The Lahaina wildfire debris removal project began Tuesday with preparation work in anticipation of hauling away an estimated 600,000 tons of ash and waste over the next year.

The $40 million project is largely being funded by the Federal Emergency Management Agency and being conducted by U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and contractor ECC Constructors LLC, moving ash and waste from areas where owners have completed their right-of-entry authorization process.

“We’re starting with prep work — erosion control, mostly. In the next couple of days, the trucks should start rolling out,” said Rick Brown, public affairs chief of the Army Corps’ Hawaii Wildfires Recovery Field Office.

While an estimated 200,000 tons of debris metal and concrete will be recycled, the ash and other waste will be hauled to a newly constructed landfill in Olowalu that will act as a temporary storage site.

Located some 5 miles south of Lahaina, the landfill site was approved by the Maui County Council on Friday following another marathon meeting on the topic. The Council voted 6-2 granting permission to use the site after hours of testimony from those concerned about how the landfill will affect the nearshore waters and reef there.

Maui Mayor Richard Bissen, who lobbied hard for the temporary site, called the Council’s vote a critical step in getting survivors back to their parcels and moving recovery efforts forward.

“It will be a long and challenging process,” Bissen said in a statement, “but as each load of ash and debris is carefully wrapped, wetted and hauled away, we will be getting one step closer to rebuilding Lahaina.”

Each truckload of debris from the burn zone will be sprayed with water and secured with thick industrial plastic, described as “burrito” wrapping, and sealed with adhesive to prevent debris and ash from flying into the air during transport.

According to the project’s traffic plan, loaded debris trucks will follow Hono­apiilani Highway, turn left on Kapunakea Street and then move along Front Street before rejoining the highway until reaching the Lahaina Bypass. To help with the flow of trucks, a manual traffic light will be installed at the intersection of Lahaina Bypass and Honoapiilani Highway.

At Olowalu, trained flaggers will direct traffic to help the trucks and any other vehicles enter and exit the landfill site.

Brown said the effort likely will start slowly, with more trucks added to the fleet in the next few weeks as any kinks are worked out of the operation.

Overall, the removal project is expected to last one year, with FEMA covering project costs for the first six months. After six months FEMA will take care of 90% while the state of Hawaii picks up 10%.

Over the next year an estimated 400,000 tons of ash and debris is expected to be hauled to the 20-acre site previously excavated as a quarry next to the former Olowalu Landfill. The debris, officials said, is the equivalent of five football fields five stories high — the same volume as two years of typical disposal at the Central Maui Landfill.

The Olowalu site is owned by the state. The Board of Land and Natural Resources in October granted the county’s request to use the land. Construction followed in anticipation of county approval.

Officials insist the new landfill was built with “very robust design standards,” including the use of the same polyethylene membrane liner as the Central Maui Landfill.

Nevertheless, after hearing concerns from the community, Bissen promised that the Olowalu site would be temporary only. A search for a permanent site is now underway, although it could just end up being an expansion of the Central Maui Landfill, the mayor said.

Officials said the temporary site will be returned to its pre-use condition after the debris is hauled to its permanent home, with FEMA covering the cost.

The Lahaina operation begins as the Kula debris removal project ends. Brown said the Army Corps and its contractors removed 8,000 tons of debris from 25 Kula properties, hauling the ash and waste to the Central Maui Landfill.

The Kula project ended Monday, he said, when a tree was removed from the ground. It will be cut up into mulch and used for erosion control.