'Ohana cesspool fines stun owners
By Jan TenBruggencate
Advertiser Science Writer
Many Hawai'i residents with a house and an 'ohana unit on a single cesspool reacted with dismay to the announcement by the Environmental Protection Agency that they are in violation of federal cesspool regulations and face fines of up to $32,500 a day.
One reason for the surprise was that although the EPA has planned the closing of large-capacity cesspools for six years, the agency itself wasn't clear until last year that it applied to the 'ohana example.
"We didn't get any notice. Zero. Zip. Nada. I guess they can do that, but I don't know why," said Laurence Christopher, president of the Maui Meadows Homeowners Association.
When his association last checked, just 12 months ago, it looked like such units were legal under the rules. Now, more than 200 of his members appear to be in violation. EPA and state Department of Health officials say they don't know how many suddenly illegal large-capacity cesspools exist, but they guess there may be thousands in every county.
"The problem is that it's retroactive and the fines are accruing as we speak," Christopher said.
Regulators say they're getting a lot of calls — and so are newspapers.
In 1999, the EPA approved rules ordering large-capacity cesspools closed by April 5, 2005. However, the EPA's fact sheets on cesspools did not clearly include 'ohana-type situations until less than a year ago. The 1999 regulation includes this definition: "Large-Capacity Cesspools: residential or commercial facilities such as campgrounds, multi-unit residences, churches, schools."
Christopher said that a couple of houses on a lot are clearly not "multi-unit residences," a term that appears to apply to apartment houses, he said.
The EPA's updated position, in a May 2004 fact sheet still posted on its Web site, includes this language: "For example, multiple homes pumped to a single cesspool ... "
"Early on, the EPA did not believe that the so-called 'ohana situation applied," said Harold Yee, head of the state Department of Health's Wastewater Branch. "But between March and May 2004—and currently—EPA kind of figured out that was a mistake. There has been a little bit of confusion," Yee said.
Yee said contractors are telling him a standard septic system with a septic tank and a leach field for a single home costs about $7,000.
It doesn't help that Hawai'i, which uses cesspools more than any other state, has a vast array of cesspool scenarios. Here are some described by callers to The Advertiser.
• A house with a separate 'ohana unit out back, on a single cesspool — perhaps the most common configuration.
• A structure with a main residence on the second story and a downstairs garage converted to an apartment, both on the same cesspool.
• A single house on a single cesspool, with several other houses on the same lot all hooked to the city sewer line.
• Two houses on a small lot, with no room for a septic system leach field—potentially requiring a more expensive treatment unit.
"We've got a super-unique situation" regarding cesspools in Hawai'i, said EPA Hawai'i spokes-man Dean Higuchi. "I've been getting a lot of calls."
Maui resident Toni Polancy said she bought her Kihei property about a year ago.
"I ... wonder why, if this rule was five years in the making, no one knew about it," she said. Neither the Realtors involved in her house sale, nor the sellers of the home, nor the government agencies involved, nor — until six weeks ago — the newspapers she reads, told her that her cesspool might have to be filled.
Polancy has since spent a lot of money fixing up the property, including installing a sprinkler system in the lawn. That will all have to be torn out to make way for a septic system and leach field.
"It isn't just the money that concerns me ... it's digging after installing the lawn system. I would wonder why we need to do this when there is only one person living in the house and one in the cottage, but I understand that rules are rules," she said.
Higuchi urged people to come forward to the EPA. He said the agency can't assure people that it won't fine them, but he says 'ohana living situations are very low-priority for fines.
"Realistically, while we can't say there won't be fines, we want people to come in and work with us," he said.
Polancy said she will do her best to comply: "I faxed a form in to the EPA, registering my property so that I can hopefully avoid a fine."
Reach Jan TenBruggencate at jant@honoluluadvertiser.com or (808) 245-3074.
