With its permit to operate Waimanalo Gulch Sanitary Landfill scheduled to expire Nov. 1, the city won't learn the fate of its request for an expansion and time extension for the Kahe Point facility until Sept. 24 at the earliest.

The state Land Use Commission was hoping to convene this week to consider the city's request for a special use permit. But contrary to some media reports, that meeting won't take place until Sept. 24-25, said Dan Davidson, commission executive director.

"There were numerous conflicts with commissioners' schedules," Davidson said yesterday.

The administration of Mayor Mufi Hannemann has stated repeatedly it will not operate the landfill without a permit, leaving open the possibility that trash from hundreds of thousands of O'ahu homes could be left uncollected beginning Nov. 1.

Such a scenario isn't likely, however. Facing a May 2008 deadline last year, the commission that March gave the city the current 18-month extension.

The city Planning Commission on July 31 voted to recommend approval of the special use permit. In its recommendation, the commission called for keeping the landfill open until it reaches the capacity allowed by the state Department of Health.

The recommendation also stipulated that the city needs to "begin to identify and develop one or more new landfill sites that shall either replace or supplement" the Waimanalo Gulch landfill by Nov. 1, 2010.

During the commission hearing, city Solid Waste Division Chief Frank Doyle said the city will begin efforts in 2010 to identify and develop a new landfill to supplement the Waimanalo Gulch site, adding that it would take more than seven years to complete that process.

City officials argued there is no other option at present but to expand the landfill. They also said the city is exploring other alternatives, including adding a third boiler to the city's H-Power waste-to-energy facility at nearby Kalaeloa.

The permit calls for expanding the existing landfill from the present 107.5 acres to just over 200.5 acres and extending its life for 15 years.

Much criticism has been leveled at the expansion and extension for the site. While former Mayor Jeremy Harris had promised Leeward residents the landfill would be closed, the City Council in 2004 adopted a plan essentially calling for its continued and expanded use.

State Sen. Colleen Hana-busa, D-21st (Nanakuli, Makaha) and state Rep. Maile Shimabukuro D-45th (Wai'anae, Makaha) represented the Ko Olina Community Association as intervenors of the application. The Planning Commission rejected their call to dismiss the application.

Councilwoman Ann Kobayashi, new council Public Infrastructure Committee chairwoman, said she's bothered by the short time frame the commission will have for making a decision.

With the Nov. 1 deadline less than six weeks away from their meeting date, Kobayashi said, she expects the commission to approve the city's request for extension and expansion.

"They're more apt to just say 'OK' because there's no time," Kobayashi said. "That's not a good way to take care of our trash — just because we run out of time the (commission) just says 'go ahead.' "