Kahuku site now tops landfill list following 'data error'

Due to a "data error" in the ranking of potential landfill sites, the Ameron Hawaii quarry in Kailua is no longer at the top of the list -- replaced by a 1,520-acre site in Kahuku that was previously ranked seventh.

The top four selections on the new list are in Council District 2, Council Chair Ernie Martin's district from Wahiawa to the North Shore.

Here is the new updated list released this afternoon.

    Upland Kahuku 2 - (previously ranked #7)

    Upland Kahuku 1- (previously ranked #3)

    Upland Pupukea 2 - (previously ranked #6)

    Upland Pupukea 1 - (previously ranked #4)

    Ameron Quarry - (previously ranked #1)

    Upland Nanakuli 1 - (previously ranked #2)

    Upland Laie - (previously ranked #9)

    Kea'au - (previously ranked #5)

    Kaneohe by H-3 - (previously ranked #10)

    Upland Hawaii Kai  - (previously ranked #11)

    Kapa'a Quarry Road - (previously ranked #8)

"The top four are in my district. But I want to reassure my constituents that there still needs to be a significant study and review whether these sites are feasible," Martin said. "And as long as I serve on the Council, I'm going to ensure that a thorough analysis is done before we would even consider having posting a landfill in any community in my district and I'm sure any Council member would say the same."

A press conference was held this afternoon in the offices of SMS Research after it was discovered a data error occurred during a meeting held Friday by Mayor Peter Carlisle's Advisory Committee on the Landfill Site Selection. 

"The difference was caused by a data error that occurred while updating the software program during that meeting," SMS said in a statement. "Working with the Committee, I made data entries in real time and while doing so, an inadvertent data error occurred," said James Dannemiller of SMS. "Per SMS policy, we verified the data integrity over the weekend. During this procedure I discovered the error and corrected it. The final ranking has been thoroughly verified."  

The Ameron Hawaii quarry was announced Friday as the top site on the list for a potential new landfills. 

An environmental impact statement is expected to be done to review the sites, and the recommendations now go to Carlisle for further review.

Carlisle said Friday a detailed analysis is expected to begin soon after the budget is adopted in June, and selecting, acquiring, permitting and preparing a new landfill site could take at least seven years.

Ameron Hawaii division president Wade Waka­yama had said his firm  was disappointed its quarry was at the top of the list.

He said the firm's operation on Oahu, which employs 300 workers, was a vital part of the construction industry and had recently been picked to provide concrete and aggregate for the city's rail proj­ect.

City Councilman Ikaika Anderson said Friday he would do "everything in my power to stop it" from being built at the Kapaa Quarry site.

 

State Rep. Cynthia Thielen (50th District: Kailua, Kaneohe Bay), speaking after today's press conference, said the Ameron Quarry site located near the Kawainui marsh where there are endangered species should not be on the top 11 list of proposed Oahu landfills.

"You don't want a landfill next to a wetland," she said.

 

Committee members said they were instructed by the mayor's office to take out the Wai­ma­nalo Gulch Sanitary Landfill in Wai­anae as a possible site for expansion.

The city is appealing in state court a decision by the state Land Use Commission to close the Wai­ma­nalo Gulch landfill by July 31.

In 2009 the city was allowed by the Land Use Commission to extend its use of the landfill for an additional three years, despite opposition by some Wai­anae residents.