Landfill list may need new vote

By Gordon Y.K. Pang and Treena Shapiro
Advertiser Capitol Bureau

A decision by the city's Landfill Selection Committee to exclude the Waimanalo Gulch Landfill from a list of recommended locations for a landfill site has been ruled void because of state Sunshine Law violations.

The state Office of Information Practices said the committee should take another vote on what sites should be included. An opinion by Deputy Attorney General Susan Kern cited communications that took place between members outside of public meetings.

City Council members must pick a site by June 1.

The committee's decision on Dec. 1 led to the resignation of four committee members who quit over the exclusion of the Waimanalo Gulch landfill from consideration. The recommended sites are Ameron Kapa'a Quarry in Kailua and three Leeward locations: Makaiwa Gulch, a site referred to as Nanakuli B and a quarry in Ma'ili.

State Rep. Cynthia Thielen, R-50th (Kailua, Mokapu), one of four who resigned, filed the complaint with the OIP, the state agency charged with ensuring public access to government information.

Thielen said committee member Todd Apo "solicited and obtained signatures from eight colleagues on two documents related to the decision-making function of the committee."

Apo is a vice president for Ko Olina Resort, which lies downwind from the landfill.

Apo acknowledged that he contacted other members outside the meeting, but said it was for the purpose of exchanging views and not for decision making.

Thielen said yesterday that she believes that the OIP decision invalidates the Dec. 1 vote and that the report should now reflect five sites, including Waimanalo Gulch.

But several members of the committee said they would need to vote a second time and they would again only recommend four sites.

Apo said the nine members who rejected Waimanalo Gulch as a potential site did so because the state Land Use Commission ordered the city to find a replacement, as well as the city's own promise to get out of the current site by 2008.

Councilwoman Ann Koba-yashi said the city administration may have to ask the state Health Department for an extension of the deadline.

The Council must select a site by June 1 or risk losing the state permit that extends the use of the present Waimanalo Gulch landfill through 2008.

Council Chairman Donovan Dela Cruz said the Council intends to keep to the June 1 deadline, but said the OIP opinion could affect the Council's process for selecting a landfill site, which will be discussed at a council Public Works committee meeting at 2:30 p.m. today.

Reach Gordon Y.K. Pang at gpang@honoluluadvertiser.com or at Treena Shapiro at tshapiro@honoluluadvertiser.com. Call either at 525-8070.