A correction to a consultant’s "data error" has upended the city’s recently announced list for potential landfill sites, catapulting two upland Kahuku locations to the top spots while knocking the previous No. 1, Ameron Quarry in Kailua, halfway down the ranking.

The surprise announcement Wednesday is as sure to alarm Kahuku residents and businesses as it is to allay some fears of Kailua residents and politicians who have been mobilizing since Friday, when the first list was presented to the public.

The new top two sites are both on the federally owned Kahuku Military Reservation, a U.S. Army training area.

At a news conference Wednesday, consultant James Dannemiller apologized for the error in scoring ratings done for Mayor Peter Carlisle’s Advisory Committee on Landfill Site Selection, and he insisted that the change had nothing to do with political pressure after the Kailua site topped the list last week.

Dannemiller, president of SMS Research, said he entered data incorrectly during a break at the committee meeting Friday and didn’t discover the error until Sunday.

"Working with the committee, I made data entries in real time and while doing so, an inadvertent data error occurred," Dannemiller said. "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 correction did not eliminate or add sites, but reordered the ranking.

The changes represent a drastic rearranging of the original list with the new top Kahuku choice climbing from No. 7 on the original list, and Ameron Quarry falling to fifth from first. In the new list, five North Shore-area communities are in the top seven of the 11 sites.

The reaction from the area was immediate.

Kent Fonoimoana, a member of the Koolauloa Neighborhood Board, said the proposed selection of the Kahuku site for a landfill is ridiculous.

Fonoimoana said Kahuku has only a two-lane highway with no sidewalks and would be unable to handle hundreds of trash trucks daily.

"It’s asking the community to pay too high a price," he said.

City Council Chairman Ernie Martin, who represents the area, said a couple of developments are planned in Kahuku that would be affected by the landfill, including an expansion at Turtle Bay and Envision Laie.

"I’m sure now with this latest news there are going to be some concerns there whether they can proceed," Martin said.

He said two other sites in Pupukea, now ranked third and fourth, are too close to the ocean.

"The top four (sites) 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."

While Kailuans welcomed the change, state Rep. Cynthia Thielen (R, Kailua-Kaneohe Bay) said the Ameron Quarry site should not be on the list at all since it is near Kawainui Marsh, where there are endangered species. "You don’t want a landfill next to a wetland," she said after Dannemiller’s news conference. She added that none of the new top five sites are acceptable.

U.S. Army Garrison-Hawaii spokesman Dennis C. Drake, meanwhile, said its leadership has not been approached about the potential to put a landfill on Army property.

The city is seeking a site for the next Oahu landfill to replace Waimanalo Gulch in Leeward Oahu.

The landfill selection committee’s recommendations go to Carlisle for review, including an environmental impact statement study, and still need to go to the City Council — a process the administration says could take seven years or longer.

Carlisle said he was very disappointed that the consultant miscalculated the data.

"It’s obviously very important that this process be handled correctly, and be completely aboveboard," Carlisle said. "At least the error was discovered and corrected quickly, so that we can proceed with a more thorough site analysis before making a proposal to the City Council."

Carlisle said the review will be a "lengthy and transparent process with ample opportunity for the public to participate."

City Councilman Ikaika Anderson said he’s pleased the Ameron Quarry is no longer listed as No. 1 and that he feels the existing Waimanalo Gulch Sanitary Landfill should remain open.

Anderson said the Waimanalo Gulch landfill has a capacity to continue for 20 more years and that keeping it open would be less costly to taxpayers.

The Carlisle administration instructed committee members not to include the Waimanalo Gulch site on the list of areas to consider as proposed landfill sites, the committee said. City officials have said that the current landfill has been "expanded to its capacity."