The Department of Environmental Management will hold an informational public meeting regarding wastewater treatment at 6 p.m. Wednesday, March 16, at the Pāhala Community Center, 96-1149 Kamani Street.

On June 22, 2017, Hawai‘i County entered into an administrative order on consent with the United States Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) to close the existing Pāhala Large Capacity Cesspools and provide secondary wastewater treatment to Pāhala residents.

In January 2021, the Roth administration determined that the Lagoon Wastewater Treatment system was excessively expensive, inefficient, disruptive, and ultimately unfeasible. Hawai‘i County has requested approval from EPA to take a new path, and is gathering community input on its proposal.

Representatives from DEM and other departments will be present to answer questions about ongoing efforts to update the connections to the houses currently connected to the large capacity cesspools.