By Nancy Cook Lauer By Nancy Cook Lauer ADVERTISING Stephens Media Amid a discussion about the best way to deal with the threat of a Hilo landfill closure, the Hawaii County Council voted 8-0 to prohibit hauling of East Hawaii
By Nancy Cook Lauer
Stephens Media
Amid a discussion about the best way to deal with the threat of a Hilo landfill closure, the Hawaii County Council voted 8-0 to prohibit hauling of East Hawaii garbage to West Hawaii, except under an emergency declaration by the mayor.
Rubbish from transfer stations as far east as Laupahoehoe and Pahala already comes to West Hawaii. The bill sponsored by Council Chairman Dominic Yagong explicitly prohibits the county from hauling trash from the Honomu, Papaikou, Hilo, Keaau, Glenwood, Pahoa, Volcano and Kalapana transfer stations anywhere but the Hilo landfill. The bill has one more hearing before going to the mayor for signature or veto.
The Department of Environmental Management has taken no position on the bill, said engineer Terin Glover.
Yagong’s bill coincides with the discovery that Environmental Management had quietly undertaken a pilot project Jan. 27, transporting garbage from Hilo, Keaau and Pahoa transfer stations to the West Hawaii landfill at Puunahulu. The addition of the added waste brought the amount of the county’s garbage being trucked to West Hawaii to 78.8 percent of the island’s garbage, compared to about half previously.
The department did not alert the council, the Environmental Management Commission or the public. The project, which department officials ended last month, would have remained a secret if tipsters hadn’t alerted council members and the media. In fact, the project came to light even as Mayor Billy Kenoi was assuring the public at a Kona Town Hall meeting that the county had no plans to truck Hilo’s garbage to the west side of the island.
The Environmental Management Commission has asked for a report from the department, and, at its May 24 meeting, plans to create a subcommittee to look into the matter. In addition, it will hold a “discussion of the need for commissioners to be aware of any change in department activities in their districts or changes involving issues of special concern,” according to the agenda.
Deputy Environmental Management Director Hunter Bishop said Tuesday a report isn’t yet available on the pilot project.
Ka’u Councilwoman Brittany Smart, chairwoman of the council’s Environmental Management Committee, on Monday sponsored a budget amendment that doubles the commission’s annual budget, so it can meet monthly instead of bimonthly. It’s the first of several changes she’s seeking to give the commission more teeth.
Hilo Councilman Donald Ikeda, who ultimately voted in favor of the bill restricting garbage hauling, worried the county was painting itself into a corner.
“I know the Hilo landfill will be full one day, and what’s going to happen then if we don’t have any other landfill,” Ikeda asked.
South Kona Councilwoman Brenda Ford said she’s been hearing for years the Hilo landfill had only a few years left.
“It’s a moving target,” she said of the estimates of how long the county will be able to keep putting garbage into the Hilo landfill without expanding it.
