The state has released about $39 million to remove cesspools at schools across the state in order to comply with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Clean Water Act.

The release of the money comes after education officials made public appeals to state lawmakers this past legislative session. That's because Gov. Linda Lingle did not include the DOE's request for $49 million to remove more than 300 cesspools from rural schools in her budget.

That forced education officials to lobby state lawmakers to fund the project, citing an EPA deadline of September 2009.

In the end, several key lawmakers pushed to include the cesspool removal project from DOE's supplemental budget request.

The money will go toward the total cost of some $78 million to remove cesspools statewide. Currently, about half of the 60 public school campuses affected by the EPA consent decree have been completed.

According to a news release, the projects will be conducted in phases at the following schools:

Big Island