Posted on: Friday, November 19, 2004

Landfill selection expected today

By Johnny Brannon
Advertiser Staff Writer

After more than a year of wrangling, drama and dread, O'ahu residents may soon know where the island's main landfill will be located.

A City Council panel is slated to make a key recommendation today. That recommendation will be forwarded to the full council for a final vote on Dec. 1.

At least five sites are up for consideration, including an expansion of the current dump at Waimanalo Gulch on the Leeward Coast. The other known possibilities include a quarry in Kailua, a coral mine in Ma'ili, Makaiwa Gulch near Makakilo and a parcel in Nanakuli.

Residents and businesses have voiced strident objections to using any of the sites, but officials say the city must place a new dump somewhere.

"No one wants it in their back yard, but somewhere along the line, we have to come up with a decision," said Councilman Rod Tam, chairman of the Public Works and Economic Development Committee.

He said he wants to make sure that the public feels included in the decision and that people can regard the choice as reasonable.

"It's tough, because it's been very emotional for a lot of people," Tam said. "My main goal is to eliminate emotionalism and backroom politics or any outside forces twisting arms in various ways."

Choosing any location will cost taxpayers millions of dollars, and could have a big effect on the value of nearby properties. The site will also require approval by the state Land Use Commission, and will trigger state health and environmental reviews.

None of the owners of potential sites have expressed a willingness to sell their property, so the city would have to force a sale by condemning the land for public use. The owners of the Nanakuli site have offered another option: to operate their own dump and charge the city for each ton of rubbish.

That could cost less in the short term by eliminating the price of land acquisition and development. But the city would lose the revenue it collects from operating the Waimanalo Gulch landfill — more than $390 million over nine years, according to data collected by Tam's committee. The city administration could not immediately confirm that figure.

Estimates of the final cost for some potential sites differ wildly. The city placed a $14 million price tag on the Kailua quarry, for instance. But the owners, Kane'ohe Ranch, put the cost at nearly $186 million, which would include paying to relocate the quarry business run by Ameron Hawai'i.

The city's initial $31 million estimate for acquiring and developing Makaiwa Gulch is also disputed. Claims for lost value of nearby property could add more than $91 million to the cost, according to a committee report.

An advisory committee concluded last year that expanding Waimanalo Gulch would be far cheaper than developing a new dump elsewhere. Mayor Jeremy Harris has said that expanding the current dump is the logical choice, but that the city must cut down on waste, by recycling and also by expanding the H-Power garbage-to-energy plant.

Harris sought state approval last year to keep Waimanalo Gulch open for 15 more years. But the city agreed to close the dump in 2008 in exchange for permission to expand it in the meantime.

Some Leeward residents and landowners, including the nearby Ko Olina resort, have lobbied hard to close the Waimanalo Gulch dump, and it's unclear whether the state would allow it to remain open past 2008.

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