Mayor Mufi Hannemann has ordered that a defective load-weighing scale at the city's Waimanalo Gulch landfill be replaced as soon as possible.

That could take six weeks to three months, depending on the availability of parts and needed permits, according to the company that operates the site.

In the meantime, Waste Management Inc. has been scrambling to get its balky 17-year-old scale repaired and calibrated. The company said it hoped to have the job completed by late last night.

The scale determines how much money companies must pay to dump truckloads of trash, dirt and debris at the facility.

The city's "tipping fee" is $92 per ton, and it remains unclear how much revenue the city may have lost because of the problems — and how long the scale was malfunctioning.

Trucks continued to stream into the site yesterday, and one scale attendant said the scale appeared to be functioning properly.

However, Waste Management Vice President Paul Burns said the scale's calibration had yet to be certified after important parts were replaced over the weekend.

He said the company had been planning for more than a year to replace the scale sometime soon, but made the job a top priority after hearing directly from Hannemann, who is in Los Angeles to attend a meeting of the U.S. Conference of Mayors.

A new scale could cost up to $150,000, Burns said.

The city will soon seek a 20-month extension of its state permit to operate the dump, which expires in May 2008. The city plans to ask later that the dump's size be expanded so it can be operated for at least 15 more years.

Meanwhile, City Councilman Charles Djou called on Hannemann to fire Waste Management and consider reassigning city officials who oversee the dump.

"I think the time is over for minor adjustments, and we need to look at dramatic, wholesale changes at Waimanalo Gulch," Djou said. "The situation is intolerable and unacceptable, and it has got to change."

He said problems with the scale are "the straw that broke the camel's back" after many other difficulties, including a $2.8 million state fine levied last year for various health and environmental violations at the dump.

The city's contract with Waste Management does not expire until 2012, but a provision allows it to be terminated early if that "is in the best interest of the city."

Hannemann's spokesman said the city has no immediate plans to consider such action.

"We're confident they are taking steps to better manage and operate that facility, at the mayor's direction," spokesman Bill Brennan said.

Environmental watchdog Carroll Cox, who has helped publicize the landfill's problems, also said Hannemann should immediately dump Waste Management.

The company recently fired a manager who allegedly received improper payments from dump customers.

Details of the allegations remain secret, but do not appear to be directly linked to problems with the scale. A company statement released yesterday suggested the payments were not in cash and were not made directly to the fired manager.

"Waste Management has a strict policy against its employees soliciting gifts or favors from its vendors, regardless of whether the gifts directly benefit the employee or the company, and even if the gifts benefit a third-party nonprofit or charitable entity," the company said.

The fired manager could not be reached for comment.

Reach Johnny Brannon at jbrannon@honoluluadvertiser.com.