Lāhainā Wastewater Reclamation Facility Injection Well NPDES Permit Hearing

above photo of injection well discharging into Hā`enanui reef. Photo credit: Jen Smith

On Tuesday, October 1st, West Maui community and allies gave their input to Hawai`i Department of Health officials at the Lahaina Civic Center to discuss the proposed NPDES permit for the Lahaina Wastewater Reclamation Facility injection wells.

The Lāhainā community has been paving the way for community driven change at a local, county, and state level. This was no exception. Everyone showed up wearing red Lahaina Strong shirts, and spoke powerfully to their connection to Hā`enanui reef and the urgent need for fresh water resources.

1 Heidi Beltz, Surfrider Foundation Maui Chapter, OFG coordinator, Lāhainā Resident.

2 Katie Austin, Lāhainā Strong

3 Maureen Brock, Maui Chapter Chair, Lāhainā resident

4 Mahesh Cleveland, Earthjustice

5Tamara Paltin, Councilmember West Maui District

David Henkin, Earthjustice lead attorney for Lāhainā Injection wells case

Surfrider Foundation Maui Chapter has been advocating to stop pollution from Lahaina's injection wells since 2012. It has taken consistent community pressure and over a decade of litigation to get to this point.

This permit, the first of its kind in Hawai`i following a Supreme Court Clean Water Act decision in 2021, regulates injection well discharges that flow into the groundwater, travel through porous volcanic rock and out into the Pacific Ocean near the Hā`enanui reef off Kahekili Beach.

For nearly three hours, HDOH representatives heard testimony after testimony demanding a stronger permit that actually protects the reef and safeguards fresh water resources. This would be a win-win for the community when currently much-needed, fresh water is being thrown out to sea where it is causing problems in the marine environment (link to press release). There was also a push to align on a schedule to cease discharge all together.

Key points from the hearing

Earthjustice lead attorney on this case, David Henkin, gave a poignant testimony stating that ‘the permit DOH came up with after 16 years is one that does nothing to stop the damage to the reef. They say that they don’t have enough data in their fact sheet. That is not true.’

This discharge started in 1990’s and we already know the impact it has on the reef with the visible dead zones, algae and high nutrient levels (link to UH Manoa 2023 study). It is the responsibility of DOH under the Clean Water Act in Hawai`i to prevent any discharges that degrade water quality and destroy natural resources.

The current nutrient and pH limits proposed in the permit are reinforcing the status quo of what the county has been discharging for years. Furthermore, DOH puts out a water quality report to the EPA every two years. In 2022, the report identified the nearshore waters of Kahekili Beach as being impaired for total nitrogen, total Phosphorous and Nitrate+Nitrite, yet no limits for Nitrate + Nitrate are included in the proposed permit.

Not only is the injection well destroying the reef but it is taking away beneficial community uses of these nearshore waters. In 2009 the state established a Marine Protected Area at Hā`enanui reef so that local families can no longer fish there for things like parrot fish because those fish are needed to eat the over-abundance of algae that is growing as a result of the facility’s nutrient-laden discharges contaminating the reef. With this logic, the county is preventing the community from harvesting fish in the water to fight the pollution that they are failing to regulate in the first place.

Can DOH set a schedule to cease discharging?

With overwhelming outcry to cease discharge and apply the facility’s entire flow of effluent towards beneficial reuse purposesthe question remains- does DOH have the power to cease discharge with this NPDES permit?

The short answer is yes. While DOH takes the position that they cannot require the county to cease discharge or re–use treated wastewater there are multiple avenues they can take to move the county on a schedule to cease discharging.

DOH can incentivise re-use through stricter discharge limits. With stricter limits on pH and nutrients the only option would be to dispose of less in the injection wells which would open up more water for re-use. As David Henkin claimed ‘not only is this the right thing to do, but the only legal thing to do because under law you cannot issue a permit that if they comply to it, they will contribute to a violation of water quality standards. They are already discharging into an impaired water body for precisely the pollutants that they are discharging.’
Compliance schedule: A provision within the NPDES permit refers to a compliance schedules where the discharger agrees to cease discharging. This means it is in fact within the scope of the permit to cease discharge.

Next Steps

We hope that after this hearing and unanimous call by the West Maui community and environmental groups that DOH will revise this NPDES permit to include stricter pollution limits and an actionable schedule to eventually cease all to discharges into the injection wells.

We hope to have public meetings and discussions with DOH to make sure that they put together an effective permit.

Additional Resources:

ʻMaui Water Quality: No More Wastewater In The Ocean, Locals Say' Civil Beat