Last month, the state Land Use Commission began its hearing on the petition of the City and County of Honolulu to amend the land use district boundary around west O`ahu\u2019s Waimanalo Gulch Sanitary Landfill, changing it from Agricultural to Urban. The move would allow the city\u2019s landfill, run by Waste Management Hawai`i, to expand and to continue operating after its LUC special use permit expires on November 1.<\/p>\n
\tAlthough the city is seeking to renew its SUP, it filed the district boundary amendment (DBA) petition late last year as a backup plan should the LUC deny the city a new permit. In March 2008, the LUC extended the expiration date of the city\u2019s current SUP from May 1, 2008, to November 1, 2009, giving the city time to finish an environmental impact statement for its proposed 92.5-acre expansion of the landfill. The expansion is estimated to give the landfill about 15 more years of capacity.<\/p>\n
\tOnly after the LUC approves either a new SUP or the city\u2019s boundary amendment request can the state Department of Health accept as complete the application from the city and Waste Management for a new solid waste permit, which they submitted in 2007 and updated in 2008. Since May of last year, the landfill has been operated without a state permit, but Hawai`i law allows ongoing operations while an application is pending, so long as the operator abides by conditions of the permit previously granted, the pending application, and all information included in the application.<\/p>\n
\tAt the commission\u2019s first hearing on the city\u2019s boundary-amendment petition, held May 14 in Kapolei, the vast majority of public testimony came from Nanakuli residents fearing that, should the city\u2019s request be denied, all the waste that now goes to Waimanalo Gulch would be redirected to the PVT landfill in Nanakuli. PVT currently accepts only construction and demolition waste and is considered by neighbors to be a nuisance and a health hazard.<\/p>\n
Nanakuli\u2019s Kimo Keli`i told the commission that he was once opposed to all landfills on the island, but has since changed his mind. \u201cIn doing research regarding the PVT landfill, I\u2019ve yet to hear from officials where the alternative sites are,\u201d he said. City officials have said that the city will cease accepting waste at Waimanalo Gulch should it fail to gain the proper land use approvals by November. Because the ash from the city\u2019s H-POWER incineration facility also goes to Waimanalo Gulch, closing the landfill would necessitate closing H-POWER, as well, city officials say.<\/p>\n
Keli`i said he envisioned the governor issuing an emergency proclamation to send all of O`ahu\u2019s waste to PVT. And in emergency situations, \u201cA lot of things that are supposed to be routine get fast-tracked,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\tAfter a number of testifiers raised similar concerns about the use of PVT as a backup landfill, Commissioner Normand Lezy asked one of them, \u201cHas anybody told you that would be the case?\u201d To which, the testifier replied, \u201cNo. That\u2019s just my concern.\u201d<\/p>\n
\tA small handful of west O`ahu residents testified in opposition to any approval that would keep Waimanalo Gulch open and criticized the city for failing to plan ahead and do more to reduce the need to landfill O`ahu\u2019s waste.<\/p>\n
\t\u201cWe are dying from Waimanalo Gulch and PVT. PVT is worse\u2026.Landfills need to be shut down. That is the total solution,\u201d Ma`ili\u2019s Lilikina Tom said.<\/p>\n
\tKaren Young, a nurse with the Wai`anae Coast Comprehensive Health Center, also opposed both landfills and said, \u201cIt shouldn\u2019t have to be a choice [between the two]\u2026As a new testifier, what sticks out is the fear and horror over diversion to PVT. The public deserves to hear from the powers that be precisely what that is all about.\u201d<\/p>\n
\tBeverly Munson, who lives below Waimanalo Gulch in the Ko Olina development, argued that the city needs to keep its promise to close the landfill.<\/p>\n
\u201cTheir answer time and again is, \u2018We need more time.\u2019 I need you to be the body that will hold them accountable\u2026Say to them, \u2018Time is running out,\u2019\u201d she told the LUC, referring to the multiple extensions of the landfill\u2019s permit expiration date.<\/p>\n
\tThe state Office of Planning, which is a party to all petitions before the LUC, also opposed the DBA and stated that an SUP would be more appropriate. OP executive director Abbey Mayer pointed out that the city has identified no urban uses for the landfill site after closure and, in any event, would \u201cfind it very problematic to use the petition area for any bona fide Urban uses.\u201d He added that the proposed use is inconsistent with urban standards, which, as described in state statutes and commission rules, call for city-like concentrations of people and structures. Also, he said that the petition may be the first and only boundary amendment request for a temporary landfill. Finally, Mayer said that the city has not fully pursued efforts to reduce O`ahu\u2019s solid waste stream.<\/p>\n
\tDeputy Attorney General Bryan Yee, who represents the OP before the LUC, said that extending the life and size of the landfill would impact a planned mixed-use development, which will include a daycare center, known as Makaiwa Hills. The 2008 unilateral agreement covering the rezoning of the development area requires the city to disclose all potential impacts from Waimanalo Gulch. Changing the land use district to Urban now would preclude the future residents of Makaiwa Hills from commenting on the landfill\u2019s impacts, he said.<\/p>\n
In written comments submitted to the LUC in March, the OP raised also concerns about the city\u2019s proposed expansion, which calls for blasting of the gulch\u2019s slopes.<\/p>\n
\t\u201cFinal design will be modified based on maintaining the stability of all cut slopes. If a mistake is made, however, the continuous blasting and excavation could present significant structural problems in the future,\u201d Mayer wrote, adding that excessive leachate combined with the blasting could also create stability problems.<\/p>\n
\tMayer continued, \u201cAsbestos in the landfill due to inadequate monitoring of waste\u2026raises the concern that leachate from storm events could be contaminated. In addition, a question of whether mercury switches from older cars might have been included in auto shredder residue sent to the landfill by the City and County auto recycling contractor has also been raised, although not yet definitively proven.\u201d<\/p>\n
\tCity planner Brian Taketa, the city Department of Environmental Services\u2019 first witness in the case, sought to rebut the OP\u2019s comments, noting that in fact, some landfills do exist in the Urban District. While the 200 or so acres at Waimanalo Gulch would need to remain untouched for 30 years after the landfill closes \u2013 to allow for settling and monitoring of leachate and gases \u2013 the area could one day be a suitable place for a park or other recreational purposes that are appropriate in the Urban District. He noted that Kaka`ako Waterfront Park and portions of Ala Moana Beach Park are former landfill sites and he listed several parks and golf courses located in the Urban District.<\/p>\n
\tTaketa added that landfills are valuable when there is a natural disaster.<\/p>\n
\t\u201cWhen you have to clean up large areas [to protect] public health and safety, it would be a severe problem [not to have a landfill] because there would be no place to put the refuse,\u201d he said. He added that there are no energy-generating incineration technologies that don\u2019t have significant operating problems and\/or produce some kind of waste byproduct.<\/p>\n
\tIn response to the OP\u2019s concern that a district boundary amendment would free the city from the need to provide periodic reviews of its operation, Taketa said he did not see why the LUC couldn\u2019t require such reviews as a condition of approval.<\/p>\n
Gary Takeuchi, an attorney representing the city\u2019s Department of Environmental Services added that the landfill is only one aspect, albeit a critical one, of the city\u2019s waste management scheme. He said that the city plans to increase H-POWER\u2019s capacity by adding a third boiler. The new equipment, which Takeuchi said would be fully operational by 2012, would allow H-POWER to accept up to 300,000 more tons of waste a year. He mentioned that the city has issued requests for bids to ship waste off island and to development a greenwaste\/bioconversion facility. He also said the city\u2019s plans to take its pilot curbside recycling program islandwide by 2010. (It\u2019s unlikely the city will meet that deadline since the City Council cut $6 million from the program last month.)<\/p>\n
When asked by Yee which was more appropriate \u2013 a special use permit or a boundary amendment \u2013 Taketa said that was a hard question for him to answer because he felt both were appropriate. However, Taketa did say that assigning a deadline to close a landfill is difficult because \u201cthere is no way of knowing whether that landfill will be utilized at that date.\u201d<\/p>\n
\tThe meeting adjourned before intervenors state Sen. Colleen Hanabusa, D-21st (Nanakuli, Makaha), state Rep. Maile Shimabukuro, D-45th (Wai’anae, Makaha, Makua), and the Ko Olina Community Association could question Taketa. But in her opening statements, Hanabusa, who is representing herself, Shimabukuro and the association, said she had concerns about the proposed blasting, the stability of the landfill\u2019s slopes, and the city\u2019s overall management of the site. She added that significant cultural features \u2013 upright stones and an ancient battleground \u2013 are located in and around the area to be excavated.<\/p>\n
\t\u201cWe\u2019re gonna move [the stones] so the city can blast\u2026We\u2019re losing our culture\u2026,\u201d she said. \u201cI don\u2019t think the city is running this right,\u201d she added, referring to the problems the city has had complying with its solid waste permit from the DOH.<\/p>\n
The LUC is expected to continue the hearing this month and has not yet decided on whether to grant City Councilmember Todd Apo\u2019s petition to intervene in the case. Apo, who supports only a short extension of the landfill\u2019s life, represents the Leeward coast.<\/p>\n
The city Planning Commission was scheduled to hold a hearing on May 20 on the special use permit request. Hanabusa, Shimabukura, and Apo are all seeking to intervene in that proceeding as well. Whatever the Planning Commission decides, it will forward its recommendations to the LUC.<\/p>\n
— Teresa Dawson<\/p>\n
Volume 19, Number 12 June 2009<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Last month, the state Land Use Commission began its hearing on the petition of the City and County of Honolulu to amend the land use district boundary around west O`ahu’s Waimanalo Gulch Sanitary Landfill, changing it from Agricultural to Urban. … Continued<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[171],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1190","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-june-2009"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/environment-hawaii.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1190","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/environment-hawaii.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/environment-hawaii.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/environment-hawaii.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/environment-hawaii.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1190"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/environment-hawaii.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1190\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/environment-hawaii.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1190"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/environment-hawaii.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1190"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/environment-hawaii.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1190"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}