The city is walking a tightrope as it prepares to reveal next week “three potential paths” for creating a new landfill on Oahu. Problem is, not one of the locations scouted since 2022 as an alternative is legally viable.
After eliminating sites on federal land, and sites that run afoul of federal law (in a flight path) or common-sense state prohibitions (tsunami zone sitings) — and nixing sites over an aquifer or near a water source for drinking water, on prime ag land, on a fault line, or (absolutely not) on Oahu’s West Side — all remaining options violate Hawaii’s Act 73. That state law prohibits a landfill within a half-mile buffer zone for residences, schools and hospitals, or in a conservation district.
As Mayor Rick Blangiardi put it in a Tuesday message foreshadowing the city’s Dec. 10 announcement: “There are no universally acceptable landfill sites on Oahu.” That’s a fact that the people of Oahu must come to grips with, in taking a position on the city’s next move.
The need is dire. The city Department of Environmental Services (ENV) disposes about 225,000 tons of solid waste and ash from its HPOWER plant at the current landfill at Kapolei yearly — but that site must close by 2028.
Of the first set of six potential sites issued by ENV’s Landfill Advisory Committee (LAC) in June 2022 — four in Wahiawa, one between Kapolei and Waipahu, and one in Haleiwa — not one was found acceptable. Every one is in a Board of Water Supply-designated “No Pass Zone,” above aquifers supplying drinking water to Oahu.
On Oct. 15, LAC issued a supplemental list. Several of these have been rejected, including two technically adequate locations on the West Side, where the city has pledged not to site a second landfill.
Two other sites on federal land were taken out of consideration by the Navy: one in Waipio Peninsula, on the site of the city Soccer Complex; and one at Iroquois Point, overlooking Pearl Harbor’s West Loch. Other sites were deemed “too small”: Pali Golf Course; a Waiāhole Homestead Road-adjacent tract of Waiāhole Forest Reserve; and the Royal Hawaiian Golf Club; the Hawaii Prince Golf Club is in a federally regulated flight path.
That leaves six potential sites from which to choose Honolulu’s next landfill.
Three come between a quarter- and half-mile of Act 73-prohibited sites, violating its buffer zone rule: near Waimanalo Country Farms; near the University of Hawaii-West Oahu campus and Farrington Highway; and at the Honolulu Construction &Draying Co. (HC&D) South Quarry and an adjacent area.
Three other sites that remain under consideration don’t provide any significant buffer zone, as Act 73 requires: at the HC&D North Quarry; at the Hawaii Youth Correctional Facility and Olomana School; and near Castle Junction and Pali Highway.
As city officials note, though, amendments to Act 73 could either reduce buffer zones down to a quarter-mile or eliminate them altogether.
Oahu residents must accept the necessity of providing a landfill site on this island. After all, it’s our waste. Given that, communities must support the city’s effort to obtain a waiver or amendment from Act 73.
Extending a site search again, with the prospect of keeping Kapolei’s Waimanalo Gulch facility open longer, must be off the table. Enough research has been done, and these are the findings.
As it stands, city officials anticipate it might be necessary to ship solid waste off-island for up to 10 years while the city develops a new landfill — but that could be quite expensive and take additional years to set up. Firmly committing to a new landfill site this month would render that moot.
Meanwhile, the city is working on reducing landfill trash. Food waste and manufactured compostables will be diverted from the trash stream beginning next year, and prospects for recycling the ash produced by HPOWER are under consideration. Other technologies are also expected to reduce the waste stream.
However, an Oahu landfill is critical infrastructure, for which there is no substitute. This island’s communities must come together to make the tough decision and agree on where to put the next one.
