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Lahaina fire survivors want to use treated wastewater to reduce fire

Lahaina fire survivors want to use treated wastewater to reduce fire

LAHAINA (HawaiiNewsNow) – The fight for water continues in West Maui.

Community members gathered in Lahaina on Tuesday to voice concerns to state health officials about the use of recycled sewage water.

Hawaii Department of Health officials held a public hearing Tuesday afternoon at Lahaina Town Center regarding the Clean Water Act permit the county must obtain for the Lahaina Wastewater Reclamation Facility.

The plant treats sewage water.

Some of the remainder is used in agriculture.

But every day, millions of gallons are poured into the oceans through injection wells.

Environmentalists successfully argued in court that ocean currents are killing coral reefs and harming marine life.

They say there’s a better use for it.

“This basically represents three to five million gallons of liquid fertilizer per day,” said Earthjustice attorney Mahesh Cleveland.

Cleveland says all treated wastewater that is close to drinking water quality should be used for irrigation.

He said this would free up more much-needed drinking water in West Maui, which has a population of about 40,000 people.

“Instead of going to our reefs to destroy our ocean and our coral reefs, we have access to at least three million gallons a day that can go directly to our community,” said Lahaina Strong organizer Katie Austin. “It can help with fire breaks and all kinds of mitigation. So it’s really important for our society.”

Additional financing will be needed to transport purified water mauka and establish a distribution system.

Advocates say it’s worth the investment.

“We had to go to court to prove that they needed a permit. But that’s behind us and now we’re in the permitting phase and at this point it’s really a game of the community, what they need and what they want,” Cleveland said.

“We have a chance to really protect our community, and the more access we have to water for Lahaina, the better off we will be,” Austin said.