22 sites under study for new landfill

An advisory committee will evaluate and rank as many as 22 sites for a new landfill on Oahu, giving the mayor a recommendation by April 5, officials said Friday.

The city has been working for more than a year to identify a site to replace or supplement the Waimanalo Gulch Landfill in Leeward Oahu, which is reaching capacity.

The mayor’s Advisory Committee on Landfill Site Selection met Friday and came up with a list of 19 criteria it will use to rank the sites proposed by a city consultant.

Consultant R.M. Towill Corp. is not identifying the potential sites so that committee members can render an impartial evaluation based on each site’s characteristics.

The day began with Towill prepared to present a list of seven sites to the panel.

But the list tripled in size after committee members told the consultant to add qualifying federal lands and six parcels located above residential properties.

Some committee members objected that Towill eliminated the six "residential" parcels on the basis that they could be affected by stormwater runoff. Other members said they were surprised to learn that federal lands are eligible for consideration.

Up to nine federal properties could end up on the list of candidates, said planner Brian Taketa of R.M. Towill.

The consultant had narrowed a list of 464 potential landfill sites down to seven using eight screening factors, such as critical habitats, valued agricultural lands and federal lands. Sites were at least 90 acres, and those with less than 15-year capacity were eliminated.

During the public-comment phase of Friday’s meeting, City Councilman Tom Berg raised the issue of adding military and/or federal lands to the list. He recommended appealing to Hawaii’s congressional delegation and the president.

Taketa said when the city looked at the Bellows Beach area in 2003, the military commander said he would be unable to release that land.

"It would take an act of Congress and possibly an executive order" to get approvals to use the Bellows site for a landfill, Taketa said.

Committee member Joe Lapi­lio said, "I was under the option it was ‘cannot,’ but today I’m hearing it’s ‘difficult.’"

A Marine Corps Base Hawaii spokes­woman said it has no land available. No other branch of service responded to the Star-Advertiser’s questions.

Committee member Tesha Malama cited the acquisition by the state of 300 acres of federal land in Kalaeloa in 1999, and that it took an executive order and an act of Congress after the closure of Barbers Point.

"For this type of usage, I thought it wasn’t an option," Malama said.

Others said obtaining the use of federal property is nearly impossible and would take too long.

Taketa defended his decision to eliminate the six sites properties with potential drainage problems, saying a 100-year storm could generate so much water that it could go through a nearby residential area, and he "elected a conservative route." He cited the December 2010-January 2011 storm that caused major runoff problems at Wai­ma­nalo Gulch.

Waianae Coast resident Cynthia Rezentes asked the commitee to consider access and potential impact to whatever community is considered, saying her region gets 200 trucks a day going to the PVT landfill in Nana­kuli, which accepts construction debris.

"It’s not just picking a site in a vacuum. You have to look at what you have to do to get to the site," Re­zentes said. "It’s not easy to determine which facts to weigh — a community versus the entire island."