Legislative task force finds dumping rampant

By Eloise Aguiar
Advertiser Staff Writer

Three quarters of the way through an assessment of the state's waste management practices, a legislative task force has documented problems ranging from underground fires that have been burning for five years at a closed landfill on Maui, to more than 18,600 tons of junked vehicles stockpiled across the Islands, and rampant illegal dumping state-wide.

The task force has concluded that the Health Department lacks the labor and money to deal with landfills, dumping and other serious issues affecting Hawai'i's environment, and is preparing a range of possible remedies to be presented to the next Legislature.

Among the potential solutions is a statewide waste management program to improve enforcement and an advance disposal fee to be paid at the time of purchase for everything people use and discard, from milk cartons to refrigerators, said Sen. Melodie Aduja, who heads the task force.

The fee would cover the cost of disposing of the item, and encourage people to reduce, reuse or recycle unwanted materials, Aduja said.

"Our environment is pleading for our stewardship," said Aduja, D-23rd (Kane'ohe, Kahuku). "We failed it many times over and its recovery ... will take generations. Minimally, we must do our part to stop exacerbating the problem and seek methods to alleviate our trash problem."

Amid widespread concern over illegal dumping, insufficient landfill management and lagging recycling efforts, the Legislature formed the Task Force on Waste Management and Recycling, which has visited sites on Kaua'i, Maui, Moloka'i and Hawai'i.

Members will visit sites on O'ahu today, including a Waimanalo lot where neighbors are suing the city and state for allowing alleged illegal filling of agricultural land.

Among the task force findings:

• On Moloka'i, Na'iwa Landfill has stockpiled 3,000 vehicles, 531 propane tanks, 75 bales of cardboard and 5,000 tires, some of them for eight years. The closed and unlined Kalama'ula Landfill encroaches onto neighboring wetland by 10 to 15 acres and is leaching suspected pollutants into the ocean.

• On Maui, the Olowalu Landfill, which is closed and unlined, has six underground fires at a depth of 30 feet to 40 feet that have been burning for at least five years. The fires are fed by gases emitted by buried trash, and the problem is controlled by injecting carbon dioxide into the ground.

• On Hawai'i, Kona's Kealakehe Landfill has 6,000 tons of vehicles and a green-waste mountain that appears to be four stories high. The Hilo East Hawai'i Transfer Station, which is meant to hold material for short periods of time, has 8,000 tons of stockpiled vehicles and a six-story green-waste mound. Some of the vehicles have been there since World War II.

The task force found widespread illegal dumping on Kaua'i, with tons of trash including cars, washers and tires at Polihale Beach, Princeville and Anahole. And a number of illegal dump sites were uncovered on O'ahu this year, ranging from the illegal burial of appliances at a city incinerator site to 30 abandoned vehicles on a Hau'ula property and acetylene tanks, propane tanks and 5-gallon plastic containers of unknown material at a city convenience center in Hale'iwa.

Enforcement issue

Aduja said the group found that enforcement, especially on the Neighbor Islands, is lax compared to O'ahu, so she is exploring the feasibility of placing waste management under state jurisdiction.

However, Steve Chang, chief of the state Department of Health's Solid and Hazardous Waste Branch, said a statewide agency to manage landfills isn't necessary. Privatized county landfills have proved to be more successful than government-run landfills, said Chang, who oversees landfill operations.

With landfill operations becoming more sophisticated and regulations more complicated, the county might be better off letting a private company take on the responsibility, he said.

"It may cost more, but the county will have a professional that can be held responsible for violations," Chang said.

Suggestions intriguing

Laurence Lau, Department of Health deputy director for the Environmental Health Administration, admitted he could use more workers and resources, but like all state agencies must operate under the budget provided.

DOH has only one landfill engineer and a handful of inspectors to oversee solid waste enforcement, Aduja said.

Lau said he was willing to work with the Legislature and "intrigued" by the idea of a predisposal fee, but would have to learn more about the proposal and its effects before he could comment.

"The governor's preference is to avoid new fees and taxes," he said.

In the case of tipping fees paid by commercial trash collectors, Lau said, "If you make the fees too high, then you get more illegal dumping. If it's something inescapable (such as the new beverage container law) that may be different."

Lau said the state no doubt would learn lessons about predisposal fees once the beverage container law went into effect.

Aduja suggested a disposal fee might be charged primarily for bulky items, such as refrigerators, mattresses and washers.

Among the areas being toured today is one that is the subject of a lawsuit alleging improper dumping.

Attorney Thomas Grande is suing the Windward Oahu Soil and Water Conservation District and other state and city agencies, alleging they allowed some 15,000 cubic yards of unknown material to be dumped at a Waimanalo site without proper permits and engineering.

Now Grande said he fears the material will erode onto his property, putting his life and property at risk.

Reach Eloise Aguiar at eaguiar@honoluluadvertiser.com or 234-5266.

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