Landfill committee can't agree on report
By Will Hoover
Advertiser Leeward O'ahu Writer
KAPOLEI — After a contentious meeting in which a consensus was never reached, the city and the Mayor's Advisory Committee on Landfill Siting voted to attempt to resolve its differences at one final meeting on Dec. 1 — the deadline for naming a potential site for O'ahu's next landfill.
"Our agenda today is finalizing the draft report," committee facilitator Dee Dee Letts said at the beginning of what was scheduled to be a 90-minute meeting at Kapolei Hale.
But by the time the meeting ended more than two hours later, the 11 members present were deadlocked on whether to finalize the report and move it on to the city as is with a list of five potential landfill sites, or have an additional 11th-hour meeting to try and narrow the site recommendation to one.
The final draft report must be submitted to the mayor by Dec. 1 and a site chosen by June or the city risks losing the state permit that extends the use of the present Waimanalo Gulch Sanitary Landfill near Kahe Point through 2008.
The committee's list of five potential landfill sites includes four on the Wai'anae Coast — Makaiwa Gulch, a location referred to as Nanakuli B, a quarry in Ma'ili and Waimanalo Gulch — and Ameron Kapa'a Quarry in Kailua.
Some of the meeting's discord seemed to be aimed at which side of O'ahu should not get the landfill.
"I would hope that we could agree to have another meeting," said Todd Apo, who wants Waimanalo Gulch removed from the list.
Apo said it was his understanding that the city Land Use Commission was about to confirm that it does not want Waimanalo Gulch to be considered, and that the commission wants the committee to submit a single recommendation site.
"I am absolutely speaking against having another meeting," said Cynthia Thielen. "I'm not happy with having Ameron on the list, and I'll match my unhappiness with yours."
Thielen said the committee had been selected by the mayor and charged with recommending "one or more" sites. Having narrowed the list from 44 to five, the committee has completed its task, she said.
"I don't care if the Land Use Commission tells us to stand on our heads and turn cartwheels," she said. "It does not have jurisdiction over us."
Kathy Bryant-Hunter said she wasn't opposed to another meeting, but said the committee had reached the limit of what it could accurately conclude based on the amount of information it has gathered for its report.
"My concern is I don't think I have enough information to move any further along," she said. "... There are just so many unknowns about making another decision in another week. That's why I couldn't move any further down the list from the five sites we ended up with."
Those advocating an extra meeting prevailed by a vote of 6 to 5. Whether anything will be resolved at that time is uncertain. At least two members indicated that they would not attend, and it takes eight of the 15 committee members to form a quorum.
Should nothing get settled on Dec. 1, it was decided that the final draft report, as it was worded at the end of yesterday's meeting, would be submitted to the city without a recommendation.
Reach Will Hoover at 525-8038 or whoover@honoluluadvertiser.com.
