Leeward landfill plans spark community outcry

By James Gonser
Advertiser Leeward Bureau

MA'ILI — The Leeward Coast is already home to the only two landfills on O'ahu, and now a private company wants to add a third, prompting some residents to wonder why their part of the island has become such a dumping ground.

The latest proposal, close to the PVT site, comes from Sphere LLC, which wants to establish a construction and demolition material landfill site at the old Kaiser Cement quarry off Pa'akea Road.

Though in the works since 1998, the site is closer to reality because Sphere officials have completed purchase of the land and are seeking city and state permits to move the project forward.

Opposition to the city's plans to expand its landfill near Ko Olina has united Leeward residents from Wai'anae to Kapolei, and Sphere's plan to add its dump has been criticized as an unwanted blight on the Leeward Coast.

Leonard Oshiro, a pig farmer in Mikilua Valley near the quarry site, said there are enough Leeward landfills and it is about time that O'ahu's rubbish was dumped someplace else.

"Wai'anae has become a total dumping area," Oshiro said. "What else we going to dump on Wai'anae? It's enough already. They are putting it in the wrong place. That's the truth. There has got to be somewhere better than the situation that is going in."

Wai'anae Coast Neighborhood Board member Patty Teruya said large trucks would use Hakimo Road to reach the new landfill, which is too narrow to safely handle the traffic.

"There is lots of concern about trucks and rubbish going up the road," Teruya said. "Our community and the farmers oppose the landfill because the road cannot handle the trucks. It goes right past homes and schools."

Lawrence Wilderman, owner of Industrial Parts Hawai'i Inc. and a member of Sphere LLC, made a presentation to the Wai'anae Coast Neighborhood Board about the project in 1998.

Company representative Bernie Kim was to make a presentation on the project tonight, but asked that it be taken off the agenda. Kim said that Sphere's 1998 appearance before the board satisfies its public requirement.

The company also sent a letter last week to more than 100 area residents and the neighborhood board at the request of the city Department of Planning and Permitting to "update our application process."

Concerns raised in '98

During the 1998 presentation, residents raised a number of concerns about the landfill, including taking agricultural land for industrial use, routing trucks carrying 30 to 40 tons of material over substandard roads and possible harm to water, drainage and air quality.

The 208-acre site is zoned for agricultural use, but has been a quarry site since 1959. According to Sphere, the site could take at least 200,000 tons of a year for 14 years before filling up.

Sphere's Kim said the project would provide jobs — about 25 positions, Wilderman said in 1998 — in the economically depressed area and, if all necessary permits are granted, the landfill could be open in a "couple of years."

Meanwhile, the city in June released a revised draft supplemental environmental impact statement on the Waimanalo Gulch project and wants to expand the Kahe Valley landfill by 60.5 acres to provide space for O'ahu's rubbish though 2017. The landfill uses 86.5 acres at the 200-acre site and is expected to reach capacity in 2002.

Final approval for the expansion has not been granted. The time for accepting public comment on the expansion has been extended until Sept. 21 and a final impact statement will be published later.

Other transfer points

The city has several refuse collection/transfer sites, including the closed landfill on Kapa'a Quarry Road near Kailua, but trash from those locations is hauled to Waimanalo Gulch or the H-Power plant in Campbell Industrial Park. O'ahu's household garbage that isn't recycled ends up at the city dump.

The only other legal dump on O'ahu is PVT Landfill, which is about two miles from the proposed Sphere site.

PVT President Albert Shigemura said the landfill takes in rocks, dirt, concrete and wood rubbish. He said it does not collect household garbage like at the city's Waimanalo Gulch landfill. Shigemura said the city no longer accepts construction materials because space is limited at the Kahe Valley site.

"Most of the guys would be coming to us anyway because we were quite a bit cheaper then the county landfill," Shigemura said.

PVT charges $25 a ton to accept construction materials, while the city dump charges $72.25 per ton to drop off rubbish and, with taxes and other charges, it totals about $82 per ton.

Joseph Hernandez, operations manager for Waste Management of Hawai'i, said the Waimanalo Gulch landfill will accept some construction and demolition materials, but it can be no more than 10 percent of any load. Oshiro said the overriding concern about the dump proposal is safety.

"Pa'akea and Hakimo roads are very narrow and in poor condition," Oshiro said. "We have a lot of school kids on the road waiting for buses and there are sharp turns. The (utility) pole at Ulehawa Road has been replaced so many times because trucks have hit it. If they put in a good roadway and a better turn at Hakimo, maybe we got to take a look at it."

Public hearings on the proposed private landfill will be held before the city Planning Commission and the state Department of Heath. No dates have been set.

Reach James Gonser at jgonser@honoluluadvertiser.com or 988-1383.