Maui County has tentatively secured land to enlarge the only major municipal solid waste landfill on the Valley Isle and bury debris from the August 2023 wildfire that destroyed most of Lahaina.
County officials announced Nov. 18 that they have a conditional agreement to buy 79 acres of private land next to the county’s Central Maui Landfill for such use.
The deal with an affiliate of Hawaii construction firm Nan Inc. follows a hampered effort by the county to buy a nearby 20-acre site from another private landowner through condemnation litigation.
Under the tentative deal with Nan Inc., the county will pay $4 million for a 49-acre former rock quarry site that can be used immediately, and 30 acres to be received after ongoing quarrying work is complete.
“The acquisition of these properties enables us to secure a final disposal site for the wildfire debris and also provides years of additional landfill capacity, strengthening our community’s resilience,” Maui Mayor Richard Bissen said in a statement. “We are grateful for Nan Inc.’s willingness to offer the land at a fair price, helping us address pressing recovery needs and meet the long-term needs of our island and its people.”
Nan Chul Shin, Nan Inc. owner, said he recognized the importance of the property for Maui’s wildfire recovery efforts.
“We are grateful to contribute to Lahaina’s recovery and to support Maui’s future needs with this agreement, creating a positive outcome for both the community and the environment,” Shin said in a statement.
Currently, the county is using state land within a former cinder quarry in Olowalu, about 5 miles from Lahaina and next to a closed landfill, as a temporary depository for debris from the wildfire that killed 102 people and destroyed about 2,700 structures in Lahaina, including roughly 3,500 homes.
Permanent use of the Olowalu site, which is close to the ocean, raised public concerns about environmental contamination of the nearshore reef and groundwater despite assurances from county officials that the debris and ash would be sealed in containers within a landfill structure built to exceed the highest standards for environmental protection.
In January, Bissen announced that the Olowalu site would be used only as a temporary landfill for an estimated 400,000 cubic yards of material from the disaster. Meanwhile, county officials considered two other sites in West Maui, along with the county’s Central Maui Landfill in Puunene, 26 miles from Lahaina, as permanent storage sites.
The county decided in late February on the Central Maui option, and eyed land that a private landfill developer and operator had been excavating for use as a planned construction materials landfill.
In April the Maui County Council approved using eminent domain, or condemnation, to acquire the 20-acre site from Komar Maui Properties for $830,000 based on a February appraisal.
Komar said it was willing to donate 5 acres to the county for only Lahaina fire needs in exchange for approvals for the company’s landfill plan.
Komar separately offered to develop a landfill for fire debris on its land with a discount to the county for waste tipping fees, and alternately offered to give the 20-acre site to the county in exchange for a cut of waste tipping fees going to the county.
Instead, the county filed a condemnation lawsuit in state court on April 30 to acquire Komar’s 20-acre site. Komar got the case transferred to federal court, and a judge in July refused a motion by the county to quickly take possession of the property ahead of a scheduled Sept. 22, 2025, trial to in part determine fair compensation.
Komar had argued that the county did not need 20 acres for fire debris, and claimed that the county’s proposed price was grossly low.
The county’s proposed price for the Komar site equated to $41,500 per acre. The price for the Nan Inc. land is $50,632 per acre.
More recently, the county estimated that wildfire debris will amount to 709,000 cubic yards of material that requires 12 acres of landfill space.
On Thursday, Komar said in a statement that it was pleased that the county’s condemnation lawsuit has been dismissed.
Maui County officials did not say when it anticipates the land slated for acquisition from Nan Inc. will be ready for landfill use.
The county Department of Environmental Management is preparing to initiate the design and construction of the permanent disaster debris disposal site, according to the county’s announcement.
Department Director Shayne Agawa also said in a statement that the land being acquired provides the county with decades of additional potential landfill capacity, as well as space to enhance recycling, composting and waste-to-energy programs that support a goal to divert more waste from the county landfill.
