Updated at 5:02 p.m., Monday, December 10, 2007
City says it will fight EPA decision
Advertiser Staff
Honolulu will fight the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's tentative decision to require a major upgrade to the city's largest sewage treatment plant, located on Sand Island.The EPA's announcement today, that it intends to deny renewal of a special treatment waiver the plant has long held, came nine months after a similar tentative decision regarding the city's Honouliuli plant.
"Just as we did with the Honouliuli tentative denial, we will oppose the Sand Island tentative denial with an appropriate scientific and technical response," city environmental services director Eric Takamura said. "We will take the necessary and appropriate amounts of time to formally respond to the EPA, given the gravity of this decision for the customers of this county.
"As Mayor Hannemann notified the public earlier, if the EPA's denials at Honouliuli and Sand Island are upheld, the potential costs of construction alone would exceed $1.2 billion."
Takamura noted that the city has completed construction of an ultraviolet light disinfection system and other upgrades at the Sand Island plant.
"The city believes the plant's operations are consistent with Clean Water Act objectives of protecting public health and the environment," Takamura said.
The city first learned of today's tentative decision through media inquiries, and is eager to review the findings, he said.
