Waste & Wastewater

Kekaha Landfill: One Landfill, Running Out of Room

• Another expansion is planned. The county’s Cell 3 Vertical Expansion would add about 1.5 million cubic yards of space by building the fill areas higher, up to 195 feet. It would be the landfill’s seventh expansion, is estimated at $24–43 million, and is projected to open in early 2030, buying about 12 more years.
• Older parts are unlined. The oldest section (Phase I) was built before liners were required. The expansion plan calls for moving about 253,000 cubic yards of buried waste so a liner and leachate collection system can be installed. The site also sits in a tsunami inundation zone and needs shoreline armoring.
• Kekaha has carried the island’s waste for decades. Residents have raised concerns about odor, health, and fairness. A county benefit fund created in 2008 receives $3.65 per ton and has paid for community projects, including solar systems on 181 homes. In October 2026, a proposed council bill (Draft Bill No. 3007) would bar any new landfill within six miles of one used in the past 30 years, which would rule out a second landfill near Kekaha.
• A new site has taken more than 20 years to find. The county’s preferred site is about 270 acres on Maʻalo Road in Hanamāʻulu, north of Līhuʻe, designed to last about 200 years in phases. It was set aside in 2021 after the Federal Aviation Administration and state Airports Division raised bird-strike concerns because it is close to Līhuʻe Airport, and is now back in planning and environmental review. The county still needs to acquire the land from the state, and the new landfill is roughly a decade away.

Cesspools: Untreated Sewage in the Groundwater

A cesspool is just a hole in the ground that takes household sewage with no treatment. Hawaiʻi has more cesspools per person than any other state, about 83,000 in all. New cesspools have been banned statewide since 2016 under Department of Health rules, but existing ones keep leaking nutrients and bacteria into groundwater, streams, and nearshore waters, where they feed algae, harm coral reefs, and threaten public health. Rising seas are pushing groundwater higher in coastal areas, which makes low-lying cesspools fail more often.

• Highest-risk areas on Kauaʻi. The state’s 2022 Cesspool Hazard Assessment ranks Hāʻena–Hanalei, Kekaha–Waimea, and Wailua Homesteads as Priority 1 (greatest risk). Priority 2 includes Kapaʻa, Wailua Houselots, Kōloa–Poʻipū, Anahola, Līhuʻe, and Puhi–Hanamāʻulu.
• Earlier deadlines may come. The state Cesspool Conversion Working Group recommended converting Priority 1 cesspools by 2030 and Priority 2 by 2035, plus a seller’s disclosure requirement. Lawmakers have considered bills to make these binding; check current status with the Department of Health.
• Upgrades can be required sooner. According to the Kauaʻi District Health Office, an upgrade can be required before 2050 if you add an enclosed space such as a bedroom or ADU, change the property’s use, or add a carport, lanai, or bathroom where the cesspool discharges into groundwater. A cesspool that has been pumped more than twice or spilled more than once in 12 months also has to be upgraded. Selling a home does not currently trigger an upgrade.

Why converting is so hard

• Cost: state estimates average about $23,000 per home, from about $10,000 to $38,000, with difficult sites over $60,000. Recent Kauaʻi reporting puts the average closer to $50,000. Statewide, conversion is estimated at $2–5 billion.
• Not enough help yet: the county’s Residential Cesspool Conversion Grant pays up to $20,000 per home, after the work is done. The first round (2024) funded about 100 homes and drew 233 applications in a few weeks; the second round (2026) funds 50.
• Site limits: small lots, shallow soil, rock, and high groundwater near the coast leave little room for a septic system and leach field, and some sites need more costly aerobic treatment units.
• Uncertainty about sewers: the county has no sewer expansion plan, so homeowners worry about paying for a septic system and then being required to connect to a new sewer line a few years later.
• Workforce and paperwork: there are shortages of licensed engineers, contractors, and system operators, and Act 125 sets a deadline but no penalty or clear lead agency, which has slowed progress.

Approved alternatives include septic tanks with leach fields, aerobic treatment units, connection to county sewer where available, and, in some cases, cluster systems shared by neighbors. Composting toilets and greywater reuse can reduce how much wastewater a home produces; see Technology and check Department of Health rules before installing.

Sources: Civil Beat (June 2026) · Civil Beat (Aug. 2026) · Hawaiʻi Public Radio (Oct. 2026) · County of Kauaʻi: Cell 3 Expansion · County of Kauaʻi: New Landfill · Kauaʻi Now (Sept. 2024) · Hawaiʻi Climate Commission: Wastewater · Kauaʻi priority areas (2022 assessment) · County cesspool grant (2026) · Cesspool Conversion Working Group briefing · Kauaʻi District Health Office: Wastewater FAQs · DOH: Hawaiʻi bans new cesspools (2016). Figures checked November 4, 2026.