Question: Whatever happened to the 20,000 tons of Oahu municipal waste that Hawaiian Waste Systems planned to ship to the U.S. mainland?

Answer: The city’s Department of Environmental Services said no waste was ever shipped to the mainland because of various problems encountered by Hawaiian Waste Systems, the bidder awarded the contract to ship waste out of Oahu.

Hawaiian Waste Systems at one point had 20,000 tons of stored municipal solid waste for disposal.

There was a fire at the company’s facility in Campbell Industrial Park on Jan. 6, 2011, after the company ended up storing tons of plastic trash bundles at its warehouse when it couldn’t get necessary permits to begin shipments.

City environmental department spokesman Markus Owens said that by May 12, 2011, all of the stored waste had been disposed of, including 14,800 tons that went to the HPOWER plant, which burns waste to generate electricity; 4,500 tons taken to Waimanalo Gulch Solid Waste Landfill; and 1,500 tons of metal that was recycled.

Hawaiian Waste Systems President Michael Chutz said his company is now winding down operations and selling off various pieces of equipment, including its shredder.

Chutz said the company’s plan to ship solid waste from Oahu to the mainland would have worked, had the U.S. Department of Agriculture not pulled its permit to proceed.

“It’s too bad,” he said. “It would have been a nice alternative for the City and County of Honolulu.”

The city entered into a contract with Hawaiian Waste Systems to take up to 36,000 tons of solid waste over a 12-month period, and the contract expired on June 7, 2012. Owens said expiration of the contract coincided with HPOWER plant expansion, including adding a third boiler that could handle waste that had been going to Hawaiian Waste Systems.

Under the company’s plan to ship waste from Oahu to the mainland, bales of compacted, shrink-wrapped garbage were to be shipped to Washington state in sealed containers.

The Animal and Plant Inspection Service, a division of the U.S. Department of Agriculture charged with preventing the spread of plant and animal disease, was responsible for reviewing the plan and in May 2010 had approved a proposal to ship the garbage.

But the proposed shipments were opposed by Yakama Nation, which along with others sued the federal government alleging the Agriculture Department failed to adequately analyze a number of issues, including environmental impacts and a tribal agreement.

The USDA withdrew a compliance agreement after a federal judge issued a temporary restraining order in July 2010 preventing the start of shipments.

In August 2010, the city announced it had reached agreement with Hawaiian Waste Systems to cancel the three-year contract, saying it had been intended to be temporary until the city expanded HPOWER’s capacity.

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This update was written by Gary T. Kubota. Suggest a topic for “Whatever Happened To…” by writing Honolulu Star-Advertiser, 500 Ala Moana Blvd., Suite 7-210, Honolulu 96813; call 529-4747; or email cityeditors@staradvertiser.com.