Surfrider Foundation’s Oʻahu chapter is turning up the heat on state regulators, arguing that a draft permit to renew ocean discharges from the Sand Island Wastewater Treatment Plant would lock in unacceptably high bacteria levels near Waikīkī and other South Shore beaches. The group points to routine monitoring data, including a July 2025 effluent sample that registered 78,622 enterococci per 100 milliliters, as proof that the current setup is already putting swimmers and paddlers in harm’s way. The state’s public comment window on the draft renewal closes Wednesday.
What regulators are recommending
The Hawaii Department of Health’s Clean Water Branch has tentatively recommended renewing the plant’s NPDES permit, which governs the facility at 1350 Sand Island Parkway and its deep-ocean outfall to Mamala Bay. According to the Hawaii Department of Health public notice, the Sand Island plant has an average design flow of about 90 million gallons per day and provides primary treatment followed by ultraviolet disinfection. The notice also lays out how the public can inspect the draft permit and submit comments during the review period.
What the draft permit would allow
The draft renewal would allow a daily maximum enterococcus concentration of 28,730 MPN per 100 milliliters at the outfall, a limit environmental advocates say is far too high for waters connected to popular beaches. That figure was reported by the Honolulu Star-Advertiser.
How that stacks up
That permitted level sits in sharp contrast to Hawaii’s recreational water quality standard. For coastal waters, the state uses a Statistical Threshold Value of 130 MPN per 100 milliliters for enterococci, according to HAR 11-54-8. Surfrider’s Oʻahu chapter cites repeated monitoring exceedances, including the July 2025 sample of 78,622 enterococci, and describes roughly a one-mile-by-quarter-mile "sacrifice zone" in Mamala Bay where bacteria can stay elevated. Research and current forecasts show that treated effluent can be carried back toward shore under certain conditions, potentially affecting beaches from Ala Moana to Waikīkī, with modeling and observations available from PacIOOS and related studies.
Where upgrades stand
The permit decision is unfolding against a long compliance timeline created by a 2010 federal consent decree that requires upgrades to Honolulu’s wastewater system. EPA records and the city’s compliance plan place Sand Island’s ultimate upgrade on a multi-year schedule with specific construction milestones. Under the consent decree, Sand Island is slated for full secondary treatment by the settlement deadline, with limited circumstances allowing an extension, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s NPDES materials. Regulators and the public are therefore weighing near-term effluent limits while the longer-term capital projects move ahead.
What activists said
“We will not accept permits that rely on dilution to justify the discharge of extremely high levels of bacteria that put public and environmental health at risk,” Jill Heaps told the Star-Advertiser. Surfrider’s Hawaii regional manager Hanna Lilley said Hawaiʻi residents deserve to be able to safely recreate in all of the state’s waters, and community members told the paper they have experienced gastrointestinal illness, rashes and infections after contact with contaminated seawater. The reporting also notes that the group has asked federal regulators to review the draft permit.
Legal and next steps
If the Clean Water Branch’s recommendation is finalized, the renewed NPDES permit would be in effect for five years, and the Director will consider all timely comments and may hold a public hearing if there is significant interest, according to the state notice. Surfrider warns that a five-year authorization that leans on dilution instead of tighter bacterial limits would leave nearshore ecosystems and recreational users exposed while the city works toward secondary treatment. Members of the public can find submission instructions and supporting documents in the Clean Water Branch public notices.
