Following The Conversation’s call-in show, HPR heard from the public about their cesspool conundrums.
Many wanted to know about ways to fund cesspool conversions. HPR recently spoke to two officials with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency about federal funding opportunities, as well as the problem of large-capacity cesspools. These cesspools serve at least 20 people or multiple residential units, and the EPA has banned them since 2005.
The Conversation spoke with Amy Miller and Liz Borowiec. Miller is the Region 9 director of the Enforcement and Compliance Assurance Division at the EPA; Borowiec manages the state and municipal infrastructure section at the division.
"We have found large-capacity cesspools on all of the islands," Miller said. "Since the ban, through enforcement, we have closed 3,900 large-capacity cesspools in Hawaiʻi. We have taken over 100 enforcement actions and have secured $5.6 million in civil penalties from facilities."
By targeting large property owners, the EPA has been able to make a bigger impact rather than going to individual property owners.
For example, the agency found that Kamehameha Schools had large-capacity cesspools. During an audit, an additional 192 large-capacity cesspools were identified and are now in the process of being closed.
Borowiec told HPR that the EPA provides millions of dollars each year to the state Department of Health for cesspool and other wastewater issues.
"In fact, last year, we were able to award $33 million to the Department of Health for wastewater-related projects, and they've done an amazing job," she said.
"One thing to highlight is they took some of that money, and they created a program especially for homeowners to help offset the cost of cesspool closures, and this was on Kauaʻi. And they plan to be able to help over 200 homes with these conversions."
She added that the EPA isn't the only funding source for cesspools. The U.S. Department of Agriculture and the Department of Housing and Urban Development also work with communities to apply for federal funding.
The agency estimates that there are roughly 1,000 large-capacity cesspools left in Hawaiʻi.
"That's a tremendous amount of large-capacity cesspools that need to be taken care of," Miller said. "We are going to continue to work on getting those closed. And obviously, the ban for those was in 2005. And I know that the Department of Health is working diligently on this problem. And also, I know that the governor is really pursuing some more funding to help meet this goal. And I think part of it is, again, I want to go back to we need to have large-scale plans for each of the islands about how we are going to manage wastewater, so that that's a really key important aspect."
Miller said that their division has been focused on finding creative ways to highlight the issue and address its significant environmental problem throughout Hawaiʻi.
This story aired on The Conversation on Jan. 12, 2026. The Conversation airs weekdays at 11 a.m. Hannah Kaʻiulani Coburn adapted this story for the web.
