FAQs about Maui County’s Injection Well Appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court 

“Our County”
Maui County's appeal is not to 'gut' the Clean Water Act, 
By Mayor Michael Victorino

  1. Why does the Victorino administration maintain Maui County’s appeal of the Lahaina injection well case before the U.S. Supreme Court?
  2. How has Maui County operating its wastewater facilities so far?
  3. Couldn’t Maui County’s appeal “gut” the Clean Water Act, allowing for pollution nationwide?
  4. Hasn’t water from West Maui injection wells negatively impacted the reef and fish in West Maui, particularly at Kahekili Beach where a tracer dye study found the presence of water from injection wells
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These photos of reefs offshore of Kahekili Beach were taken in 2014 as part of a Maui County-commissioned study by Drs. Steven Dollar and Eric Hochberg to conduct an extensive survey of the reef at Kahekili and at control sites outside of the area where any impacts from the recycled water-groundwater would likely be found as the water naturally exists the coastline. 

The study involved a survey of 71 sites from the shoreline to the offshore limit of coral occurrence. At each site, 50 to 100 digital photographs were taken of the reef. Should the seeps be causing impacts to coral, there would be “halos” of reduced coral cover around the seeps. No such halos were found, and data from all sources reveals no adverse impacts such as gradients of damaged coral or dead zones from the recycled water/groundwater along this stretch of coastline.

Kahekili Offshore Reef