Over 20 years ago a prior Honolulu City Council passed a resolution that stated municipal solid waste landfills should not be located in proximity to Oahu’s underground drinking water sources.
In 2003, Resolution 9 was adopted to safeguard Oahu’s important water resources.
At the time, the policy was supposedly prompted by concerns that even with the best landfill technologies, the risk of hazardous materials contaminating the island’s freshwater aquifer could, over time, potentially harm public health and safety.
The city’s policies, however, also can change over time.
On Dec. 10, Mayor Rick Blangiardi’s administration announced its intent to site the city’s next dump on active agricultural land owned by Dole Food Co. Hawaii near Wahiawa.
The site — west of Kamehameha Highway and north of Paalaa Uka Pupukea Road — is also about 800 feet above Oahu’s freshwater aquifer, according to Board of Water Supply Manager and Chief Engineer Ernie Lau.
To that end, Lau has expressed opposition to the planned landfill site’s location, due to its proximity to the island’s primary supply of drinking water.
Others, like Council Vice Chair Matt Weyer and Council member Radiant Cordero, agree.
On Jan. 2 the pair introduced Resolution 3, meant to reaffirm the city’s 2003 policy against landfills near underground freshwater sources.
Weyer, whose Council District 2 includes Wahiawa as well as the North Shore, told the Honolulu Star-Advertiser that he wants the city administration to revisit its landfill siting decision.
“Before we spend taxpayer money, before we go down a path that isn’t workable, we just kind of want to provide the pathway to take this off the table and move on to other locations and have that discussion with the community,” he said.
Weyer said he’s had “conversations with the mayor’s administration, and they know my concerns” over the landfill’s siting in Wahiawa.
“They feel that they can operate it safely, and they believe it’s the only legal pathway (to have a landfill),” he said. “But when we look at the Board of Water Supply’s position, we definitely stand with them, recognizing that they do have authority to reject a potential landfill site.”
Cordero, whose Council District 7 includes Halawa and Red Hill, noted the urgency in preventing more contamination from entering Oahu’s freshwater supply.
“Placing a solid waste landfill over our city’s aquifer would be both counterproductive and reckless,” she said in a statement. “After the Red Hill Bulk Fuel Storage Facility leak in my district, our communities across the island are still recovering.”
But the city contends a new landfill on Oahu is necessary.
And the Wahiawa site, the city argues, allows it to continue to handle the island’s estimated 225,000 tons of solid waste and related materials it puts into its dump each year.
City officials say they hope to negotiate a purchase of about 150 acres — the amount of land needed for a solid waste landfill — out of what they described as an approximately 2,360-acre parcel now owned by Dole.
Dole has publicly stated opposition to the city locating a landfill on its actively used agricultural lands in Wahiawa. However, the company has indicated to the city it has unused lands for sale nearby.
At the state Capitol on Tuesday, city Managing Director Mike Formby and city Department of Environmental Services officials addressed lawmakers with the city’s reasons to have the next dump on Dole lands.
City officials said it was due, in part, to a state- imposed Dec. 31 deadline to find an alternate site, ahead of the planned closure of the 35-year-old Waimanalo Gulch Sanitary Landfill in Kapolei, in accordance with a 2019 decision and order by the state Land Use Commission.
That West Oahu dump is set to close in 2028, though the landfill will not reach full capacity until 2032, the city said.
At the same meeting, BWS’ Lau noted a U.S. Geological Survey study conducted in 2003, which states all landfills eventually leak — often dispersing into the environment harmful chemicals like arsenic as well as PFAS, or so-called “forever chemicals,” linked to illnesses like cancer.
BWS must evaluate the proposed landfill site and, based on its proximity to potable water sources, may approve or reject the proposal.
Previously, BWS objected to the city siting a landfill within its so-called “no-pass zone,” an area that covers the interior of the island where Oahu’s potable water aquifer is located.
During the joint meeting of the House Committee on Energy and Environmental Protection and the Senate Committee on Agriculture and Environment, state Sen. Mike Gabbard, chair of the Senate’s committee, asked, “Who has the final say, the Board of Water Supply, City Council, the mayor? Where does it end?”
Formby replied the city has set out a plan “to exhaust as many options as we could, respecting the rule of law.”
The city, he said, has not “formally made a recommendation for this proposed site to (BWS) yet.”
He added, “Whether or not that gets challenged, and (Chief Engineer Lau) might write us a letter and say, ‘For your specific proposal, I say no,’ in which case, we would appeal that to the (BWS’ board of directors).”
Formby said the board also “has the ability to actually override the chief engineer, which would then give us a green light for this proposed site.”
Meanwhile, Weyer said a public town hall meeting over the proposed landfill site will be held 6-8 p.m. Wednesday at Wahiawa Elementary School’s cafeteria, 1402 Glen Ave.
BWS’ Lau, state officials and Dole company representatives will be in attendance at that meeting, he said.
The Council’s Committee on Housing, Sustainability, Economy and Health is also expected to review Resolution 3 at 1 p.m. Tuesday inside City Council Chambers, 530 S. King St.
