STAND UP FOR THE `AINA
JOIN BUST-A-DUMPER
MAY & JUNE
2009

If you see a DUMPER on streets & highways or lands owned by the City, call 911 immediately or leave a message 24/7/366 at 768-3203.
If you see someone dumping on
STATE LAND, call 643-3567 anytime 24/7/365
If you see someone dumping on privately-owned land, call 911.

For more information about refuse, recycling, hazardous materials etc., visit the City & County of Honolulu's opala.org website OR call 768-3600.
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LEGISLATIVE & HONOLULU CITY COUNCIL UPDATES
Two bills dealing with recycling and derelict vehicles are now sitting on Governor Lingle's desk for further action - she can sign them, veto them, or let them pass into law weithout her signature.

HB 1422 CD1 allows county governments to remove derelict vehicles from privately-owned roads provided that the property owner agrees in writing to allow the City's contractor to come onto the road, to pick up the towing costs, and to indemnify the City against any damage claims arising from removing & disposing the vehicle.
Unfortunately, the law sunsets on January 1, 2010, so the counties will only have six months to deal with matters - and, of course, there's no guarantee that people will stop dumping derelicts after the bill expires.

The second law, HB 1809 CD1, awaiting Da Gov's decision sets up a formal televion recycling program. Unfortunately, a bill dealing with a broader range of electronic waste recycling issues is in limbo until next year.

Another bill which would have required large retailers such as Costco to set up recycling centers at their stores as well as to extend the reverse vending machine rebate program has been deferred. In fact, the conferees never met to discuss the differences between the House & Senate versions.

NOTE: All bills except for those in which a formal rollcall vote in committee to hold it are still alive and can be brought "back to life" next session.

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CITY SOLID WASTE UPDATES: The City & County of Honolulu is still moving full spead ahead with shipping our solid waste across the Pacific Ocean to a privately-owned landfill in central Washington State where it will be converted into methane gas to be sold to Washington & Oregon utility companies to use instead of fossil fuels or nuclear power. The City's Department of Environmental Services expects to move the first shipload out shortly after the start of the new fiscal year on July 1, 2009.
However, by awarding the contract before then, the City will be able to roll over the $7.5 million allocated in this year's budget for shipping waste. However, this is not enough money so next year's budget proposes an additional $10 million.
That's $17.5 million to ship our trash instead of dealing with it here.

Another allocation in the Mayor's proposed budget includes funds to search for a new landfill site anywhere else other than the Leeward Coast so that the current landfill can be closed down as quickly as possible. The Council removed that restriction; still, the site selection committee will be under extreme pressure to nove it away from the Leeward Coast.

In the meantime, the Mayor also proposes increasing fees for all kinds of services as well as bumping up property tax rates in order to draw down anticipated shortfalls.

And what about the increase in greenhouse gas emissions coming out of those diesel engines as it transports our garbage across the Deep Blue Sea each year.
Unfortunately, the barges will either come back empty or will be carrying vehicles to be sold in Hawai`i. Given that we as a state have committed to reducing our greenhouse gases, how will shipping trash and bringing back more cars powered by petroleum help us meet these goals?

Less than a year ago when oil was topping out around $140 a barrel, it would have cost about $140 a ton to ship our solid waste overseas - about four times more expensive than dealing with it here in Hawai`i.
Granted, the cost of oil has dropped significantly since late summer, but this is only temporary because the whole economy is on the rocks. Once the world economy recovers, the cost of oil will bounce back up.
Go figger this one out and then get back to me, please!!

What is so ironic about this is that Waste Management, Inc. which runs Honolulu's Waimanalo Gulch Landfill operations is in the process of converting dozens of its landfill operations across the the North American continent into methane production facilities to sell to local utility companies.
And what's happening here? About 30% of our solid waste will go directly to the docks to be shipped across the ocean to provide garbage-2-methane raw materials to one of WMI's competitors.
As for its operations here, it is in the process of doing the same thing here with some of the garbage that cannot be processed at H-POWER, O`ahu's waste-2-energy plant, because we as an island generate too much garbage. Once their methane production facility in on-line in another year, the landfill will be totally off the electrical grid and the excess will be sold to Hawaiian Electric.
However, management cannot get the permits to build a full-scale methane production facility. Why not, you ask - why aren't we converting all of the excess solid waste which isn't being burned up in H-POWER into methane-based energy instad of shipping it out?
Simple answer: Because of the political fallout. West O`ahu residents want the Waimanalo Gulch Landfill closed entirely - not converted into a methane-2-energy operation - so more and more garbage will be shipped overseas as the population continues to grow.
Even with the addition of a third boiler at H-POWER, there will still be too much garbage generated by O`ahu residents to burn up or recycle.
Too bad for the rest of us who get to see our tax dollars spent on environmentally & economically awful decisions instead of improving our parks or providing more police & fire protection.

The Windward Ahupua`a Alliance will continue to challenge both the Honolulu City Council and the Hannemann Administration's proposals to ship trash, cut programs, raise fees, and create a Landfill Site Selection Committe to replace the current one on the Leeward Coast.

If you're interested in the status of state or county actions in dealing with solid waste management & recycling issues, please call 246-6366 ext. 2#.
We'd like to post information about community stewardship activities anywhere in Hawai`i so please let us know about your upcoming activities; we'll let all other readers know how they can help. We may have started BUST-A-DUMPER because of our disgust at what has happened along Kapa`a Quarry Road and to Kawai Nui Marsh, but we want everyone in every community to malama Hawai`i. If you wish to reach us the old fashioned way, send mail to us at Windward Ahupua`a Alliance, P. O. Box 6366, Kane`ohe, HI 96744. Or call and leave a message on the voicemail at 247-6366 ext. 1#.

Here are just a few of our pictures from our Windward Hall of Shame.



Here's some of the beauty we're protecting