Technical Memorandum Report No. 31
A Preliminary Study of Some Ecological Effects of Sugar Mill Waste Discharge on Water Quality and Marine Life, Kilauea, Kauai
Anthony R. Russo
September 1971
ABSTRACT
Mill discharge from Kilauea Sugar Company discolors the receiving waters off the north coast of Kauai and increases the turbidity thirty-fold over that for normal waters. Coral growth is abundant in this area except near the mill discharge outfall. The epibenthic community is dominated by a single genus of coral, Montipora, and shows very little diversity. Bagasse and other cane debris were observed and photographed on intertidal reefs and in the subtidal zone as far as three miles from the outfall.