The restoration of drinking water and wastewater services in the areas of Lahaina, Hawaii, affected by the 2023 Maui wildfires has been completed, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) said on July 17.
The EPA said the drinking water and wastewater mission was part of a multi-agency emergency response to the wildfire that killed over 100 people and destroyed over 2,000 acres in Lahaina last year. The announcement came just weeks ahead of the first anniversary of the wildfires on Aug. 8.
“It was our honor to serve alongside the Lahaina community to help restore, rebuild and repair drinking water and wastewater systems following the devastating wildfires that swept across the island of Maui,” the EPA’s deputy administrator, Janet McCabe, said in a statement.
“Access to safe drinking water is vital to protecting public health and the environment and getting this special community back on its feet,” Ms. McCabe added.
The EPA said it has conducted drinking water tests in 1,308 lateral service lines that connect water mains to impacted properties, sampled 135 fire hydrants, isolated 589 contaminated pipes, and inspected 97,749 feet of sewer lines in Lahaina.
“If contamination was detected, or if a lateral was too damaged to be sampled, the line was isolated from the main distribution line and marked for future replacement,” the agency stated.
Maui County’s Department of Water Supply has lifted the unsafe water advisory for all areas of Upper Kula and some parts of Lahaina as of June 12. The advisory was issued after the wildfires caused damage to the water system in both areas.
Residents in areas still under the advisory have been urged not to use tap water for drinking until further notice, according to the department.
The Hawaii State Department of Health (DOH) declared in April that the coastal waters around Lahaina “pose no significant risk to human health” and are safe for recreation activities.
“We continue to advise residents to heed brown water advisories, as bacteriological quality remains a concern at all times in brown water conditions,” Deputy Director for Environmental Health Kathleen Ho said in a statement.
The department said it was particularly interested in test results for metals because of their elevated concentrations in wildfire ash and the possibility that rain and runoff could carry them into the ocean.
However, it stated that access to some coastal zones within the impacted area of Lahaina remained restricted as the cleanup from the Aug. 8, 2023, wildfire continued.
