By NANCY COOK LAUER
Stephens Media
A Hawaii County official on Monday acknowledged the county has already started sending most of East Hawaii’s garbage to the West Hawaii landfill, even as debate rages over the best solution to the island’s growing trash problem.
A Stephens Media analysis of tonnage data provided by the county shows that 78.8 percent of garbage from transfer stations countywide was dumped at the West Hawaii landfill in Puuanahulu in March, compared to 52.8 percent in 2011 and 51.3 percent in 2010. In February, 70.4 percent went to Puuanahulu, compared to 51.3 percent in February of the two preceding years.
Stephens Media requested the data under state public records laws after hearing from anonymous sources that the practice had begun.
When asked about the increase, Hunter Bishop, deputy director of the Department of Environmental Management, said the county on Jan. 27 began a “pilot program” that sends garbage from the Hilo, Keaau and Pahoa transfer stations to West Hawaii.
Asked when the hauling would end, he said, he did not know. Later, after Stephens Media contacted Mayor Billy Kenoi, Bishop then said the hauling to Kona is expected to be finished at the end of this month.
The purpose of the pilot is to build on the information from a consultant’s report that said it would be cheaper to truck the garbage across the island than to expand the Hilo landfill, he said. The report, released last month under a $199,950 contract, counters a 2009 study that found just the opposite — that it’s cheaper to expand the Hilo landfill to handle east-side garbage.
“We’re gathering information so we can make a good decision,” Bishop said.
Ka‘u Councilwoman Brittany Smart, chairwoman of the Environmental Management Committee, and council Chairman Dominic Yagong said they also have heard from tipsters that the county was hauling East Hawaii garbage to the Kona District. Phone lines especially began ringing after a Kona Town Meeting speech Wednesday by Kenoi.
Kenoi said at the meeting that the administration hasn’t yet made a decision on whether to implement the consultant’s report. In response to questions from former County Councilman Curtis Tyler, Kenoi seemed to indicate that the Department of Environmental Management would meet with residents before undertaking such a plan.
“There’s absolutely no decision about trucking rubbish to Puuanahulu. …The proposals, the recommendation, the suggestion of trucking from Hilo to Puuanahulu is a suggestion made by consultant R.W. Beck,” Kenoi said. “There is no plan by myself as mayor to truck rubbish to Puuanahulu. DEM has a responsibility to take that to the communities, get feedback.”
“This has been going on since before I was on council. It really needs to be addressed,” replied Tyler, who began serving as North Kona’s representative on the council in the mid-1990s. “There have been too many consultants for this project. If they’re thinking about bringing garbage over here, which is stupid, by the way, they should come over here and talk to some people. The consultant should do that, too.”
“Every project we’ve worked on in West Hawaii, we’ve always come to the community,” Kenoi replied. “We’ve always talked story.”
Kenoi repeated his comments in a telephone interview Monday.
“I’ve made it clear that we have made no decision and have no plan to truck rubbish to Puuanahulu,” Kenoi said.
When asked why undertake an expensive pilot project if there is no plan to proceed, Kenoi deferred to DEM, whom he said had decided to do the study after consulting with his office.
“Any time you have a study, you want to double-check the facts, so you can go to the community, go to the County Council,” Kenoi said.
“I don’t think it’s prudent to say we don’t want to learn something and then make a decision based on that,” said Bishop.
Kenoi also deferred to DEM questions as to why not inform the public before the pilot project began, considering how controversial the issue is, especially in West Hawaii. Bishop said the plan is to meet with the community after the report is completed, but he saw no reason to tell the public up-front that there would be additional trucks heading to Puuanahulu.
Bishop acknowledged that the mayor knew when he made those comments that East Hawaii’s garbage was being trucked west. But Bishop said he didn’t see a contradiction between Kenoi’s comments and what’s happening on the ground.
“I don’t think that’s contrary to what he said,” Bishop said. “We haven’t made a decision to send waste to West Hawaii.”
Smart had also requested information from DEM about the destination of rubbish being trucked from transfer stations, but she said the information provided her was from last year.
“I got an anonymous tip and I started looking into it,” Smart said. “I’m still trying to get data to compare to try to see what’s going on.”
Even before the pilot program, garbage from 13 transfer stations was 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 Pahala on the south side was already trucked west to Puuanahulu.
Yagong said information he has received on the council tip line indicates an extra five trucks a day are hauling two trailers round trip each across the island for a total of 10 trailers. Each truck is consuming 60 to 70 gallons of diesel fuel daily, according to Yagong’s tipster. At approximately $3.75 per gallon, the December 2011 county rate for diesel fuel, that amounts to about $1,000 a day in added fuel costs. Public diesel fuel rates now are nearly $5.50 per gallon.
In addition, the 17 county garbage haulers have been getting 30 to 40 hours of overtime pay each week for the past month and a half or two months, according to Yagong’s source.
Bishop said he doesn’t know the specific costs, but they will be made part of the report.
“There has been overtime, and there have been costs in the pilot program,” Bishop said.
Yagong, who is introducing a bill to prohibit more East Hawaii garbage from being sent to Kona, was incredulous upon learning the practice had been going on for so long. Yagong had also participated in the Kona Town Hall meeting.
“At the recent Kona Town Hall meeting, Mayor Kenoi deceived the people of Hawaii County by not disclosing the fact that for the past two months the administration was already shipping Hilo trash to Kona,” Yagong said. “That is why passing my legislation to forbid the county from trucking Hilo trash to Kona is important because Mayor Kenoi has been untruthful about the administration intentions and actions.”
West Hawaii Today reporter Erin Miller contributed to this report.
Email Nancy Cook Lauer at ncook-lauer@westhawaiitoday.com.
