Bayfront Area Reopens After Wastewater Spill

Hawai‘i County Department of Environmental Management reports the Bayfront area from the Wailuku Bridge to the Bayfront restrooms is now opened.

The Department of Health has declared the area safe after a wastewater spill occurred on Waianuenue Avenue this past Monday, Aug. 1, where an estimated 6,300 gallons of wastewater was released.

The county Department of Environmental Management responded to a discharge of sewage from a manhole on Waiānuenue Avenue in the vicinity of Hilo High and Hilo Intermediate schools that started at about 12:15 p.m. Monday. Wastewater Division personnel arrived on the scene and were able to stop the discharge by about 2 p.m.

According to a press release, the contractor for a paving project in the area was notified about about water exiting the manhole and onto Waiānuenue Avenue. Crews from the Wastewater Division arrived at about 1:15 p.m.

The wastewater traveled down the northside curb of the roadway and into a storm drain just makai of Laimana Street, near the intersection with Waiānuenue. The affected portion of Waiānuenue Avenue was disinfected with a water and chlorine solution.

The cause of the discharge was traced to the collapse of a section of a sewer main, which caused a partial blockage of the flow.

Warning signs posted along Hilo Bay shoreline have been removed, and water sampling results show that the shoreline and beach are cleared for recreational activities.