Posted on: Tuesday, June 8, 2004

Health concerns persist about proposed sewage recycling

By Johnny Brannon
Advertiser Staff Writer

A sidetracked sludge conversion plant that city officials say is important for managing O'ahu's sewage may face new delays after health tests left some questions unanswered.

The $34 million facility would be built on Sand Island by Synagro-WWT to convert treated sewage residue into fertilizer pellets that would be sold to farms and used in city parks and golf courses.

After months of delays, the City Council granted a special permit for the plant in January but required that similar pellets be tested for any health effects on Hawai'i soil before construction could begin.

Sand Island companies that oppose the plant, which would include a 116-foot-tall, egg-shaped "digester," say the results don't prove the method is safe, and that more tests are needed.

"Clearly, the determination of whether biosolids will have an adverse impact to public health is a major concern to us and the community," Sand Island Business Association director Rodney Kim wrote in a letter to key City Council members.

Rod Tam, Council Public Works Committee chairman, has scheduled a public hearing on the test results, and said no building permits should be issued for the project in the meantime. A hearing is set for 9 a.m. on June 15 in the committee room at City Hall.

"We asked for cooperation in the interest of the public," Tam said. "People think things are being done behind closed doors, and if anything proceeds right now, it's going to be viewed with skepticism."

City environmental services director Frank Doyle could not be reached for comment.

Synagro's system has been approved by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. And tests by the University of Hawai'i Water Resources Research Center found that Synagro pellets contained very low levels of salmonella that met federal guidelines, and contained no coliform or E. coli.

But the center found that Synagro's heat treatment process did not destroy all bacteria, and that more testing is needed to determine whether the pellets can fuel salmonella growth in Hawai'i soil and cause health problems.

City officials say the sludge plant is needed to reduce dried sewage residue dumped in the city's landfill. The city is bound by a federal consent decree to recycle some of its sludge.

Reach Johnny Brannon at jbrannon@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8070.