City allowed to raise Waimanalo trash heap
By Catherine E. Toth
Advertiser Staff Writer
With no alternative to deal with O'ahu's increasing volume of garbage, the state Department of Health approved a permit yesterday to raise the height of the landfill at Waimanalo Gulch by 30 feet.
The action came with only weeks of capacity remaining at the city's sole landfill, and state deputy health director Gary Gill noted that the urgency to find a solution to O'ahu's waste problem was mounting along with the trash.
"We're behind time and very behind task," Gill said in announcing approval of the permit.
Yesterday's action embarked O'ahu on a course of temporary trash fixes with no end in sight.
"Basically, the city bought themselves eight months," said Gill. "After that they'll have to decide and present to us what their plans are for the future."
Even with the new permit, which allows waste to rise to 430 feet instead of the present 400 feet, it is anticipated that the city will run out of landfill space again by spring 2003. After that, the city is expected to seek another five-year extension for Waimanalo Gulch that will include a 15-acre expansion, scratching initial plans to seek a 15-year extension and expansion.
"The city has really backed itself into a corner," Gill said.
Widespread development limits potential new landfill sites, and occasional shutdowns have raised questions about the ability of H-Power — the city's garbage-to-ash answer for trash up to now — to handle the volume required.
Tim Steinberger, director of the Department of Environmental Services, said the permit allows the city time to finish its study on alternatives for disposing of solid waste and look at issues involved in expanding Waimanalo Gulch.
"We continue to move forward on our plan to close Waimanalo Gulch landfill in five years," Steinberger said. "Our plan involves completing a feasibility study on plasma torch technology, expanding the H-Power plant, acquiring 23 acres next to the H-Power plant that will allow us to separate mixed waste and increase recycling, (and) putting out a request for proposals for interested companies to demonstrate and test new waste-to-energy technologies."
H-Power converts garbage to ash and produces electricity. Plasma arc technology uses electrical energy to reduce waste to road material — "glassphalt" — and gases.
By the end of the year the city is expected to release its latest environmental impact statement for the proposed landfill expansion, which should discuss possible alternatives.
But even if alternate waste disposal can be found in five years, O'ahu will most likely need a landfill for ash and other items that can't be incinerated by H-Power, city officials have said.
The permit issued yesterday does address concerns from Leeward residents worried about litter, odor and the visual blight of the Nanakuli landfill.
In response to growing discontent from residents who have objected to the continued use of Waimanalo Gulch and urged the city to close the landfill, the DOH has asked the city to enforce stricter litter control over the landfill to prevent winds from carrying loose debris, such as plastic bags, into neighboring areas. Odor-eating sprays are already used at the landfill to combat the smell.
The permit also for the first time requires the city to landscape the front faces of the landfill as it rises.
Residents want the city to landscape the landfill according to its natural surroundings.
"I'll support the landscaping if it's done to match the rest of the neighboring slopes," said Cynthia Rezentes, Wai'anae Neighborhood Board chairwoman. "If it's going to be green and manicured, it's just as conspicuous as it not being taken care of."
Meanwhile, the DOH encourages residents to be mindful of their own trash in an effort to reduce the waste dumped into the landfill. Only about one-fourth of the state's trash is recycled.
This problem "is a byproduct of a throw-away society," Gill said.
Reach Catherine E. Toth at 535-8103 or ctoth@honoluluadvertiser.com.
