It’s certainly reassuring to hear that crucial upgrades to the Waimanalo Gulch Sanitary Landfill in Kapolei are now completed, ending a dozen years of federal oversight. Under an Environmental Protection Agency order going back to 2009, upgrades to Oahu’s only municipal landfill included retrofitting of the stormwater drainage pipeline; installing a trash screen; and improving its stormwater pollution control plan.

All this should prevent a repeat of early 2011, when faulty operations during heavy storms caused raw sewage, blood vials and syringes to wash up onto beaches at Ko Olina and the Waianae Coast. That resulted in criminal fines. Continued vigilance, of course, will help keep operations above board.