The $2 million benefits package detailed yesterday by Mayor Mufi Hannemann to help compensate the Leeward Coast for hosting O'ahu's main garbage dump is sorely needed, most agree.

The money will go to 19 social service agencies and a variety of parks improvements.

But whether such efforts will mute long-standing opposition to the Waimanalo Gulch Sanitary Landfill remains to be seen. The city plans to expand the dump and operate it for at least 15 more years.

"Perhaps it will lead to more compensation," said University of Hawai'i-Manoa urban and regional planning professor Karl Kim. "I hope it isn't sort of a one-time payoff. My sense is that this is long overdue."

It's somewhat unusual for such concessions to be made after a "locally unwanted land use" — or "lulu" — is already in place, Kim said.

Compensation and mitigation measures more commonly result from lawsuits or are imposed in exchange for necessary permits or land-use approval, Kim said.

Others said the Leeward Coast is owed much more, and that the entire island needs better garbage management.

"I think the mayor is simply pulling the wool over the public's eyes," said Carroll Cox, president of EnviroWatch, a nonprofit environmental group. "The money he's giving to that community is going to pay for things the city should already be doing anyway. He should be embarrassed to even present such a package."

Cox said he is disappointed that the city has yet to launch a long-awaited residential curbside recycling program, or seriously invest in technologies that would reduce the amount of trash bound for the landfill.

"Instead of relying on science and good management, the mayor is relying on trickery," Cox said. "He's not handling it, so he's resorting to tactics such as this."

City spokesman Bill Brennan said the city soon will unveil a comprehensive solid waste management plan, and that Hannemann hopes to sponsor additional community benefits to help compensate for the landfill. He may include more money in the budget that's proposed to the City Council for next year, Brennan said.

"Basically, this is a starting point," he said. "He wanted it to be substantial enough that it would do some good, and still be fiscally prudent enough that it wouldn't break the budget."

The landfill has had a controversial history since it opened in 1989. Former Mayor Jeremy Harris had promised the community the city would close it, but then pushed to expand it after other waste-handling plans fell apart.

LANDFILL FINED

The state Health Department last year fined the landfill $2.8 million for dozens of environmental violations. The site is owned by the city and operated by Waste Management of Hawai'i, which are jointly contesting the fine.

Hannemann said in 2004 that he hoped to close the landfill by 2008. He later concluded that an expansion could not be avoided, but that alternative ways of handling garbage should still be pursued.

State Senate President Colleen Hanabusa called the $2 million package "insulting" — especially since the city hopes to extend the landfill's operating life.

The money should be spent because the area has pressing needs and should not be tied to the landfill, she said.

"To think that the community will simply accept an extension for $2 million and work that we should have had done anyway is rather insulting," said Hanabusa, D-21st (Nanakuli, Wai'anae). "It doesn't compensate a community for all these years. And then to look upon it to take it for another 20, that's ridiculous."

STUDY SUGGESTED

Objectively quantifying the landfill's impact on the surrounding community would require a careful analysis of land values, and positive and negative aspects of its operation, according to UH-Manoa economics professor Jack Suyderhoud. Such an analysis would be difficult and take a good deal of time, he said.

"It's a tough thing to do because anytime you're dealing with local economic impact, it's difficult to measure," he said. "To me, $2 million is a lot, but when you think that there are a lot of houses selling for $1 million now, it's not exactly a huge amount of money."

Wai'anae Neighborhood Board member Jo Jordan, who helped select the 19 organizations that will receive grants, doesn't hold back on her belief that the community needs more than a one-time payment of $2 million.

"It would have been nice to have more money," Jordan said.

Jordan said she will be among those pressing for another $2 million in the next budget year. Councilman Todd Apo, who represents the area, agreed with Jordan's assessment.

"I think it's a good start," Apo said of the $2 million. He said the community involvement in choosing which agencies got the grants helped make the process work, but he said he doesn't think the effort should stop there.

With pressing issues like the landfill and growing homelessness, "we need to keep working to solve the problems," Apo said.

"I don't think you can put a price tag on the burdens that the Leeward Coast has carried."

Reach Johnny Brannon at jbrannon@honoluluadvertiser.com.