KEKAHA — Although Sunrise Capital is seeking a permit to expel up to 30 million gallons of wastewater effluent and treated shrimp remains into the ocean daily, the Westside aquaculture operation is committed to implementing sustainable and eco-friendly practices, George
KEKAHA — Although Sunrise Capital is seeking a permit to expel up to 30 million gallons of wastewater effluent and treated shrimp remains into the ocean daily, the Westside aquaculture operation is committed to implementing sustainable and eco-friendly practices, George Chamberlain said this week.
“Everything I stand for is to do things in an environmentally sustainable way,” he said. Chamberlain is president of Global Aquaculture and an owner of Integrated Aquaculture, which purchased the farming operation last year.
Efforts to reduce nutrient levels to “very” diluted levels to mitigate waste matter have been taken seriously, he said Thursday. The operation has been running at minimal levels over the past year with only a “skeleton crew.”
Plastic-lined ponds include a drain system which periodically removes “settled matter,” along with a “skimmer system” which discards “floating material,” according to Department of Health Clean Water Branch officials.
“The nutrient levels in the immediate vicinity of the discharge into the receiving ocean waters are expected to be elevated from ambient conditions,” CWB officials wrote in an e-mail. “However, the adjacent coastal ocean area is not expected to have any noticeable effect associated with the shrimp farm discharge.”
The level of discharge is expected to be lower than the proposed amount at around 12 million gallons a day when operating “at full speed” with all 50 ponds, which vary from one to one-quarter acre in size, Chamberlain said.
“Exactly whether we need that quantity is still a question,” Chamberlain said regarding the amount in the Draft National Pollutant Discharge Elimination application. “Our future is still uncertain.”
Kama‘aina who frequent the neighboring surf spots such as Kinikinis, Major’s Bay and Family Housing are not confident the environment will be unaffected.
Remembering the “oily, filmy and stinky” water when the farm — owned by Ceatch USA at the time — was operating at full capacity from February 2000 to December 2003, Lawa‘i resident Derek Pellin said he is concerned similar effects will happen again.
“You could almost taste it through your skin,” he said last week.
Pellin noted that he can now see the reef there again. “It’s the first time I’ve seen color. Before, you couldn’t even see your feet.”
Often taking his family to the Westside location, Pellin questioned if the discharge permit would even be a consideration at a more popular beach such as Po‘ipu.
“Maybe our lives not as worthy,” he said.
Chamberlain said the shrimp farm was “never out of compliance” during its years of operation. Historical data demonstrates “no perceptible effect to the coastal water quality,” according to CWB officials.
“This is due in part because the coastal waters in the area have very good water circulation and/or current flow which aids in the natural assimilation and renewal of the ocean waters,” the CWB said. “Additionally, the concentration of nitrogen and phosphorus from the agriculture or aquaculture discharges to the area are much lower than those found in discharges from other domestic or animal wastewater treatment facilities.”
The prospective discharge will join the area’s agriculture run-off which has been dispelled for “close to 100 years,” Chamberlain said. “There has never been any effect over the entire period.”
Chamberlain said it is “with great confidence” that he can say there will be “no effect” to the environment.
Nonetheless, Jason Badua, born and raised on the Westside, said he is “very concerned about this potentially huge source of water pollution.”
“The pollution from unintended agricultural runoff on this island is already bad enough,” he said. “We shouldn’t be adding to it by allowing intentional pollution. I care deeply about this island. This is home.”
Badua, an avid surfer, also raises concern about the “daily dumping of shrimp remains and effluent” which “sharks may become habituated into showing up for free meals served every day.”
Business proposal
Sunrise Capital intends to expand its operations to include a variety of species including moi, kahala and possibly tuna, Chamberlain said.
The aquaculture farm expects to produce several species which would be “sold fresh” only within the state, he said.
“Not attempting to produce any large quantities of any one species to the point of having to freeze and send to the Mainland” is the company’s objective, Chamberlain said. “The minute we have to freeze and process converts the product to a less valuable form.”
Using the most advanced technology and “selectively breeding … genetically improved animals” will also be part of Sunrise Capital’s “step-by-step process” in the coming years, he said.
Clams and oysters may also be harvested, which would help to “remove the tint of algae” from the wastewater discharge, he said. “Our objective is to recycle and reuse as much as we can.”
Harvesting algae or biofuel could be another possibility in the company’s future.
“Our goal is not so much to ramp up” to a full-scale operation right away, Chamberlain said.
However, within the next year and into 2011, the farm should be performing at a larger capacity, he said.
“This could be quite a benefit to Kaua‘i,” Chamberlain said. “Our goal is to try to make a showcase and have something Kaua‘i can be proud of.”
Water source
To meet its daily fluid needs, Sunrise Capital will only use sea water pumped in from a 550-foot deep well which goes “directly to the farm.”
The water will travel through a volcanic lava bed and will be “filtered over a mile of lava rock,” Chamberlain said. “What comes out of ground is clean, pure ocean water and has essentially very low organic mater.”
In addition, the ponds contain a plastic lining which will make them “totally impermeable” to the ground.
Shrimp virus
The white spot syndrome virus that plagued the farm several years ago, causing the business to cease operations in 2004, had “never been identified in Hawai‘i before,” Chamberlain said.
“What happened to the previous owners was a very unfortunate event,” he said. “It was catastrophic.”
Sunrise Capital “understands what happened to the virus and we know how to control that,” Chamberlain said.
The disease can be transmitted by birds and the company plans on “putting bird netting over the ponds.”
Visit http://www.hawaii.gov/health/environmental/water/cleanwater/index.html to review a copy of the Draft National Pollutant Discharge Elimination application or visit the Kaua‘i District DOH office, 3040 Umi St., Lihu‘e.
Comments must be sent by April 10 to Clean Water Branch, Environmental Management Division, Department of Health, 919 Ala Moana Blvd., Room 301, Honolulu, Hawai‘i, 96814-4920. Objections and requests for a public hearing should also be sent to that address.
• Coco Zickos, business and environmental writer, can be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 251) or czickos@kauaipubco.com.
