Clean Water Branch

NOTICE OF CLEAN WATER BRANCH RECOMMENDATIONS FOR
WATER POLLUTION CONTROL PERMIT FOR
MARINE CORPS BASE HAWAII (MCBH),
KANEOHE BAY WATER RECLAMATION FACILITY
NPDES PERMIT NO. HI0110078
DOCKET NO. HI0110078

PUBLIC COMMENT PERIOD

July 11, 2024 – August 9, 2024

The Hawaii Department of Health (DOH), Clean Water Branch (CWB) tentatively recommends to the Director of Health (Director) to renew a National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit to regulate and impose water pollution control requirements on the discharge secondary-treated wastewater from the Kaneohe Bay Water Reclamation Facility (Facility), to receiving State waters, subject to special conditions, to:

MARINE CORPS BASE HAWAII

A permit for such discharge would expire five (5) years from the date of issuance. The facility mailing address is at P.O. Box 63002, MCBH, Hawaii 96863-3002.

The Permittee owns and operates the facility, located at the MCBH, Building 892, Kaneohe Bay, on the island of Oahu.  The average dry weather design flow capacity of the Facility is 2.0 million gallons per day (MGD).  The maximum daily flow design capacity is 3.0 MGD.  The Facility provides secondary level treatment of wastewater from domestic and industrial population of approximately 20,000.  The treatment train consists of headwaters, screening and grinding, a grit chamber, a primary clarifier, a trickling filter, a secondary clarifier, and an effluent polishing basin.

Treated effluent is discharged to the Pacific Ocean off of the Mokapu Peninsula, through the City and County of Honolulu’s Outfall Serial No. 001 (Mokapu Outfall), at latitude 21°27’32”N and longitude 157°42’56”W.  The Mokapu Outfall is a joint outfall which is also used by the Kailua Regional Wastewater Treatment Plant.  The Facility is capable of routing reclaimed wastewater to the Klipper Golf Course for irrigation but currently does not.

The receiving waters, Pacific Ocean at Mokapu Point, is designated as “Class A, Open Coastal” under Hawaii Administrative Rules Section 11-54-3(c)(2). Protected beneficial uses of Class A waters include recreation, aesthetic enjoyment, and the protection and propagation of fish, shellfish, and wildlife.

Persons wishing to comment upon or object to the CWB recommendations with respect to an NPDES permit or to request a public hearing, should submit their comments or requests in writing no later than 30 calendar days after the date of this notice, either through E-mail at [email protected] or by mail at P.O. BOX 3378, Honolulu, Hawaii 96801-3378.

Copies of the public notice permit recommended by CWB and other information are available for public inspection, Monday through Friday (excluding holidays) from 7:45 a.m. until 4:15 p.m., at the DOH-CWB office located at 2827 Waimano Home Road, Room 225, Pearl City, HI 96782. Copies may be bought. Electronic copies of the proposed public notice permit and other information are also available online at https://health.hawaii.gov/cwb/clean-water-branch-home-page/public-notices-and-updates/.

For more information or if you have special needs due to disability that will aid you in inspecting and/or commenting on the public notice permit and related information, please contact Mr. Reef Migita, Supervisor of the Engineering Section, CWB, at the above address or (808) 586-4309 (Voice) as soon as possible before the end of the comment period. For those who use a TTY/TDD, please call through Sprint Relay Hawaii, at 1 711 or 1-877-447-5991. If a request for assistance is made after the end of the comment period, the CWB will try to fulfill the request, but cannot guarantee that the request can be fulfilled prior to a final determination.

All written comments and requests received on time will be considered. If the Director determines that there is significant public interest, a public hearing may be held after at least 30 calendar days of public notice.

If CWB believes, after considering all timely written comments and all oral comments at any public hearing that may be held, that no substantive changes to the conditions of the public notice permit are necessary or warranted, then CWB may recommend to the Director that the NPDES permit be issued.

Please notify anyone you know who would be interested in this matter.

DARRYL LUM, P.E.

Clean Water Branch Chief