Cesspool Conversion Working Group News Today

The state needs to speed up upgrade conversion rates and help homeowners with the costs.

Several bills and resolutions were approved or adopted by one or both chambers of the 32nd Hawaiʻi State Legislature and revolving around a wide range of issues, including: guns, coffee, kimichi, sex trafficking, grounded vessels, humpback whales and active shooting drills in schools.

The state Department of Health will award money to help residents upgrade their cesspools. State law requires all cesspools to be removed or upgraded by 2050.

Cesspools, which are commonly used across Hawaiʻi for the disposal of waste, have long been accused of contaminating groundwater with disease and have posed large environmental health concerns for streams and the ocean.

After state legislators passed a law in 2018 requiring property owners to convert their cesspools by 2050, a working group of experts has been evaluating how affordable the transition would

Many families can't afford the conversion costs, and coming up with the funds to rid the state of all those cesspools will be daunting.

Cesspools, which are commonly used across Hawaiʻi for the disposal of waste, have long been accused of contaminating groundwater with disease and have posed large environmental health concerns for streams and the ocean.

We are still behind when it comes to converting cesspools, but we have a rare opportunity to become a national leader in new sanitation technologies and policies.

Two former Hawaii state lawmakers face 20-year prison sentences after pleading guilty to taking bribes in exchange for shaping legislation,

HONOLULU (AP) — Two former Hawaii lawmakers accused of taking bribes in exchange for shaping legislation while in office pleaded guilty Tuesday. Ty Cullen resigned from the state House of Representatives last week shortly before federal prosecutors announced charges against him and former Senate Majority Leader J.