A community panel Wednesday night took a stand against expanding a construction debris landfill in Nanakuli after two hours of sometimes heated testimony.
But like the divisive plan, in which some see unwanted trash while others see economic treasure, the decision by the Nanakuli-Maili Neighborhood Board was split.
The board vote to oppose the project was 5-3 at the special meeting called to discuss the plan after the landfill’s private operator, PVT Land Co. Ltd., detailed its project in a draft environmental impact statement in July.
Close to 400 people attended the meeting at Nanakuli High and Intermediate School, which is two-thirds of a mile from PVT’s existing landfill in Lualualei Valley and about a half-mile from a 179-acre expansion site on adjacent PVT land.
A strong sentiment expressed by some of the roughly 75 people who spoke to the board was that the landfill, which is near homes and on land zoned for agriculture, doesn’t belong in the area in part because of dust and heavy truck traffic it generates.
PVT is the only landfill on Oahu that accepts commercial construction debris, and up to 300 trucks a day deliver as much as 3,000 tons of concrete, wood, metal, asphalt and other materials to the site.
“Go someplace else,” demanded Jerome Werner, who complained about the landfill’s nearly 40-year existence on a 200-acre former quarry site.
Keren Siket, who has lived in Nanakuli Valley near the school for all 37 years of her life, said burying more waste on land next to PVT’s existing operation would be a disgrace.
“Put it someplace else,” she said, “not in our backyard.”
Kehaulani Wong, another area resident, said the community needs to care for the place they call home by saying no, or aole, to what she views as ill effects of a landfill.
“Aole desecration. Aole pollution. Aole marginalization. Aole PVT,” she said.
PVT, which employs close to 90 people mostly from West Oahu, was visibly represented at the meeting by around 50 people wearing green or black company T-shirts.
Though PVT supporters and opponents often received applause for their comments, audience members in some instances heckled project supporters and even one board member.
“We all family here,” said Happy Meyers, a PVT employee who noted that he picks up rubbish along roadways. “We got to work together.”
Another PVT supporter commended the company for its recycling.
PVT said it recycles 80% of material brought to its facility under a program that it began in 2014 to reduce buried waste. The company also is extending the life of the landfill by reopening closed portions of the site and removing recyclables.
However, PVT said in its draft environmental report that the last several years of booming construction on Oahu has accelerated the need to expand the landfill to an adjacent property it owns. The neighboring site could take debris for 30 years or maybe longer, the company estimated.
The Refuse Division of the city Department of Environmental Services supports PVT’s plan because it doesn’t want to be saddled with the cost to develop and operate such a facility. The city owns the privately managed Waimanalo Gulch landfill above Ko Olina but doesn’t accept commercial construction debris.
PVT said its plan will have economic benefits that include employment, taxes and development costs.
The company said it spent $4.7 million on wages in 2017 and paid $1.2 million in general excise taxes that year. The estimated $20 million to $30 million expansion would include systems to generate renewable energy.
PVT also said in its report that it has produced and submitted to the state Department of Health nine human health risk studies over the last 15 years showing that dust from its operations doesn’t pose health concerns.
Neighborhood board member Germaine Meyers, who has toured PVT’s landfill, said she trusts what she read in the environmental report and dismissed allegations that dust from PVT has damaged the health of nearby residents.
“It’s unfortunate that many unproven allegations are being made against this company,” she said. “PVT is a quality employer.”
Meyers received audience ridicule for mentioning fast-food restaurants and manapua trucks — along with salt, sugar and antibiotics in food — as proven health harms.
Meyers voted with fellow board members Patty Kahanamoku-Teruya and Diamond Garcia not to oppose PVT’s plan.
The majority opposing the plan comprised Chairwoman Cynthia Rezentes, Karen Awana, Rod DuPont, Marc Kahala-Earley and Leslie McKeague. Richard Medeiros was absent.
Neighborhood board positions are considered in the regulatory review process, and Rezentes told the crowd they can participate further by submitting comments by today on the draft environmental report posted online by the state Office of Environmental Quality Control.
There also must be public hearings for regulatory approvals needed for the project from the state Land Use Commission, city Planning Commission and city Department of Planning and Permitting.
PVT Land Co. Ltd. Draft Environmental Impact Statement by Honolulu Star-Advertiser on Scribd
