REPORT FROM MAUI MAYOR – According to a press release by the Environmental Protection Agency today, monitoring by the State Department of Health has confirmed that Maui County’s Lahaina Wastewater Reclamation Facility is keeping all harmful bacteria out of the ocean. According to the EPA, bacterial levels found by the DOH are “low or non-existent, and well within the range considered safe for swimming.”
“The results from DOH confirm that our ocean water is clean and safe,” said Maui County Mayor Alan Arakawa. “The County of Maui, State of Hawaii Department of Health and the Environmental Protection Agency continue to work cooperatively to obtain the best science to inform our decisions, a process that is ongoing.”
The mayor’s comments come in response to the release of a draft interim report from an ongoing investigation by federal and state agencies to evaluate the fate and transport of treated wastewater injected at the Lahaina Wastewater Reclamation Facility.
The final report is not expected until June 2013.