On the other side is the North Shore and its aging, overtaxed cesspools used by an estimated 75 percent of the population.

North Shore folks think Whitmore Village, 10 miles away, ought to be neighborly and let them dispose of their waste there — particularly since the price charged by the city and county to pump North Shore cesspools skyrocketed this summer, from around $35 for two pumpings a month to around $140 for one.

"That's a big increase when you're on a fixed income, like I am," said Hale'iwa homeowner Rachel Kawahakui, 75 and disabled, who says the rate hike is a financial hardship.

Her cesspool, like those at most homes on the North Shore (which lacks a sewer system) hasn't been rehabilitated in decades.

Tim Houghton, deputy director of the Honolulu Department of Environmental Services, said the city had to raise its rates because it was losing money on the service. "The rates we're charging now reflect our cost of doing business," he said.

The city, which no longer uses its trucks to haul cesspool waste, is hoping private pumpers can keep costs down by depositing waste at Whitmore, and Houghton's department proposed a 60-day test project hauling North Shore waste to Whitmore's facility.

Ed Gonzales owns one of about a half-dozen private North Shore cesspool and septic tank pumping services that haul North Shore waste to city disposal sites in Pearl City and Kahuku. Gonzales says he could keep his rate to pump a cesspool at $125 if he could deposit at Whitmore. Otherwise, with the rising cost of fuel and the round-trip distance to Pearl City, he would have to raise the charge.

However, Houghton heard Whitmore Villagers object loudly to the plan at the last Wahiawa Neighborhood Board meeting.

"We're all opposed to the idea here," said resident Edith J. Kubo, secretary of the board. "We're a small community, and it's just not feasible. We have soft shoulders on the one road in and out of Whitmore, and if there's ever a spill, we're just stranded.

"... And it stinks!"

Kubo turned her nose up at mention of the 60-day trial plan. "Because 60 days turns to 90, and 90 turns to 120," she said. "It's just inviting problems. And I don't think we should be subjected to such a thing."

Alena Pule, president of the Whitmore Community Association, said she had asked residents when the issue first came up if they wanted to consider the 60-day test.

"They just flat-out said no," said Pule. "They get no benefits from it. They don't want the odor. They don't want it in our community, and that's it."

Whitmore residents say the scent of honey wagons dumping raw sewage at the pretreatment facility would bother school kids playing at the Kahi Kani Neighborhood Park across the road.

After the meeting, Honolulu City Council chairman Donovan Dela Cruz, who represents both Whitmore and the North Shore, suggested the city might scrap its test-period idea.

Clearly not satisfied, the North Shore Neighborhood Board retaliated Sept. 28 by passing a unanimous resolution recommending the city go through with its 60-day plan.

It is uncertain when the city will make a final decision, but Houghton says it won't be until after the next Wahiawa Neighborhood Board meeting Oct. 18. North Shore Neighborhood Board members say they plan to be there to present their case.

"Our contention is that the Whitmore Village people should really be more reasonable in looking at the total situation," said board member Jake Ng. "That disposal site doesn't belong to Whitmore city per se; it belongs to the City and County of Honolulu. And we, as taxpayers, should be allowed to use it."

Houghton agrees, but believes it's important to be sensitive to the concerns of people living near the plant. Still, he calls the test idea the best short-term solution.

He said the pretreatment facility, which has a maximum capacity of 2 million gallons of waste a day, now handles an average of 450,000 gallons. He calculates the maximum amount of waste from North Shore cesspools at just 25,000 gallons.

As for the odor, Houghton said part of the pilot plan calls for converting the facility dump pit into a covered or closed system, into which the vacuum tankers would connect their hoses. There would be no open air for odors to escape, he said.

Meanwhile, his department is trying to find a long-term solution to the North Shore's aging cesspools.

"The real issue is getting the cesspools rehabilitated or getting them changed to septic systems," he said.

"We've got a lot of senior citizens," said Kathy Pahinui, North Shore Neighborhood Board president. "We have a fair amount of people who don't have a lot of money. What our concern is, if people have to decide whether to eat or pump their cesspool."

She fears residents might allow their cesspools to overflow into the sea, which could cause all manner of health, environmental and economic problems.

"All we're asking is that we honor the 60-day test," she said. "Let's take a look at it, let's see what happens and what the pros and cons of it are. We're not looking at this as a long-term solution.

"We get it that we need to fix this problem."