HILO — The Hawaii Community Correctional Center could be the cause of a sewer main clog that unleashed up to 41,000 gallons of untreated sewage into the Wailuku River and Hilo Bay on Monday.
“Blockage is attributed to rags and other debris discharged into the sewer system,” says a county Wastewater Spill Report. “Due to the type of debris (towels, large rags, plastic bags, etc.) it is suspected that the debris may have originated from the Hilo jail … .”
A jail worker said he was unaware of the concern and planned to report it.
Beach parks remained closed Tuesday around Hilo Bay, but some will reopen today. The area running from the mouth of the Wailuku River east to the Kamehameha Canoe Club shed area remains closed to water activities until the state Department of Health rules the water quality is completely safe.
Signage will continue to be posted for the time being.
Test results released late Tuesday showed the water safe enough to use in the area encompassing the Hilo harbor and all of Banyan Drive, including Coconut Island. Signage in those areas was being removed Tuesday afternoon.
Sunny weather is helping mediate the contamination. Sunlight helps break down the bacteria, said county Department of Environmental Management Director Bill Kucharski.
Water testing will continue daily along Hilo Bayfront to Wailuku River until all the water is judged safe.
Parking spots near Liliuokalani Park and Gardens, where a dozen or so people usually can be found fishing most days, were blocked with tape and cones Tuesday and no one was fishing.
The DOH warned that “exposure to water contaminated by sewage increases the risk for bacterial and viral infections.”
County and state officials continued Tuesday to urge people to avoid water activities in Hilo Bay from the bayfront area to the Wailuku River.
According to Hawaii County Civil Defense, Honolii Beach, a prime surfing venue, is outside the area of potential contamination. It’s thought the spilled sewage is heading in the opposite direction from Honolii.
But Kucharski said Tuesday he urges caution even at Honolii.
Liz Pullen, a retired registered nurse from Hawaiian Paradise Park, knows enough about infectious ailments to stay out of Hilo Bay waters until tests show they’re safe.
Pullen and a friend planned to set up painting easels Tuesday at the Wailuku River but changed their minds after learning about the sewage spill.
“We said, ‘Uh-uh, there might be too many Tootsie Rolls in there,’” Pullen said.
Kucharski said the blockage included plastic bags, towels, shirts, a 12-inch chisel, rags, cloth and candy wrappers — “things that you would not normally associate with flushable materials” or “normally find in a sewer line.”
He declined to speculate about whether the blockage was purposely caused.
“It’s absolutely beyond my comprehension,” Kucharski said, “as to what would have caused such materials to end up in the sewer system.”
Kucharski emphasized that 41,000 gallons is a lot. But the entirety of Hilo Bay, he said, contains “millions” of gallons of water.
“The county has exercised, really, an abundance of caution with this,” he said.