As Much As 10 Million Gallons Of Raw Sewage Spills In Heavy Hawaiian Rains

[hatrack]

As much as 10 million gallons of raw sewage has been dumped into the Ala Wai Canal since Friday and city officials say it could be a week before the spill stops. The sewage was purposely diverted to the Ala Wai after Friday's heavy rains apparently caused a 42-inch sewer line to rupture on Kaiolu Street in Waikiki. The amount of waste already released rivals the biggest sewage spills the city has ever seen.

Mayor Mufi Hannemann, speaking at a press conference at Kaiolu Street yesterday, said diverting sewage into the canal was unavoidable. "We needed an outlet (for the sewage) and the Ala Wai was the most convenient outlet for us," he said. "The alternative would've been totally unacceptable -- that is homes, businesses, hotels, all being the recipient of the sewage that is now going into the Ala Wai," Hannemann said.

He acknowledged the inconvenience of the Waikiki spill to residents and visitors alike. "This is the heartland of our visitor industry." he added.

Eric Takamura, director of the city Department of Environmental Services, said at least 5 million gallons of sewage had flowed into the canal and he speculated the number could be higher than 10 million. By comparison, Honolulu county had nine major sewage spills totaling 7.8 million gallons in 2003, according to state Department of Health records.

EDIT

http://starbulletin.com/2006/03/28/news/story03.html

[phantom power]

1. The economic benefits of avoiding climate treaties just keep piling up.

[MadMaddie]

2. Does anyone else find it interesting that the infrastructure...

of many cities are litterally falling apart....

This is only the beginning of incidents.....

[BlackHeart]

3. A drop in the bucket

compared to here.
333 million gallons of sewage flows into river
http://www.mlive.com/news/bctimes/index.ssf?/base/news-6/1142680533172190.xml&coll=4