We write today not as an activist, a legislator, a government representative or an environmental organization. We write to you today as fathers of young children. Our intent is not to be alarmist, obfuscatory or divisive. We wish to present facts that will inform your opinion about the future of water quality on the island that is important to our families.
To allow a landfill site at the city’s proposed location — above a drinking water aquifer — would be a grotesque failure of our kuleana to future generations. The miraculous yet finite supply of pure, fresh water that our islands are blessed with must be protected at all costs.
>> The proposed Wahiawa site is above an aquifer that provides drinking water to the North Shore, and is critical to meeting Oahu’s future needs.
>> Plantation-era pesticides found in groundwater at similar locations demonstrate how toxic substances can percolate hundreds of feet into the earth and into our aquifers over time.
>> Rainwater that falls onto the ash and other waste stored at the landfill would create millions of gallons of “leachate” per year, which must be constantly pumped out and treated.
>> This leachate will contain heavy metals and other hazardous substances not easily broken down through incineration, including cancer-causing per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), also known as “forever chemicals.” PFAS are so toxic that just two types of PFAS have EPA action levels of 4 parts per trillion in drinking water — equal to one drop in 125 Olympic swimming pools.
>> Slow, chronic leaks or a sudden release of leachate due to flooding, a fire, human error or a combination thereof would release this highly toxic sludge into the surrounding environment.
>> As the EPA has concluded, all landfills are expected to leak.
If one can acknowledge the set of facts above — and they are facts — why would we continue on this self-destructive path? If there is a single lesson to be learned from Red Hill, it is that we cannot roll the dice with our drinking water supply. It is convenient in this moment of need to claim that our technology has improved, that we can line the landfill with an impermeable membrane, that the leachate can be treated. However, the people so confidently making these statements will not be alive to see the results of the catastrophe that befalls us if their words prove untrue.
The disaster at the Red Hill fuel facility will take decades or longer to locate, track and remediate — if even possible. Shall we continue to abuse the aina in this fashion? Are the immediate needs of waste disposal more important than our future generations’ access to clean water? Do we want to see another Red Hill crisis 50 years from now, and force our children’s children to accept the burden of a ticking time bomb over their drinking water supply?
There are those who would try to position us against each other, saying that this is a choice between the environmental injustices suffered by West Oahu and our water security. We categorically reject this argument in its entirety; we instead urge all Oahu residents to consider the options before us.
The Navy has determined that its lands, suitable for a site, are so critical to the national defense or its own purposes that it will not consider hosting a landfill. Yes, the same Navy that poisoned so many drinking wells and residents does not believe that it has any obligation to our island.
The Legislature has the power to change state law to allow siting the landfill in other areas that are above caprock, including golf courses that were excluded due to their location in a conservation district.
The Honolulu Board of Water Supply’s chief engineer has been unequivocal in his public statements: no landfills above aquifers. If we won’t listen to Ernie Lau, who will we listen to? If we don’t listen now, will it be too late?
Water is life.
Wayne Tanaka is director of the Sierra Club of Hawaii; state Rep. Sean Quinlan represents Oahu’s North Shore and is House majority leader.
