The City is posting warning signs and having police officers and lifeguards warn people about the contamination in an area from the groin at Kapahulu Avenue to Point Panic, a popular body surfing spot in the Kakaako area. Sewage came out of manholes at Ala Moana Beach Park, on a street fronting a shopping mall at the edge of Waikiki and a pumping station. A spokeswoman for the city’s Department of Emergency Services cautions that the ocean is unsafe.
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“As it goes into the recreational waters… we’re going to advise the public to stay out of the water”, said Matthew Kurano, environmental health specialist with the state Health Department.
City officials said more than 500,000 gallons of wastewater escaped from manholes in the Hawaiian capital’s Waikiki neighborhood and entered storm drains leading into the ocean.
“What you have behind me is a major sewage backup”, said Lori Kahikina, director of the city’s Department of Environmental Services told reporters according to NBC affiliate, KHNL. “We don’t know right now what is in the water”, she says.
“You could get a serious infection, get extremely sick or even worse”.
An estimated half a million gallons of sewage water has spilled from a 69-foot pipe that’s now backed up.
A sign posted at Kuhio Beach in Waikiki warns beachgoers that the beach is closed after a…
That spill was triggered when a sewage line ruptured following weeks of heavy rain. The escape was facilitated by people who had illegally opened the manholes to alleviate flooding during heavy rainfall, Hawaii News Now reported.
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A number of roads were closed Monday because of flooding and pooling on the highways, slowing the morning commute as the University of Hawaii began its fall semester.
