The state Senate president and the Ko Olina Community Association have taken another step to prevent the expansion of the Waimanalo Gulch landfill, a move the city says is key to the management of waste on O'ahu.

State Senate President Colleen Hanabusa, D-21st (Nanakuli, Makaha), and the association have asked the state Land Use Commission to allow them to officially intervene in the ongoing regulatory process.

Now before the commission is a city request to extend the life of the landfill by two years. The commission delayed a decision Thursday on the request after the opponents filed motions to intervene.

If granted, the motions will allow Hanabusa, an attorney, and representatives from the association to question individuals during the commission's public hearings and argue their case for denying the extension.

The land use commission will meet March 6 and 7 to hear the motions before calling for a public hearing. A special-use permit to operate the 107.5-acre facility is due to expire in May.

Hanabusa and the association took a similar step before the Honolulu Planning Commission, which granted their request to intervene when it considered the city's request to extend the landfill life. The planning commission approved the request, and forwarded it to the land use commission.

Mayor Mufi Hannemann on Wednesday said the permit to extend the landfill's life should be granted, and the only place to build a new landfill would be Nanakuli, which Hanabusa represents.

"I can't see why we won't get that extension. Tell me, where can we go to site that next landfill? All the studies show that the next possible landfill site would be in Nanakuli.

"I think Sen. Hanabusa is out of her mind; to shut us down in 2008 is unconscionable," Hannemann said. "It would take five to seven years, just to permit a new landfill."

Hanabusa said the Hannemann administration has been aware the landfill was overextended since it took office and has had time to come up with an alternative.

Administration officials have testified under oath before the land use commission that they would never locate a landfill in Nanakuli.

"I think that's an absurd statement from the mayor and that's an example of classic bully tactics, threatening a community like that," Hanabusa said. "He knew of this problem for how long and to say this now? You can't dilly-dally, dilly-dally, then demand an extension at the last minute. What has his department been doing for four years?"

Hannemann said the city is planning on adding a third H-Power boiler and is preparing to put out bids to ship more than 100,000 tons of trash to the Mainland each year.

"One has to wonder given (Hanabusa's) single-minded insistence on closing Waimanalo Gulch whether she is truly representing the interests of the people of Nanakuli and Wai'anae or the development interests of Ko Olina," Hannemann said.

City Councilmember Todd K. Apo, who represents the area, said he is not proposing to move the landfill anywhere else and that technology and options exist that would allow the city to shut down the landfill permanently.

"We do not need a landfill, we need to shut it down," Apo said. "As much as I would love to see the landfill closed in May, the realities of that are difficult."

Apo said he supports shipping trash to the Mainland and the H-Power expansion. Apo is employed by Ko Olina Resort & Marina and for the past several years has served as the resort's vice president of corporate operations, heading the government relations efforts.

The land use commission will meet again in March.

On Tuesday, the state Department of Health approved a permit allowing the city to stack ash and other trash higher than the law usually allows. The permit allows the city to stack ash from its two H-Power boilers and other trash past the legal height limit.

Also, Health Department Deputy Director Laurence K. Lau said the department will allow the landfill to keep operating beyond the May deadline to close if the ongoing public hearing process goes beyond the expiration date.

"If the land use commission is still working on a decision prior to May 1, we'll make an exception," and allow the landfill to operate, he said.

The dump opened in 1989 on 64.5 acres, and has generated much controversy in recent years after expansions and health violations.

Former Mayor Jeremy Harris had planned to shut it years ago, but reversed course after plans to expand the H-Power garbage-to-energy plant ran into City Council opposition, leaving more trash than the plant could handle.

In 2003, Harris' administration negotiated a deal to expand the dump by 21 acres and keep it open until the following year, while seeking a new site. The council considered alternative locations — including Koko Crater — but voted in 2004 to keep the dump where it is and seek another expansion.

Reach Peter Boylan at pboylan@honoluluadvertiser.com.