We have two cesspools located on the property HJM is on. Kamehameha Schools (“KS”) had an auditor come out to the property in November 2019 to inspect our cesspools. A formal determination was made that a large capacity cesspool exists on the property. We were advised that both cesspools are to be decommissioned and have the waste plumbing lines tied into an independent water system (“IWS”).
KS sent us instructions and a timeline to get this work completed. This work is mandatory per U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) regulations. The EPA requires all large capacity cesspools to be closed immediately.
Once we received site plans prepared by Atlas Engineering LLC, multiple contractors were contacted for estimates. Three proposals were received. Our Board of Directors reviewed the proposals, voted and selected DeRego’s Service to do the work.
We will be posting updates below on the progress of the work to keep you informed.
4/18/20: Update #1
Construction is to start on Monday, 4/20/20. We strongly advise people to refrain from visiting our temple while construction work is underway. We will let you know when the job is completed.
4/20/20: Update #2
HJM President Masa Nishimori stopped by the job site this morning to meet with the contractors as work commenced. We are lucky that sunny skies are upon us today!
4/21/20: Update #3
Our contractor, DeRego’s Service is making fantastic progress! For some of you who may not be aware, they also worked on our driveway many years ago.
4/24/20: Update #4
The construction phase is now completed. The engineer will be submitting documentation to the Department of Health for review and approval.
There is now a long running berm that extends from the left tree area near the gulch, all the way to the rear of the restroom building. This area is where the new IWS and leach field is located and is OFF LIMITS to all vehicular traffic.
We ask that you park your vehicles on the grassy lawn area in the front of the temple. Your kokua is greatly appreciated!
5/30/20: Update #5
We spoke with Atlas Engineering LLC on 5/27/20 to check on the progress on the “paperwork” phase with the Department of Health. We were told that it is still in process.
7/11/20: Update #6
There seems to be some confusion over the status of this project. It is not completed although the construction phase was finished in April. As of the writing of this update, HJM is still awaiting the Department of Health to approve the documents submitted by the engineer. Once we receive an approval letter from them and the engineer’s LCC backfill report, KS will then submit it to the EPA along with their end of the paperwork to close out the large capacity cesspool. Until this is done and the EPA officially signs off, this project is still NOT finished.
8/22/20: Update #7
Since it’s a waiting phase at this point and there is no update to report, this page will be updated next when approval letter from the Department of Health is received. HJM has been in touch regularly with the parties involved and will continue to do so throughout this process.
12/19/20 : Update #8
HJM finally received the long awaited approval letter from the Department of Health on 12/18/20. At this point, we now have to wait for Atlas Engineering LLC to complete a LCC backfill report before KS is able to submit their paperwork to the EPA for the final close out.
12/22/20: Update #9
We received the completed LLC backfill report on the evening of 12/21/20 and immediately forwarded it to KS. KS will now submit the Department of Health approval letter and the LLC backfill report to the EPA for the final close out of this project. This page will be next updated once the final close out is completed by the EPA.
Hamakua Jodo Mission 