Posted on: Tuesday, November 23, 2004

Many trashing city's proposal for landfill

By Johnny Brannon
Advertiser Staff Writer

Friday's surprise proposal to set up a city dump at Campbell Industrial Park was met with sharp criticism yesterday by some environmentalists and public officials, who said the plan is unrealistic and that the secrecy that surrounded the move was unconscionable.

"I've never seen anything like it, ever," said Carroll Cox, president of EnviroWatch Inc. "It was very bold, but also very unskilled. It just reeked."

A City Council panel on Friday rejected five sites that had been studied and evaluated for more than a year as potential landfills. The group voted instead to put the dump on a little-known chunk of empty city land that had not been publicly discussed before the meeting.

Sierra Club Hawai'i president Jeff Mikulina said it would be virtually impossible for the site to be used for a dump.

"As far as we're concerned, they didn't make a decision," he said. "They punted, clearly. The site they selected isn't a viable landfill location."

Landfills are usually created in pits and ravines. But the site chosen Friday is flat, and officials say it can't be excavated because it is very near the ocean and groundwater is near the site's surface.

"It's impractical unless they build a Mount Trashmore," Mikulina said. "Clearly, this had much more to do with politics than thinking long-term."

City managing director Ben Lee said using the site for a dump would create a pyramid of garbage 90 feet tall, which would overwhelm the space within two years.

There are many other concerns, he said. The site is in a tsunami inundation zone, meaning it could be severely flooded if monster waves hit the island. And it is home to two types of endangered plants that grow only on O'ahu: Achyranthes rotundata and Chamaesyce skottsbergii.

Lee said he found it hard to believe that council members were serious about the proposal.

"I think it avoids making a decision about the other sites, but I will not try to guess what they were thinking about when they came up with this site as some kind of a silver bullet," he said. "We were just as surprised as everybody else."

The full council is scheduled to take a final vote on Dec. 1, and can reaffirm the choice or pick an alternative.

Cox said he was especially disappointed that the surprise proposal came from Councilman Rod Tam, who often calls for high standards of open government and prides himself on the nickname "Mr. Sunshine."

"There's no transparency, but I can see straight through him now," Cox said. "I'm still trying to recover from it. His reminders about open government and transparency are just hogwash."

Tam said he is not convinced the site is the best, but that he proposed it at the suggestion of Councilwoman Ann Kobayashi because it was clear that no other site would be approved on Friday.

"People think it's a done deal, but it's not, because the final vote hasn't been taken," Tam said. "The only way to keep the dialogue moving was to approve this site. We have time for further discussion, and at the end, I think a proper site will be chosen."

Tam had initially proposed to expand the current dump at Waimanalo Gulch on the Leeward Coast, but changed his mind after consulting with Kobayashi. He said that had been the right thing to do under the circumstances, but he declined to say what site he would vote for on Dec. 1.

"I'm taking the heat on my shoulders by putting everything on the table," he said. "I'm open to any proposals. I believe in bringing things to the table for discussion."

Voting in favor of the site were Tam, Kobayashi, and councilmen Charles Djou and Mike Gabbard. Djou and Gabbard had initially voted in opposition, but reversed course after the panel became deadlocked.

Tam said he had been aware before Friday's meeting that other sites might be proposed, but that he had not known the site in question would be one of them.

Djou said Kobayashi had suggested the site to him two days before the vote, and that he had been open to it but skeptical. He said he reluctantly voted for it Friday to break a deadlock, but that he was not inclined to support it in the final vote.

"We kind of blindsided everybody," he said. "To bring it up at the last minute doesn't seem quite right."

Kobayashi acknowledged Friday that she had suggested the site after recalling that the city had purchased it two years ago. She said several council members were considering various options in the days before the vote.

Council chairman Donovan Dela Cruz said he had not known until Friday that the site would be proposed, but would have voted for it if it became necessary for him to join the meeting to break a tie. He said he was not concerned that the public had not heard of the proposal before Friday.

"The whole point is that it happened in public," he said. "I think the public heard loudly from the Leeward Coast that residents do not want a landfill there. I think the council should always make its decisions by listening to the public. We have a very open process at the council."

He declined to say how he would vote on Dec. 1.

Councilman Gary Okino called Friday's decision "horrible," and said he would vote against it.

"It's like making a decision without making a decision," he said. "We should pick a real landfill site. There's no way this one can be utilized. If they were serious about it, they should have put it out in the process earlier."

Councilwoman Barbara Marshall said she had not decided how she would vote. She said she was very glad the panel had not chosen a site in Kailua, which she represents, because it would shut down an important quarry that provides many jobs. She said she had many concerns about the site that was chosen, however.

The council's remaining members, Romy Cachola and Nestor Garcia, did not return calls yesterday.

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