County shuts park restroom

By Jan TenBruggencate
Advertiser Kaua'i Bureau

HANALEI, Kaua'i — The county has closed its restroom at the mouth of Hanalei River out of concern that it is polluting the popular swimming waters of Hanalei Bay.

Gary Gill, deputy state director of health for the environment, told the Kaua'i County Council yesterday that the state is conducting tests to determine whether the Black Pot Park restroom's septic system is responsible for periodic peaks in bacteria counts in the bay.

Preliminary results of fluorescent dye tests conducted this week have not shown that effluent is seeping into the nearshore waters, Gill said, conceding that ultimately, any wastewater that close to the ocean will make its way to the sea.

The Hanalei Heritage River Program pointed out the possible problem after its tests showed high bacteria rates in the river and in the ocean adjacent to the rivermouth park.

"That septic system is on permeable sand within 150 feet of the water, and at high tides, the seepage trenches are underwater," said Carl Berg, a former state water tester who now runs the heritage river project's water quality program.

Berg said the average daily enterococcus bacteria counts before the restroom was closed were dramatically higher than afterward.

At the beach next to Hanalei Pier, the pre-closing counts averaged 196, while afterward they dropped to 28. That's still considerably higher than the state standard for beaches, which is 7. The numbers represent the probable number of bacteria in 100 milliliters of water.

State Health Department wastewater branch chief Dennis Tulang said that park restrooms present a particular problem, since they tend to have dramatic fluctuations in flow: high during weekends and holidays and low at other times.

Those kinds of changes don't work well with standard septic systems, which are designed for more regular flows, he said.