December 05, 2006

    Maui County Mayor Alan Arakawa’s activation of a contract to  install a 7.1 million dollar, 36” pipeline  has residents of north Maui confused and concerned. Construction of the pipeline, which will purportedly run from the Paia aquifer to the residential communities of Paia and  Spreckelsville continues despite the Maui County Council’s  unanimous approval of a bill banning the use of the Hamakuapoko wells  for human consumption.
    According to Jacky Takakura at the Maui Department of Water, the pipeline is still under construction “Because eventually the Department of Water Supply may need to go to East Maui for additional water source.” Takakura says that the pipeline will also provide backup to the Paia area in case of emergency.  “Paia could be connected to the Kamole water treatment facility in Haliimaile if water could not be delivered from Wailuku,” she said.“This would only be in case of emergency...pending Department of Health clearance.”
    The Paia aquifer stretches from near  Kanaha Pond in Kahului to Maliko Gulch to Ma’alaea, and is characterized as “a thin, marginal, shallow lens containing mostly non-potable water”
Mayor Arakawa has said there are no  problems withthe Hamakuapoko wells. But is water located  directly beneath an active landfill and  beneath acres of active sugarcane and pineapple fields,  safe for human consumption?
    The only scientific study regarding this particular aquifer was  completed in June 1997. It was done by an environmental consulting  firm based on Oahu, called CH2M Hill, for the then proposed Waena Power Plant, which proposed to use water from the Paia aquifer. The  22-page study analyzed water from 26 wells in the  region, testing for chemicals and other contaminants. According to  this study, which characterized the Paia aquifer as brackish  throughout, “….Artificially freshened basal water generally is  considered non-potable and unsuitable for municipal water use because  irrigation recharge is undependable and subject to contamination. The Paia aquifer system is to a large extent recharged by surface water  irrigation of sugar cane.”
    Although the study was done in 1997, the Coalition to Protect East Maui Water Sources says little has changed in the past nine years.  Substances such as nitrates, TCP, DBCP, EDB, atrazine and bromacil have been found in the water from this aquifer, which is recharged  by drip irrigation contaminated by pesticides and herbicides.  Only sporadic testing for a limited range of contaminants of the wells in question has been done. If further testing is conducted, other substances may or may not be found, and the effects of a “chemical soup” mix on the human body are unknown. The Coalition to Protect East Maui Water Resources, The Sierra Club, Mark Sheehan and Hui Alanui O Makena signed an agreement with the county that defines how water cam be used. Many believe that installation of a pipeline  currently underway is not included in that agreement
    North shore resident Robert Karpovich expressed frustration with the pipeline progress. “Our community does not want to rely on filtered contaminated water when our tax dollars have already paid for the  current system.”

Jan Welda