Posted at 1:28 p.m., Monday, January 7, 2002

Kaua'i beach closed after sewage spill

By Jan TenBruggencate
Advertiser Staff Writer

KALAPAKI, Kaua'i—County and state officials have closed Kalapaki Bay to swimming at least through tomorrow after a spill of treated sewage yesterday.

The results of water testing were not yet immediately available today, and the beach and bay were closed as a precaution.

The Lihue Wastewater Treatment Plant suffered a triple failure about 12:30 a.m. yesterday, allowing the release of 250,000 gallons of treated sewage, some of which entered a stream that leads to the bay.

Only a fraction of the spill actually reached the sea, a county Wastewater Division official said.

The sewage had undergone secondary treatment and was chlorinated. It is the same effluent that is used to irrigate golf course.

The spill occurred when both a primary and secondary pump failed, and the alarm that should have alerted workers also failed.