The Army has agreed to pay $100,000 as part of a settlement involving 12 large cesspools in Hawaii, eight of which remain in use despite a federal regulation that mandated their closure by 2005.
As part of the proposed settlement with the Environmental Protection Agency, the service has agreed to close the six cesspools at Pohakuloa Training Area by Sept. 30, and the two at Kilauea Military Camp within 90 days of a review by the National Park Service, because the camp is within the borders of the Hawaii Volcanoes National Park.
Four cesspools at Wheeler Army Airfield already have been closed, per the draft agreement. The structures “collect and discharge untreated raw sewage into the ground, where disease-causing pathogens and harmful chemicals can contaminate groundwater, streams and the ocean,” according to an EPA news release announcing the agreement.
The Army does not admit any wrongdoing as part of the deal, but gives up its right to contest the final order. The EPA cannot finalize the agreement until the close of a 30-day public comment period.
Col. Richard Fromm, then-commander of Army Garrison Hawaii, signed the agreement May 17. Col. Stephen Dawson took command of the garrison June 3.
The fine is the first penalty imposed by the EPA on a federal entity for operating banned cesspools, the agency said in its release, issued Tuesday.
A 1999 regulation banned large-capacity cesspool construction on the islands after 2000 and mandated all nonresidential cesspools with a capacity to serve 20 or more people per day be closed or upgraded by April 5, 2005.
Army to pay $100K as part of Hawaii cesspool settlement
