This aerial view of Big Island Dairy was taken before it closed down. Situated on the northeast side of the island above Ookala, the dairy was a fairly large operation with up to 1,800 cows. But it had problems with a series of spills from its wastewater lagoons, with manure-rich water running into neighboring Alaialoa Gulch and Kaohaoha Gulch and on down to the ocean.

The dairy closed in early 2019, leaving the Cloverleaf Dairy, at Upolu, as the only one on the island. But now, the assets of Big Island Dairy have been purchased and a proposal made to reopen the facility as a much smaller operation with no more than 200 cows. It’s still in the planning process, but the new owners have made an effort to contact local residents so that the issues from the previous operation aren’t repeated.