EPA fines Kauai, Oahu companies $110K for illegal cesspools

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced today it has fined two companies a combined total of $110,000 in fines for operating illegal cesspools in violation of the Safe Drinking Water Act.

Both Hale Kauai Limited, a hardware store turned real estate firm on the Garden isle, and Halona Pacific LLC, an environmental management and construction services company on Oahu, must also close the large-capacity cesspools on their properties.

Cesspools — basically shallow, underground holes used for the disposal of human waste — collect and discharge untreated raw sewage into the ground, where disease-causing pathogens and harmful chemicals can contaminate groundwater, streams and the ocean.

Large-capacity cesspools, defined by the EPA as serving multiple residential dwellings such as apartment buildings, or 20 or more persons per day in non-residential dwellings, such as rest areas or churches, were banned in 2005 under the Safe Drinking Water Act.

Read more: https://www.staradvertiser.com/2022/01/27/breaking-news/epa-fines-kauai-oahu-companies-110k-for-illegal-cesspools/