A top Honolulu official defended the actions taken by Mayor Rick Blan­giar­di’s administration to site the next municipal solid waste landfill on an active pineapple field in Central Oahu, directly above the island’s freshwater aquifer.

During a community town hall meeting at Wahiawa Elementary School’s cafeteria on Wednesday, city Environmental Services Director Roger Babcock laid out the city’s plans for siting the next dump — west of Kamehameha Highway and north of Paalaa Uka Pupu­kea Road — on agricultural lands currently owned by Dole Food Co. Hawaii.

Blangiardi’s administration Dec. 10 announced it hoped to negotiate purchase of about 150 acres — the amount of land needed for a solid waste landfill — out of what it described as an approximately 2,360-acre parcel now owned by Dole.

City officials say their actions are due, in part, to a state- imposed Dec. 31 deadline to find an alternate site, ahead of the planned closure of the 35-year-old Wai­manalo Gulch Sanitary Landfill in Kapolei, in accordance with a 2019 decision and order by the state Land Use Commission.

That West Oahu dump is set to close in 2028, though the landfill will not reach full capacity until 2032, the city said.

Dole has stated its opposition to having a landfill on its active farming property.

And that site, according to the Board of Water Supply, is also about 800 feet above Oahu’s prime groundwater source.

Meantime, city officials also say they want the state Legislature to change a state law, Act 73.

The 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.

City officials say amending Act 73 could do one of two things: reduce buffer zones to a quarter-­mile or eliminate them altogether, thereby opening up more land for potential city dump sites. Such a legislative change could take time, however.

BWS must 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.

Notably, the planned Wahiawa landfill site is one of six sites — on the North Shore and in Central Oahu — that BWS rejected in 2022 due to their proximity to the island’s aquifer.

At the meeting co-organized by state Rep. Amy Perruso and City Council Vice Chair Matt Weyer, Babcock — who said a newly developed landfill could be safely operated over Oahu’s aquifer — outlined paths the city intends to take in order to find its next dump.

“So what the administration decided to do was to say we have a plan A, a plan B and a plan C,” he said. “And we will work through these three plans sequentially, until we have a landfill. … Take it for granted, we have to have a landfill on the island.”

Babcock noted plan A named the site in Wahiawa, while plan B would see the amendment or modification of Act 73.

“And there actually is proposed legislation in this session that we already know about, or have been told, to potentially make that happen,” Babcock said.

But Plan C would be to stay at Wai­manalo Gulch landfill “and expand it for another 20 years,” he added.

“And this sequential plan is necessary because you can’t skip any of those steps,” Babcock said. “You can’t go straight to plan C, because if you go to plan C, the (state) Land Use Commission says, ‘What about these other options? It’s not possible unless you’ve exhausted these other options.’”

Board of Water Supply Manager and Chief Engineer Ernie Lau noted a landfill not properly sited on the island posed a significant public health and safety risk, as it could contaminate the potable water supply of Oahu’s underground aquifer with chemically laced leachate that includes arsenic, mercury and other toxic heavy metals.

Lau also noted a Dec. 17 letter he submitted to the city administration and ENV that formally disapproved of the Wahiawa site in question.

He said ENV had 30 days — by Thursday, Jan. 16 — to respond for a formal “reconsideration.” He noted the city had not contacted BWS as of the Wednesday meeting.

“If I do receive an appeal, what (BWS’ administrative) rules call for is to have a hearing,” Lau said. “My intention is to make that hearing open to the community, to allow for the community to also share their manao, as I weigh the decisions on whether or not to consider my prior decision to disapprove the site.”

After the meeting, the city provided a letter dated Jan. 13 that essentially rejects Lau’s authority to reject the Wahiawa area landfill site.

“While the city respects BWS’s critical role in safeguarding drinking water, we do not believe BWS’s rules and regulations authorize you to reject sites purely based on location with an analysis of actual impact,” the city’s letter states in part.

Via email, city Managing Director Mike Formby told the Honolulu Star-Advertiser that “the city and BWS are not in agreement on the process by which the city formally proposes a landfill site to BWS, thereby triggering BWS approval/disapproval and right to an informal appeal.”

“The city does not agree with the Jan. 16, 2025, deadline declared by BWS,” Formby added. “The city would appreciate BWS working with the city to locate the best landfill site on Oahu.”

At the meeting, Lau confirmed ENV could appeal his decision to the BWS’ board of directors — the entity that also hired him.

“And then the Water Board can make a decision to uphold my decision or to override it,” Lau added.

State-level actions appear to be on the move with regard to landfills, however.

In the new legislative session that began on the same day, Perruso — whose House District 46 includes the Wahiawa area — said the Legislature is floating a few bills that could upend the plans to locate any landfill above an aquifer anywhere on Oahu or on any other island in the state.

Such legislation includes state Sen. Donavan Dela Cruz’s Senate Bill 438, which “will prevent any landfill from being sited over the aquifer,” she said.

“This will also ensure that landfills cannot be placed on lands classified as AG 1, AG 2,” she added. “So that is really important because it protects our (agricultural) lands further.”

Likewise, Senate Bill 446 would require “counties to include no-pass zones in their integrated solid waste management plans and (prohibit) landfills in areas critical to Hawaii’s freshwater resources,” she said.

At the meeting, area residents were largely opposed to the city administration’s decision to place a landfill near their homes.

“When the Wahiawa (landfill site) came up, I was like, ‘What the hell?’” Betty Ickes, a 60-year Wahiawa resident, said.

George Tsuchida, who was born and raised in Wahiawa, was also incensed at the prospect of having a landfill placed near his hometown.

“I don’t like this garbage dump to be placed over our aquifer,” he added. “That’s dumb. That’s stupid. Very, very stupid.”

Tsuchida told Babcock the city’s plan should “go down in the trash, with the rest of your trash.”

Kenneth Tamura, a 75-year Wahiawa resident, objected to the city’s possible plan to override Lau’s decision to reject the Wahiawa landfill site via a vote of the BWS’ board of directors.

Others wanted to have the U.S. military — which operates multiple bases on Oahu and contributes to the island’s solid waste stream — to offer lands for the city’s use as a landfill.

But Babcock indicated prior efforts led by the mayor and managing director to gain federal lands for a dump, including on the Waipio Peninsula, where the city currently leases property from the Navy for soccer fields, had proved unsuccessful.

To that, Perruso said any stalled negotiations over siting a landfill on military lands should start again. And she noted state Sen. Mike Gabbard has indicated his intent to reengage with the military on this issue.

“As a political person, I feel like there are always ways that we can reopen conversations,” she added.