The Hawaii Department of Health issued an $8.7 million fine to the U.S. Navy for repeatedly discharging sewage into the ocean near Pearl Harbor, according to a news release. 

What You Need To Know

  • The Navy is being fined $8,776,250 by the Hawaii Department of Health 

  • The violations include discharging sewage with an excess amount of fecal bacteria and DDT
  • Other violations include releasing sand filters after leaving a valve open, failure to maintain critical effluent pumps, and more
  • The Department of Health ordered the Navy to take corrective actions too

The DOH issued a Notice of Violation and Order based on findings from an inspection on July 26, 2022. The fine of $8,776,250 was based on 766 counts for the Navy’s wastewater treatment plant discharging pollutants above permitted levels, 17 counts for the unauthorized release of wastewater and 212 counts for operation and maintenance failures. 

“The Navy’s failure to properly operate and maintain this wastewater treatment plant led to the pollution of state waters,” said Deputy Director of Environmental Health Kathleen Ho in the news release. “We are taking action to protect our state’s water resources and to hold the Navy accountable to make critical repairs and prevent a potential catastrophic failure of the facility.”

The specific violations included discharging sewage with excess amounts of the fecal bacteria Enterococci, which may threaten public health and corals. The DOH said there were 764 counts of discharging wastewater exceeding effluent limits between Jan. 2020 and July 2022. 

The other two counts came from releasing an excess amount of dichloro-diphenyl-trichloroethane (DDT), which was originally used as an insecticide and is well known for its environmental impacts. This happened between Aug. 2020 and Jan. 2021. 

Other violations were for the unauthorized release of sand filters after leaving a bypass valve open, failure to maintain critical effluent pumps, and many others.

The DOH ordered corrective actions for critical violations. This will involve evaluating the condition of the wastewater treatment plant and repairing any issues, repairing the ultraviolet disinfection system, testing all valves to ensure functionality, obtaining a root cause analysis for effluent pump failures, and more. 

Michelle Broder Van Dyke covers the Hawaiian Islands for Spectrum News Hawaii.