By NANCY COOK LAUER
Stephens Media
Concerned about a consultant’s report that says it’s cheaper to haul East Hawaii’s garbage to West Hawaii than expand the Hilo landfill, Council Chairman Dominic Yagong is drafting an ordinance to prevent it.
The 226-page report, by consultant R.W. Beck, says uncertainties with federal, state and county permits and zoning, the east-side landfill’s proximity to Hilo International Airport and the area’s heavy rainfall and highly porous land all contribute to it being a poor choice for landfill expansion. In addition, the county would likely be required to install an expensive landfill gas collection and control system, the study says.
Beck was granted a $199,950 contract for the study, which says trucking garbage cross-island to the Puuanahulu landfill would save about $1.5 million annually. Despite increases in fuel prices, the report counters a 2009 study that found just the opposite — that it’s cheaper to expand the Hilo landfill to handle east-side garbage.
Yagong said he’s drafting a bill now, and it will be scheduled for the County Council’s session the first week of May in Kona.
“This is very concerning to me and to the council. We felt that the community told us loud and clear that they didn’t want to transport trash from Hilo to Kona,” Yagong said Wednesday. “I’m bringing forth this ordinance because we need to squash this thing now.”
A majority of council members have opposed the trucking idea, with Kohala Councilman Pete Hoffmann quipping at one point that his constituents would throw him under the wheels of the first garbage hauling rig it saw. Three other council members have also spoken against the possible plan.
But Mayor Billy Kenoi, at a public meeting Tuesday night in Kona, said the administration hasn’t yet made a decision on whether to implement the consultant’s report, which was released late last month.
“There’s absolutely no decision about trucking rubbish to Puuanahulu,” Kenoi told the crowd at the Kona Town Meeting. “There is no plan by myself as mayor to truck rubbish to Puuanahulu.”
Garbage from 12 transfer stations is already being trucked to the West Hawaii landfill, which has an expected life span of another 38 years, or 27 years if the Hilo garbage stream is added. Garbage as far east as Laupahoehoe on the north side of the island and Naalehu on the south side is currently trucked west to Puuanahulu.
Yagong said his bill won’t change the 12 transfer stations already contributing to the Puuanahulu landfill. He’ll also allow for contingencies such as natural disasters, when debris must be handled as expeditiously as possible.
Yagong says it makes no sense with gas prices spiraling upward to take garbage from east-side transfer stations, haul it to the sort station less than one-quarter mile away from the existing landfill, reload it and haul it 156 miles across the island, then haul the empty trailer the same distance back.
“Who exactly will benefit to transport more garbage to Kona?” Yagong said. “You begin to wonder what is the motive behind this.”
