hours after an effluent spill at Kaua’i County’s Lihu’e wastewater treatment plant.
Official said 50,000 gallons of treated sewage reached the bay via Nawiliwili Stream. Another 200,000 gallons flowed onto the Kaua’i Lagoons golf courses.
During the four days the beach was closed, some people ignored posted signs warning of the sewage spill and directing “No water activity until further notices.” Beachgoers were seen swimming and sand boarding in the water. At least one adult and a young child were playing at the contaminated bay’s edge Wednesday.
What were they risking?
State Department of Health officials said the biggest risk was diseases transmitted by human waste, including viral hepatitis (hepatitis A) and other intestinal tract and bacterial infections.
This latest spill took place after two pumps and an alarm failed at the treatment plant. County officials have promised an investigation of the accident.
The treated sewage that made it into the bay wasn’t necessarily enough to keep the popular beachfront closed for four days. County spokeswoman Beth Tokioka said Thursday that officials now believe bacteria levels due to the spill might have stayed high because “the bay was flat and the ocean was calm and things weren’t being moved out (of the bay) at their usual speed.”
