Protect the Waters of Westside Kauaʻi!
The Hawaiʻi Department of Health (DOH) Clean Water Branch is considering approving a National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit for Sunrise Capital Inc. shrimp farm that would allow for increased pollution into the surrounding ground and surface waters on the westside of Kauaʻi. This proposed permit is being considered without a public hearing, omits the appropriate mitigation measures to prevent water pollution, and fails to meet the requirements of the Clean Water Act.
We cannot allow increased pollution into our ground and surface waters on the westside of Kauaʻi.
It is crucial that the DOH enforce the federal Clean Water Act and require an appropriate and compliant NPDES permit for Sunrise Capital, Inc. shrimp farm (Docket No. HI 0021654). The enforcement of the Clean Water Act is in the public's best interest and vitally important for our water quality.
WHAT YOU CAN DO
Please request the DOH to hold a public hearing on the proposed NPDES permit and that they either revise or deny the permit as currently written. Submit testimony either via e-mail or through written testimony. All testimonies must be submitted before Friday, October 29th 2021.
Contact Information
Email: cleanwaterbranch@doh.hawaii.gov
Subject: Proposed Water Pollution Control Permit for Sunrise Capital, Inc., Kekaha, Island of Kauaʻi, NPDES Permit No. HI 0021654
Physical Mailing Address:
Hawaiʻi Department of Health (DOH) Clean Water Branch
2827 Waimano Home Road, Room 225,
Pearl City, Hawaiʻi 96782
TALKING POINTS
The enforcement of the Clean Water Act is in the public's best interest and vitally important for our water quality. The shrimp farm’s pollution should be properly regulated in the receiving ditches like all pollution being discharged into our waters.
It is crucial that the DOH enforce the Federal Clean Water Act and require an appropriate and compliant NPDES (National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System) permit for Sunrise Capital, Inc. shrimp farm in Kekaha. The proposed NPDES permit for Sunrise Capital, Inc., Docket No. HI 0021654, fails to comply with the federal Clean Water Act and Hawai‘i Revised Statutes chapter 342D.
The Department of Health should hold a public hearing on the proposed NPDES permit. The Department should also revise the proposed permit to address it’s inaccuracies and flaws or, otherwise, deny this permit application altogether.
This particular shrimp farm has been associated with a number of fish kill incidents over the past several years. During these incidents, a large amount of dead fish have spilled from the ditches onto the shoreline and into the mixing zone waters. This creates a public health and safety hazard and prevents public use.
The mixing zone proposed is inadequate and threatens environmental and Native Hawaiian rights protected under the Hawai‘i Constitution. People regularly swim, surf, recreate, fish, and gather limu well-within the area. A 6,000-foot zone for mixing is not suitable or in the public's best interest. Although Sunrise would need to comply with water quality standards and effluent limitations at the edge of the mixing zone (more than one mile offshore) these standards and limits could be exceeded within the mixing zone, in areas of heavy public use.
The proposed permit improperly identifies the receiving waters as the Pacific Ocean, rather than the ditches that actually receive the pollution. Ditches that flow into the ocean are jurisdictional waters under the Clean Water Act, therefore, discharges into them must be regulated. Because Sunrise discharges from its facility into Kawai‘ele and/or Kinikini ditch, pollution from the shrimp farm must initially be regulated in the ditches.
The proposed permit lacks mitigation measures to prevent fish kill incidents. Nothing in the proposed permit provides for mitigation measures to prevent these incidents from happening again in the future.
The proposed permit improperly weakens effluent limitations. Effluent limitations are the primary mechanisms by which an NPDES permit regulates and controls water pollution. The proposed permit, however, removes nearly all effluent limitations.
The proposed permit removes water quality monitoring requirements. This is unacceptable. Collecting water quality data is a critical tool to assess the health and safety of receiving waters and the ecosystems that rely on them. Regardless, the proposed permit removes water quality monitoring requirements for biological oxygen demand, salinity, temperature, and enterococcus. The Department should reinstate these water quality monitoring requirements to better inform and protect the public.
The proposed permit does not accurately describe all of the species under cultivation, besides shrimp, and discharge from each of them. It also does not account for nutrient and chemical contribution to groundwater through unlined conveyance canals.