Kailua protests landfill
| • | Map: Proposed landfill site in Kailua |
By Eloise Aguiar
Advertiser Windward O'ahu Writer
KAILUA — About 300 people packed the multipurpose room at Kailua District Park last night to vehemently tell a City Council committee that they do not want O'ahu's next garbage dump in their community.
The crowd applauded those who testified against a landfill at Ameron Hawai'i's Kapa'a Quarry. Many held signs such as: "Keep Kailua Beautiful" and "No Dump in Kailua."
Testifiers predicted economic and social disaster for the community with the loss of businesses and jobs. Others said a landfill would leach pollutants into Kawainui Marsh.
Kapa'a Quarry sits above the marsh, the largest remaining wetland in the state. Kailua residents fought for decades to preserve the marsh from development and numerous organizations and government agencies are conducting projects to rehabilitate and improve it.
Kailua has had two landfills, the most recent closing in 1997. Memories haven't faded of the smell, noise and flies, nor of the trash discarded on Kapa'a Quarry Road when the landfill was in the back of Kapa'a Valley.
Madison Spotts said recent renovations in Kailua town are forcing businesses out, but a new industrial park in Kapa'a Valley would go a long way to spur economic growth. A landfill next to this park would impede that growth, Spotts said.
"This is not about a town saying, 'Not in my back yard,' " she said. "Our back yard is full."
An advisory committee has proposed five possible sites: the Ameron site and four others on the Wai'anae Coast, in Ma'ili, Nanakuli, Makaiwa Gulch and the present landfill at Waimanalo Gulch.
A bid to remove the Waimanalo Gulch site from the final list was declared illegal, and Rod Tam, who heads the City Council's Public Works and Economic Development Committee, said the council will not consider the recommendations of the advisory committee but only the facts and figures presented to the council.
Eric Guinther, with the 'Ahahui Malama I Ka Lokahi and a member of the advisory committee, said the process had pitted the Wai'anae community against the Kailua community and the City Council should avoid doing that.
Many residents were upset that the city and state had not done more to address this issue sooner by implementing recycling and other technologies such as plasma arc, which disintegrates trash to a sandy residue. Recycling and expansion of the H-Power plant must be implemented, said Mary Moore, president of the Olomana Community Association.
"We don't think anyone should have a landfill in their back yard," Moore said.
Hawai'i Pacific University student Rafael Nacif recommended that the city consider Paomoho Gulch, a site that is miles from the nearest community.
State Rep. Ken Ito, D-48th (Kane'ohe), warned against closing down the quarry, which has at least 10 more years of life with 5 million tons of rock worth $75 million. The rock will support billions of dollars worth of construction contracts expected in the next 10 years, he said.
"We need this resource to fund this economic boon," Ito said.
Bob Wilkinson, president and CEO of Grace Pacific, a competitor of Ameron, agreed. Wilkinson warned of the lost jobs and resources to the community. Wilkinson said government has not approved a new quarry since 1974, claiming it was next to impossible to get an approval.
"On behalf of my employees, I am urging you to keep the quarry going," he said.
Larry Bartley, a Kailua Neighborhood Board member, said the idea of opening a landfill in Kapa'a Valley is crazy.
"The environmental impacts, the cost ... it just hasn't been looked at with a fine-tooth comb," Bartley said. "There's too many details left out of the decision-making process."
Tam scheduled last night's meeting at Kailua District Park to discuss the issue.
A similar meeting Monday night in Kapolei drew about 200 people, who also told members of the City Council that they don't want a new landfill in their neighborhood.
Waimanalo Gulch, O'ahu's only municipal landfill, is on the Wai'anae Coast.
Sen. Colleen Hanabusa, D-21st (Nanakuli, Makaha), said the people of the Wai'anae Coast "have absolutely had enough."
The City Council must select a new landfill site by June 1, unless a request to extend that deadline is approved. The deadline was a requirement of the state Land Use Commission in exchange for extending the use of Waimanalo Gulch landfill last year to 2008 amid community outcry to shut the facility down.
Ameron has said that being forced from the quarry would amount to more than $100 million in lost revenue and moving costs.
The ripple effect throughout the construction industry would lead to higher prices of rock and concrete, Ameron has said.
The Associated Press contributed to this report. Reach Eloise Aguiar at eaguiar@honoluluadvertiser.com or 234-5266.
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