EPA Protects Big Island Water Resources, Orders Extra Space Storage to Pay $130K Penalty

 USEPA News Release:

EPA Protects Big Island Water Resources, Orders Extra Space Storage to Pay $130K Penalty

HONOLULU – Today, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced a settlement with Extra Space Management, Inc. and Kaloko Storage 18 LLC, the respective operator and owner of an Extra Space Storage facility on the island of Hawaii. The Extra Space Storage facility has been operating an illegal large capacity cesspool (LCC) at the property. Under the federal Safe Drinking Water Act, EPA banned LCCs in 2005.

“Illegal large capacity cesspools pose major threats to groundwater and precious coastal resources across Hawai‘i,” said EPA Pacific Southwest Regional Administrator Martha Guzman. “EPA is committed to using our enforcement authority to ensure that all such unlawful cesspools are permanently closed to protect the public health of residents and their vital water resources.”

EPA is authorized to issue compliance orders and/or assess penalties to violators of the Safe Drinking Water Act’s underground injection control regulations. EPA inspected the Extra Space Storage facility in July 2021 and sent an information request in September of that year about the method of wastewater disposal at the property. The agency confirmed there was one LCC in operation at the site. As a result, the LCC was backfilled in December 2022 and Extra Space Management Inc. and Kaloko Storage 18 LLC agreed to pay a $130,000 penalty.

Cesspools collect and release untreated raw sewage into the ground, where disease-causing pathogens and harmful chemicals can contaminate groundwater, streams, and the ocean.

Since the 2005 federal ban, more than 3,750 large capacity cesspools in Hawaii have been closed; however, hundreds remain in operation. Cesspools are used more widely in Hawaii than any other state and pose a unique challenge as groundwater provides 95 percent of all water supply for the islands.

To encourage regulated entities to voluntarily discover, promptly disclose, and expeditiously close these pollution-causing systems, EPA provides penalty mitigation and other incentives for companies that proactively find and close LCCs on their property. Information on how to self-disclose potential large-capacity cesspool violations is available here. 

You can view the public notice of this settlement here.

Learn more about the federal ban and definition of a large-capacity cesspool.

Learn more about cesspools in Hawaii.

Learn more about EPA’s Pacific Southwest Region. Connect with us on Facebook and on Twitter.