September 28, 2022

By WYATT OLSON

FORT SHAFTER, Hawaii — The Hawaii Department of Health announced Tuesday that it would fine the U.S. Navy $8.7 million for more than 700 incidents of discharging sewage from its wastewater treatment plant on Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam.

The notice of violation and order was issued “to address a myriad of deficiencies” at the Navy’s treatment plant near Pearl Harbor since the beginning of 2020, the Health Department said in a news release Tuesday.

“The Navy’s failure to properly operate and maintain this wastewater treatment plant led to the pollution of state waters,” Kathleen Ho, deputy director of environment health at the Health Department, said in the 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,” she said.

The Navy has 20 days to request a hearing if it wishes to contest the order, according to the release.

The plant is operated by the Naval Facilities Engineering Command.

The treatment facility occupies about 12 acres and filters about 6.5 million gallons of household and industrial wastewater per day, according to a 2020 Navy fact sheet. ...

Hawaii fines Navy $8.7 million for dumping untreated sewage from Pearl Harbor plant
https://www.stripes.com/theaters/asia_pacific/2022-09-27/navy-wastewater-fine-pearl-harbor-hawaii-7494635.html