DPP Recommends Application For Landfill Extension Be Approved
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Del.icio.usThe city Department of Planning and Permitting (DPP) announced last month that it’s recommending approval of an application from its Department of Environmental Services (DES) to extend the use of the Waimanalo Gulch Sanitary Landfill (WGSL).
DPP submitted a report to the Planning Commission in September detailing its recommendations about the applicant’s request.
DES submitted the application to extend the use of the landfill in June. The application seeks to delete the July 2012 deadline for the landfill to accept municipal solid waste and allow the site to continue to process it until it reaches capacity, which could take up to 15 years. The 2012 deadline was set by the state Land Use Commission in 2008.
According to DPP director David K. Tanoue, one of the primary reasons for the recommendation is that WGSL is the only site on the island that accepts such waste. The search for a new site is currently under way, but with permitting processes and construction, it could take seven to 10 years before a new landfill is functional. In the report, Tanoue states that “there will always be a need for a landfill to accommodate waste that cannot be recycled or disposed of by alternative methods.”
In its review, DPP asked a number of city, state and federal organizations to evaluate the extension of the landfill, including the Board of Water Supply, the city Department of Facility Maintenance, the state department of Agriculture, Land and Natural
Resources, Business, Economic Development and Tourism, Land Use Commission and Health. As indicated in the DPP report, none of the agencies raised objections to extending the use of the landfill.
The report also recognizes that DES is actively trying to pursue other means of disposal, including recycling and waste-to-energy conversion.
The report concludes that with no other landfill site immediately available, extending the use of WGSL will help avoid negative health impacts. The report reads:
“As there is no other alternative for the disposal of municipal solid waste, continued disposal at WGSL beyond July 1, 2012, would avert a social and economic crisis that would result. There is additional solid waste capacity to accommodate MSW for another 15 years at current disposal rates.”
The report also asserts that denial of the application “may have significant adverse impacts upon the health, safety and welfare of the general public, as well as local businesses ... It is reasonable to conclude that the granting of this request is the most viable option.
“It addresses the immediate needs for land filling requirements until such time that an alternative site(s) has been fully implemented to divert MSW from WGSL.”
But while the public agencies raised no objections, a number of community members, local business and politicians expressed concerns about the environmental and economic implications that the continued use of the landfill could entail.
The report included testimony from a variety of organizations and individuals who oppose the WGSL extension application. For example, a Honolulu-based real estate company wrote: “If the landfill is allowed to remain open, the surrounding environment, ocean, beaches and marine life, and the community’s health and welfare are not safe, and vulnerable to severe harm.”
West Oahu City Councilman Tom Berg also has expressed opposition to the extension. Berg provided his testimony in a public hearing of the Planning Commission earlier this month: “I urge you to stop enabling this reckless behavior that condones the broken treaties and is an affront to the economic engine of businesses thriving in West Oahu with the stipulation this landfill was to go away.
“Families and economic development ventures have invested their hard-earned dollars into the vicinity of the landfill with the promise the landfill will have found its terminus years ago.”
The Planning Commission is now in the process of reviewing the extension application.
After its review process is complete, the commission will submit its recommendations to the state Land Use Commission, which will make the final decision regarding WGSL.
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