Léo Azambuja - The Garden Island
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LIHU‘E — Seems Leonard Freitas and others had gotten used to the lack of foul smells from the old McBryde Sugar mill near Koloa.

Now, he and others are bracing themselves for even funkier smells that could last much longer than those coming from the mill during sugar-processing.

When the old Koloa mill near Maha‘ulepu was functioning, residents nearby could barely stand the smell from sugar-cane processing, they said.

Operations have long ceased, and now residents can peacefully enjoy a family dinner. This might not last, though.

The Kaua‘i Planning Commission approved Tuesday a permit allowing construction and operation of a wastewater-reclamation facility in the old mill. In other words, what was once a sugar-processing plant will now be a sewage-treatment plan.

“From my house to the mill it’s less than a mile away,” said Freitas, who said he has lived there for 58 years, when the old mill was still functioning and spreading an unpleasant smell in the neighborhood.

Not very appetizing

“It’s not very nice to try to have dinner, sit down with your family, with that smell,” Freitas said.

Freitas said he is familiar with odors from STPs. After all, he has worked for the County of Kaua‘i in different plants around the island. But because of the smell, he quit after five years of employment.

He suggested that a treatment plant be placed further away from residential areas.

“I guarantee you guys wouldn’t like to put it in the hotels, and the hotels wouldn’t like it either,” he told commissioners. “So why shove it in our own backyards?”

Representatives from HOH Utilities assured the commission it will be a modern facility, equipped with an odor-control system. But when asked to further explain the system, the answer caused an uproar in the room.

“At this point it is a conceptual design. It’s something we intend to include as we move further along with the design. It’s going to be further developed,” said Julie Simonton, an engineer representing HOH.

Simonton, however, said the state Department of Health will look at the final design, which will include the odor-control system, before approving the project.

Goal: ‘zero odors’

Simonton wasn’t able to answer how much better the private company’s plant would be in relation to the county’s plants, regarding odor-emission. But she said the company’s goal is “zero odors.”

HOH currently operates an STP in Po‘ipu. That plant is not enclosed and does not have an odor-control system. Simonton said the Maha‘ulepu plant will have these two components.

Resident Elaine Botha said she understands there’s a need for a plant, but the location could bring a negative effect to Koloa. She said residents could “definitely” smell the odors from the old mill when it was operating.

“I’m sure it’s their intention to build a safe facility, with a minimum amount of smell. However, accidents happen,” Botha said.

Simonton said the Po‘ipu plant has received complaints about odors, but with new upgrades in the processing the problem has been reduced, she said.

The complaints occurred because of power outages and equipment breakdown, Simonton said. “Most of the time we run very smoothly.”

The Maha‘ulepu plant will be using modern technology, which will produce R1 water as a byproduct, Simonton said. R1 water can be used for irrigation in many types of crops for human consumption.

The first tank has an aeration system where bacteria degrade solids. From there it goes to a separation process where remaining solids float, and clear water passes through. In a tertiary filter the water is disinfected and ready for irrigation.

The whole process, from wastewater to R1 water, would take about six to seven hours, Simonton said.

Remaining solids will be put twice through a digester, and finally hauled off for disposal at the Kekaha Landfill, where most of the island’s sludge is disposed, said Simonton.

Sludge to landfill

She said she’s aware some other plants use sludge as compost, but at this time HOH plans to take it to the landfill.

The old Koloa sugar mill is registered as a National Historic Landmark, as an agriculture and subsistence processing plant.

When the site was designated as a historic landmark, in 1962, the federal government said sugar played a major role in old Hawai‘i economics and politics, and it was perhaps the “dominant force in bringing about the annexation of the islands to the United States.”

Hawaiians already grew kou, or sugar cane, but the 1835 establishment of the Ladd & Company sugar plantation marked the first commercially-successful sugar enterprise in the islands, according to the 1962 federal statement of significance.

When the mill became a historic site, almost 50 years ago, sugar plantations were Hawai‘i’s largest industry.

Earl Matsukawa, representing HOH’s agent for the permits, Wilson Okamoto Corporation, said the county received the environmental impact statement in November 2009.

Four pump stations   for Koloa

The EIS included description of the four pump stations in Koloa, plus the Maha‘ulepu plant.

Matsukawa said he received a letter April 30 from the state Department of Land and Natural Resources State Historic Preservation Division addressing the reuse of the bagasse building and a the water tank at the mill.

The letter found no significant impacts, and SHPD supports the planning, said Matsukawa.

“Neither of these (structures) are over 50 years old, so technically they’re not historic structures in themselves,” Matsukawa said. “But they are affecting the historic structures in there, so they contribute to the historic character.”

All of the water-treatment tanks will be built underground, Matsukawa said. The only above-ground structure will be the emergency generator.

Simonton, a Koloa resident, assured the community HOH wants to be good neighbors, and the company will do its best to keep odors at zero levels.

• Léo Azambuja, staff writer, can be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 252) or lazambuja@kauaipubco.com.