Recycling firm wasn't being inspected by city

By Johnny Brannon
Advertiser Staff Writer

Investigators are still trying to determine what caused a massive fire at a Sand Island recycling yard on Friday, but fire officials don't plan any safety inspections as the company resumes operations.

The Honolulu Fire Department has no records of inspections at the Island Recycling Inc. yard for the past few years. That may be because structures there lacked building permits that would have defined what type of oversight was necessary, Battalion Chief Lloyd Rogers said.

"It seems like a very unusual situation," he said.

Island Recycling has a city contract to process recyclable material picked up from 11,000 homes in Mililani, and may soon handle much more if the curbside recycling program is expanded islandwide.

The company says it's working to clear up the permit problems, and the city does not plan to shut it down in the meantime. State health officials have cited the company for allegedly polluting a stream on the property, and say it could be fined because it lacks a water discharge permit.

But an environmental watchdog said he's frustrated with what he calls lax enforcement of safety and environmental requirements.

"We're not seeing the strict oversight of compliance that ought to be in place," said Carroll Cox, president of EnviroWatch Inc. "It's not to put anyone out of business, but when it's so closely situated to the marine environment, we should be very strict."

The city is allowing Island Recycling to dump tons of burned tires and other debris at the Waimanalo Gulch landfill for free so it can quickly resume operations.

"We would do it for any business in a similar situation," city environmental services director Frank Doyle said. "I think (Island Recyling president James Nutter) is doing his best to get back in shape, and that's good for everybody."

The company provides a service that is growing more and more valuable, he said.

"Basically, we need them," Doyle said. "I'm not saying give them a free ride, but a lot of people don't understand how important these businesses are."

Fire investigators have been told the four-alarm fire started in a tire-shredding machine, and they plan to interview workers today who were operating it.

"We're being very careful, and we don't want to jump to any conclusions," fire investigator Terio Bumanglag said.

It could be days or weeks before the cause of the fire is determined, he said.

Nutter said the company takes fire safety very seriously, and had trained workers to use a water pump on the site in case of fire. But the pump failed to start when the blaze started in the shredding machine Friday, he said.

Workers then tried to douse the flames with water from a small hose, but it was not strong enough, he said.

Nutter said firefighters could not immediately find the way to the recycling yard, which is down a narrow and curved gravel road near Ke'ehi Lagoon. A worker jumped in his truck and drove to the main road to flag the firefighters down and lead them in, he said.

"By the time the fire department got out out there, we were engulfed," Nutter said.

He said the fire did not jeopardize islandwide recycling plans, because the company has yet to install the equipment needed for processing the material.

Nutter said tire recycling operations would be moved to a different site if continued at all.

"If we ever get back into the tire recycling business, it will be at another location and by itself," he said. "Tire recycling, just how you do it, there is a risk of fire, and I can't have this happen again."

Mayor Jeremy Harris said the residential recycling program is important for all O'ahu and he's hopeful the fire won't cause any delays.

Reach Johnny Brannon at 525-8070 or jbrannon@honoluluadvertiser.com.