Landfill Status

More Detail: Landfill Expansion WGSL (Community Meetings and EIS) Oversight Advisory Committee WGSL Landfill Advisory Committee Fact Sheet Technical Studies/Reports Waste Management Plan Update Meeting Notices and Summaries: Landfill Site Selection Committee Upcoming Meetings: Landfill Site Selection Committee February 1, 2012 -- Meeting Handouts; Group Memory Landfill Site Selection Committee November 8, 2011 -- Meeting Handouts; Group Memory August 16, 2011 Meeting postponed (TBD) Press Release Landfill Site Selection Committee July 19, 2011 -- Group Memory; Meeting Handouts Landfill Site Selection Committee May 12, 2011 -- Group Memory; Group Memory Attachment Landfill Site Selection Committee March 31, 2011 -- Meeting Handouts; Group Memory Landfill Site Selection Committee March 10, 2011 -- Meeting Handouts; Group Memory Landfill Site Selection Committee February 10, 2011 -- Meeting Handouts; Group Memory Landfill Site Selection Committee January 20, 2011 -- Meeting Handouts; Group Memory Public Hearing/Status Update WGSL Upcoming Meetings: January 9, 2012 -- Meeting Summary October 10, 2011 -- Meeting Summary July 18, 2011 -- Meeting Summary April 18, 2011 -- Meeting Summary January 18, 2011 -- Meeting Summary October 19, 2010 -- Meeting Summary July 21, 2010 -- Meeting Summary April 21, 2010 -- Meeting Summary January 22, 2010 -- Meeting Summary

The search is underway for possible landfill sites to supplement or replace Oahu’s only municipal solid waste (MSW) landfill, the Waimanalo Gulch Landfill (WGSL).

Community concerns regarding the continued operation and expansion of the Waimanalo Gulch Sanitary Landfill are being addressed in a number of ways. An environmental impact statement (EIS) was prepared related to the expansion of the landfill. Oahu residents provided comments at community meetings held in July and August, 2006.

In addition, an oversight advisory committee was formed to provide a forum for community representatives to share concerns about the landfill and to ensure that it operates in a manner sensitive to the surrounding community. Further, the Land Use Commission required the City to hold public hearings every three months to advise on the status of the continued use of the Waimanalo Gulch Sanitary Landfill and the City's efforts to reduce landfilled waste.

Most recently, the City began the process to review and select an alternate landfill site. The Mayor has formed a Landfill Site Advisory Committee to assist the City in identifying siting criteria and ranking potential landfill sites. The committee met for the first time on January 20, 2011 and is expected to take approximately six months before making final recommendations. The meetings are open to the public. Public comment will be accepted prior to the committee member discussions of agenda items.

Meeting notices and summaries will be posted here.

A Land Use Commission (LUC) order in 2009 required the City to begin the process of identifying one or more landfill sites to supplement or replace the WGSL. The City’s own Integrated Solid Waste Management Plan calls for the City to identify a new MSW landfill by 2012. The LUC order acknowledged it will take the City at least seven years to construct and open a new landfill, but required WGSL to no longer accept MSW as of July 2012. Given these facts, the City will request an extension of the LUC deadline for acceptance of MSW at the landfill. The recent storms that closed WGSL underscore the need to maintain a landfill to accept MSW that cannot presently be reused, recycled or burned at H-POWER, such as certain bulky items, sewage sludge, medical waste and H-POWER residue. Completion of a third boiler at H-POWER is scheduled for mid-2012, which will substantially reduce the amount of waste disposal at WGSL.