Four on landfill panel quit after site is ruled out

By Treena Shapiro
Advertiser Staff Writer

The controversial decision over the location of O'ahu's next landfill prompted a surprise protest yesterday when four members of the mayor's landfill committee resigned over a decision by other committee members to remove Waimanalo Gulch from a list of five possible sites.

But the Leeward site could still be considered by the City Council when it selects the next landfill.

The four sites recommended by the Mayor's Advisory Committee on Landfill Siting are Ameron Kapa'a Quarry in Kailua and three other Leeward locations — Makaiwa Gulch, a site referred to as Nanakuli B and a quarry in Ma'ili.

Mayor Jeremy Harris did not comment, but Managing Director Ben Lee, who was to receive the committee report yesterday and forward it to the council, issued a statement through a spokeswoman that said he "hoped the committee report will be based on technical information and not politics."

Some council members yesterday were not prepared to say at this point which site they prefer or whether they would go outside the recommendations and pick Waimanalo Gulch, but one expressed dismay over the committee's recommendation.

Councilwoman Barbara Marshall, 3rd District (Kane'ohe, Kailua, Waimanalo), was unhappy with the committee removing Waimanalo Gulch over objections by the four members. "I'm aghast that a process that was meant to be open turned into a political sham," she said.

The committee report is the latest development in the city's quest to find a new landfill, but one that will likely run into opposition from nearby residents and businesses no matter which site is picked.

Earlier this year the city proposed expanding the Waimanalo Gulch landfill to last fifteen years, but responded to the community's complaints about odor and litter by saying it would close it in five years.

The panel was appointed by Harris to find a site for a landfill when Waimanalo Gulch's permit expires in 2008. The city would have to receive permission from the state Land Use Commission and Health Department to extend the permit.

Former state Health Director Bruce Anderson was one of four committee members who left yesterday's meeting before the remaining nine members unanimously voted to remove Waimanalo Gulch.

Anderson, who was health director when the city applied for permits for the Waimanalo Gulch site, said the city had said at the time the landfill would remain open for 20 to 30 years.

"I personally feel that it is irresponsible to walk away from a landfill that has over 20 years' capacity," Anderson said. "Land is too precious in Hawai'i to walk away from a site that has been despoiled and take another site and do the same."

The City Council, which is not bound by the recommendations, must select a site by June 1 or risk losing the state permit that extends the use of the present Waimanalo Gulch Sanitary Landfill through 2008.

Committee member George Yamamoto, a member of the Makakilo/Kapolei/Honokai Hale Neighborhood Board, said after yesterday's meeting that Waimanalo Gulch should have been taken off the table earlier so the committee might have had more time to narrow their recommendation down to one site.

"I think it was evident at the table that it was our charge from the beginning to pick another site that is not Waimanalo Gulch," he said.

Yamamoto and others said they have put up with having the landfill as a neighbor since 1989 and they want the city to keep its commitment to close it in 2008.

Jeff Stone, developer of Ko Olina near Waimanalo Gulch, had opposed expanding and keeping the landfill open. He said he was pleased with the committee's recommendation. He said millions of dollars have been invested in the site with the expectation the landfill would close.

"This site should have never been considered," he said.

However, state Rep. Cynthia Thielen, R-50th (Kailua, Mokapu), a member of the committee who also left in protest, argued that the current landfill site should be considered because it ranked high based on the criteria the committee used to determine which sites should be recommended.

She suggested Stone might have tainted the process by writing a letter to the committee that threatened legal action if the city did not find a new site for the landfill.

But Stone said Thielen was getting off track because she worried that the Ameron site in her district would be the next runner-up after Waimanalo Gulch. "We've served our time and now you want to leave us with it again?" he asked.

Maeda Timson, chairwoman of the Makakilo/Kapolei/Honokai Hale Neighborhood Board, yesterday agreed the burden should be shared and suggested sprinkling small landfills throughout communities.

"On the Leeward coast we have the landfill, we have the power plants," she said. "We're taking care of the whole island. Maybe it's time everyone else shares."

Council members reached yesterday were mixed.

City Councilman Mike Gabbard, 1st District (Wai'anae, 'Ewa), agreed with the decision to leave Waimanalo Gulch off the potential sites, but said he wished all the three other Leeward Coast sites were removed as well.

However, he pointed out, "It's all going to come out in the wash when the council discusses this issue."

After the committee's meeting, Gabbard introduced a resolution urging the administration to give whatever community is chosen to host the landfill at least $8 million a year for road improvements, parks and schools in the area.

"Wherever the next landfill is located, the neighboring community must be compensated with additional improvement projects money to offset the nuisance," he said. "We all need to recognize that O'ahu's 'opala (trash) is not just the responsibility of one community, but the responsibility of us all."

Marshall said the committee should have taken into account cost considerations when selecting sites, since the Kapa'a Quarry site would force Ameron to shut down.

"Putting a multimillion dollar company out of business would be, to my mind, fiscal folly," she said.

She said the sheer cost of acquiring the Ameron property "just kind of boggles my mind."

Since Ameron provides the only aggregate, the ingredients of concrete, on the island, it would also mean huge cost increases to construction companies on O'ahu, she added.

Marshall agrees with Anderson's position that Waimanalo Gulch should be good for decades to come. "I think the council can't ignore that kind of input," she said.

Councilman Rod Tam, chairman of the Public Works committee, said he would like to put the committee's report out for public comment before the council comes to a final decision. He said he is also consulting with the state Department of Health and the federal Environmental Protection Agency.

"I will have to determine a time table as to how to bring this out to the public," Tam said.

Reach Treena Shapiro at tshapiro@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8070.

• • •