Hawaii lawmakers review restricting landfill sites

A heavy load of public testimony has been dumped on Hawaii lawmakers this year over a bill that largely aims to distance residential communities from landfills.

The legislation, which the state Senate passed to the House earlier this month, wades into the long-­challenging issue of where to dispose of waste in a well-­populated island chain far from other land masses.

In response, many individuals, government agencies, business organizations and unions have weighed in with over 200 pages of written comments on Senate Bill 2386, which was drafted to impose a half-mile buffer around waste disposal facilities.

The initial version of the bill could have forced the closure of every waste management facility in the state and produced a threat to public health, according to the state Department of Health.

After two revisions, the bill now appears to most immediately target a proposed expansion of the only landfill accepting commercial construction and demolition debris on Oahu, a privately owned PVT Land Co. facility in Nanakuli that has riled close neighbors for decades.

Several West Oahu residents have endorsed the bill with pleas that include claims of negative health effects for people living close to landfills.

The bill has also drawn support from the Sierra Club of Hawaii, several Hawaiian civic clubs, the state Office of Hawaiian Affairs and nine organized labor organizations, including the Hawaii State Teachers Association, United Public Workers, UNITE HERE Local 5 and the International Longshore and Warehouse Union.

SB 2386 in its current form would prohibit development of any new or expanded waste disposal facility that needs a permit review and modification if the facility lacks a half-mile buffer from a neighboring residential, school or hospital property line.

PVT proposes to expand its landfill onto an adjacent site and maintain a 750-foot buffer from the nearest homes in line with its existing operations permitted by the Health Department.

“No community should suffer like those in Nanakuli and Maili,” states written testimony from the HSTA and ILWU.

The two unions said that the health and quality of life of members living in the area have been degraded by landfills, and that people living within 2 miles of PVT generally live 10 years less than the state average of 82 years, or almost the lowest life expectancy in the state.

“So, we ask that you implement a commonsense policy that ensures that no community in the future will suffer the negative effects of waste or disposal facilities, including landfills. Please ensure that future landfills will not be in anyone’s back yard.”

Tatiana Kalaniopua Young urged lawmakers to protect her community from toxic waste and pollution, and said a young cousin of hers died from effects of leukemia in part because of toxic drift from a Waianae landfill.

“We must do everything in our power to make sure this does not happen to anyone else, especially young children,” she said in written testimony.

PVT didn’t refute negative health claims in its written testimony, but has addressed the issue in a final environmental impact statement published in January for its expansion plan.

Dust does blow from the PVT site, but the company said in the EIS that it mitigates this and has shown through nine human health risk studies submitted to the state Health Department over the past 15 years that dust from its operations doesn’t pose a health concern.

PVT also said SB 2386 isn’t necessary because there are already state and county regulations for landfill buffer zones.

A joint Senate committee on Water and Land/Agriculture and Environment stated in a Feb. 13 report: “Your committees find that there is an emergence of scientific studies affirming the health hazards of living and working next to landfills. The state lacks landfill buffer zone requirement(s) that adequately protect public health. This measure will ensure a minimum safe distance between landfills, its facilities, and the public to better increase the health and quality of life for the people in the state.”

On Feb. 28, the Senate Judiciary Committee said in a report that “persons residing near landfills, including residents of the Maili and Nana­kuli communities, suffer negative health impacts and a lowered quality of life.”

Originally, the bill introduced by Sen. Kai Kahele (D, Hilo) mandated the half-mile buffer for any existing or future municipal solid waste landfill.

The joint Water and Land/Agriculture and Environment committee added construction and demolition landfills to the bill. The Judiciary Committee exempted existing landfills.

The bill also would prohibit waste reduction or disposal facilities in a state conservation district.

Sam Lemmo, administrator of the Office of Conservation and Coastal Lands at the state Department of Land and Natural Resources, said he could think of only one landfill, on Kauai, that is in the conservation district. He added that obtaining approval for a new landfill in the district would be challenging.

PVT’s expansion site isn’t in the conservation district. The company considered the viability of 11 other sites previously identified by the city as potential landfill locations, but concluded these weren’t feasible because of availability challenges, engineering problems and development constraints.

PVT said that if SB 2386 passes in its current form, it would not be able to expand, and that this could prevent the construction industry on Oahu from disposing of or recycling debris because the city doesn’t accept such material at its municipal landfill in Waianae. PVT also is designated to receive most debris from an extensive hurricane disaster.

The company, which said it recycles 80% of the material it receives, is seeking to extend its operation onto 179 acres next to its current 104-acre site several years from now when capacity is reached at the existing facility that dates to the early 1980s. The new site could be in use for 30 years or so.

The Refuse Division of the city Department of Environmental Services “strongly” supports PVT’s plan, saying in comments on the EIS that the city would be saddled with the cost to develop and operate such a facility if PVT can’t expand.

Neighbor island county government officials, the state Health Department and the General Contractors Association of Hawaii opposed earlier versions of the bill.

The city submitted testimony March 11 opposing SB 2386 for a March 13 hearing where a joint House committee on Water, Land and Hawaiian Affairs/Energy and Environmental protection passed the bill that is now headed for the House Finance Committee.