The Department of Education must close 320 large-capacity cesspools serving 60 public schools throughout the Islands by March 31, 2008, under an agreement reached between the DOE and the Environmental Protection Agency.

Closure of the cesspools is required to comply with federal Safe Drinking Water Act regulations.

Greg Knudsen, spokesman for the department, said DOE will complete the work in a couple of phases, starting with $11 million in state capital improvement project funds appropriated last year. Another $11 million in capital improvement project funding is being requested for next year to complete the second phase of the project, Knudsen said.

An EPA representative said the DOE will install on-site treatment systems at most of the schools and, where possible, connect to a sewer system.

"We are pleased to have reached this agreement with the EPA and appreciate their efforts in working with us towards this important undertaking," Randy Moore, acting assistant superintendent for business services for the DOE, said in a statement.

"We are now ready to move forward to implement this agreement to protect Hawai'i's environment."

Alexis Strauss, director of the water division in the EPA's Pacific Southwest Office, said that by agreeing to close the large-capacity cesspools, "the Hawai'i DOE will significantly reduce the amount of untreated waste released into the environment statewide."

While many schools are already working to replace cesspools, Strauss said, there are still those that need to provide the EPA with compliance plans and schedules.

Cesspools release raw sewage into the ground, which can result in disease-causing pathogens and other contaminants in groundwater, streams and the ocean.

Under the Safe Drinking Water Act's Underground Injection Program, since April 2005 large-capacity cesspools — nonresidential systems that serve more than 20 people a day, or more than one dwelling — have been prohibited. It has been estimated, according to the EPA, that more than 4,000 cesspools across the state are subject to the closure requirement.

Regulations do not apply to single-family homes connected to their own individual cesspools, said an EPA statement.

The recent agreement with the DOE marks the latest among several deals reached with federal and state agencies. More than 854 cesspools statewide are covered by 10 agreements.

Several additional agreements include penalties for failure to comply with the Safe Drinking Water Act. Compliance plans and schedules for closure of cesspools have been received from 740 property owners, according to the EPA. Failure to comply with the ban could result in enforcement actions and fines.