Honolulu officials announced Tuesday that they have selected an area northwest of Wahiawa as the proposed location for Oahu’s next solid waste landfill.
The city’s landfill siting decision was required before a state-imposed Dec. 31 deadline and ahead of the planned closure of the 35-year-old Waimanalo Gulch Sanitary Landfill, in accordance with a 2019 decision and order by the state Land Use Commission.
That West Oahu dump, operated by the city Department of Environmental Services, is set to close in 2028.
The proposed landfill location — identified as “Area 3, Site 2” in the city’s 2022 Landfill Advisory Committee’s recommendation report — is on agricultural land to the west of Kamehameha Highway, north of Paalaa Uka Pupukea Road, the city said.
Neighborhoods near the planned dump, the city said, include Whitmore Village, about 2.5 miles away.
The city confirmed the land in question is currently owned by the Dole Food Co., which is not the same as Dole Plantation.
The city hoped to negotiate 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, according to ENV Director Roger Babcock.
“We only need the 150 acres, but that would depend on negotiations,” Babcock said Tuesday during a news conference at the Mayor’s Office.
He said Dole’s pineapple operations would “still continue, especially on the same scale as they are today.”
However, Babcock cautioned if “there is an unwillingness” for Dole to sell the property to the city, then the city might pursue “a condemnation process” on the sought-after property.
At the news conference, Mayor Rick Blangiardi claimed he’d spoken to Dole Food Co. about the city’s plan only that day.
“I personally talked to them today for the first time,” he added.
Dole Food Co. could not be immediately reached for comment on the city’s landfill plans.
“We have explored every path in a most serious manner before we made that decision,” Blangiardi said at the news conference. “If there was a path that the whole island supported, then that path we would have chosen, but it wasn’t that simple because the path simply does not exist.”
“Secondly, and this is important, the city must construct a new landfill,” the mayor added. “There’s no path forward for us that does not involve the creation of a new landfill on Oahu.”
Meanwhile, the proposed landfill site selected by the city — along with five other potential sites included in the committee’s recommendation report — is located over an aquifer.
City officials said they propose “to design, construct and operate the facility in accordance with state and federal requirements, including the protection of Oahu’s aquifer system.”
However, the Honolulu Board of Water Supply must first 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.
At Tuesday’s news conference, BWS Manager and Chief Engineer Ernie Lau told reporters he’d learned that day about the city’s proposed landfill site near Wahiawa.
“Our precious water resources are located in many of our underground aquifers,” Lau said, “and this site appears to be right over our … aquifer in the no-pass area.”
He said “my focus is very narrow” while noting his concerns over “potential threats to our water resources.”
“So we look forward to receiving more information about this site,” he said. “And we will provide our evaluation and our approval or disapproval of this site.”
Still, Lau regarded the city’s siting of the landfill as a “tough decision.”
“But (BWS’) 95-year history is about providing safe drinking water,” he added.
Others were also surprised by the decision.
Council member Matt Weyer, whose District 2 encompasses Wahiawa and the North Shore, told the Honolulu Star-Advertiser about his “disappointment and concern” upon learning of the city’s chosen landfill site.
He said he objected to the site “100%.”
“I stand with Ernie Lau and the Board of Water Supply,” Weyer said. “Of course, the landfill is not going to be built overnight, and now is the time for people to express those concerns.”
State Rep. Sean Quinlan, whose district spans the North Shore, also objected that the city’s proposed landfill “near Wahiawa presents a significant threat to the North Shore of Oahu’s precious water supply.”
“Landfills are known for leaking hazardous substances like PFAs, which could permanently contaminate nearby wells and aquifers just minutes away in Waialua,” Quinlan said in a statement. “The proposed site also lies above the critical no-pass zone, jeopardizing the island’s freshwater resources.”
“Moreover, my community is deeply concerned regarding the lack of openness in this process,” he said. “Area legislators and local residents were not consulted prior to the announcement, leaving key stakeholders out of this important decision-making process.”
Conversely, state Rep. Darius Kila, whose district spans portions of the Waianae Coast including Nanakuli, thanked the city “for taking a bold step by announcing a proposed location for Oahu’s next landfill.”
“I understand that this announcement may not be welcomed by everyone,” Kila said in a statement. “However, let me be clear: The Leeward Coast has endured the burden of hosting this landfill for decades — a landfill named after another community but placed in our backyard.”
But other questions remain with regard to the city’s new landfill site.
If the Wahiawa site is rejected, “the city will not be able to safely operate a landfill over the aquifer and will be forced to seek legislative changes that would enable siting a landfill closer to residences, schools and/or hospitals than is currently allowed by law, Act 73,” the city’s news release states.
The state-approved 2020 law places restrictions on locating waste-disposal facilities, particularly those close to conservation lands or half-mile “buffer zones” near residential areas, schools or hospitals, as well as near airports or tsunami inundation zones.
Previously, Babcock said amending that law could do one of two things: reduce buffer zones to a quarter-mile or eliminate them altogether, thereby opening up more lands for potential city dump sites.
Should the proposed Wahiawa site be rejected, and the state Legislature decline to amend Act 73, “the city will have no choice but to seek an extension of current landfill operations at Waimanalo Gulch, something the city administration opposes,” the news release states.
Waimanalo Gulch landfill, city officials said, will not reach total capacity until 2035.
City Managing Director Michael Formby told reporters Tuesday that “we’re having conversations with legislators about” Act 73.
“We haven’t made up our decision (on Act 73) at this time,” Formby added.
Following the landfill announcement, the city said it would “immediately begin discussions with BWS and the property owner of the proposed site,” according to a news release.
The city also will initiate the required environmental impact statement process, which would assess the impact on the physical, cultural and human environments affected, the news release says.
Meanwhile, a new city dump could take years to open for solid waste collection.
With that in mind, the city issued a formal “request for information” over the possible transshipment of waste off-island.
The RFI says the city is preparing for an “interim alternative” for the disposal of municipal solid waste to an approved nonhazardous waste landfill outside Oahu over a 10-year period.
The RFI’s closing date for solicitations was Dec. 2.
After the deadline, Babcock told the Star-Advertiser two contractors expressed interest, but only one — Waste Connections of Oregon Inc., a Vancouver, Wash., company — submitted an RFI.
“The purpose of this RFI was to gather information about the shipping of waste from potential service providers to help ENV determine if waste shipping is a viable waste management strategy,” he said previously. “If determined to be viable, contracting for waste shipping services would have to be done via a future competitive solicitation.”
