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Legislators consider new laws to restrict where landfills can be placed

Hawaiʻi Public Radio

Ashley Mizuo

January 9, 2025

The new Oʻahu landfill will replace Waimanalo Gulch on the leeward coast.The new Oʻahu landfill will replace Waimanalo Gulch on the leeward coast.City and County of Honolulu


Legislators are considering changing laws restricting where counties can place landfills. This comes after Honolulu Mayor Rick Blangiardi’s controversial announcement to place the island’s next landfill in Wahiawā.


“Anger, frustration, disbelief, fear, anxiety and then circling back to anger,” is what Rep. Amy Perruso said she hears from people in her districts. She represents the areas that would be most impacted by the city’s decision.

At the heart of the outrage is that the new landfill would be placed over a drinking water aquifer.


Board of Water Supply Chief Engineer Ernie Lau told lawmakers that he disagrees with the Wahiawā location because of the potential threats to Oʻahu's drinking water. He said that it will impact future generations.


“It's the generations that haven't even been born they're going to depend on these freshwater resources,” he said. “Right now this area in Central Oʻahu and going toward the North Shore — it's the freshwater resources that have not been fully developed yet that may be needed for the communities 100, 200 years from now.”


Lau compared the situation to the Red Hill incident in 2021 where jet fuel leaked into the water system poisoning thousands of residents.


“ We are at the crossroads that Red Hill was in its decision-making to place 250 million gallons of fuel storage underground fuel tanks, single-walled right over a drinking water aquifer,” he said.


“ That decision was 80 plus years ago ... the question I have is, are we going to 80 years from now or 100 years from now find out that wasn’t a good decision?”


An approximate location of the new landfill site for O‘ahu to replace Waimanalo Gulch Sanitary Landfill.


Local News


Wahiawā location selected for Oʻahu's next landfill site


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One of the main reasons the city felt that it had no choice, but to select a landfill location over an aquifer, is because of a law known as Act 73. The law says landfills cannot be located in conservation-zoned land or within half a mile of any residence, school or hospital. Landfills also cannot be located in a tsunami zone.

Ultimately, the city chose Wahiawā because other locations under consideration were over what's called a well-capture zone, which is even more crucial to Oʻahu's water supply.


A capture zone is where freshwater water naturally flows to and collects. Then, wells pump water from capture zones and deliver it where it needs to go. That is what makes it more risky to put a landfill near a capture zone.

Adding to the uncertainty is that it's difficult to know what exactly is going on under the surface regarding water flow without drilling a well, which is expensive.


However, Rep. Sean Quinlan said that he's working on a measure that would ban landfills from being built over aquifers. In that bill, he is considering adjusting the restrictions in Act 73 to give the city more options.

“I think we are looking at all elements of Act 73,” Quinlan said. “One potential solution would be to amend it down to a quarter-mile buffer zone, which would open up certain sites. Another potential solution would be to weaken the language around certain conservation land which would also open up other sites.”


Perruso, who is vice chair of the House Energy and Environmental Protection Committee, said it's crucial to make it illegal to put a landfill over an aquifer. But she's not sure that decreasing the buffer zone in Act 73 is the answer.


“One is a measure that would make citing a landfill over an aquifer illegal. I think that's an important first step because we can't rely on Ernie Lau to be forever holding that position,” she said.


“I do think that it's extraordinarily dangerous to engage in the practices of citing these kinds of facilities over our aquifer. I think we should have learned that lesson already from Red Hill.”


Sand Island Wastewater Treatment Plant


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Perruso wants to give the city tools to encourage people to produce less trash.


“ The Environmental Caucus will likely be introducing a measure on extended producer responsibility,” she said.


“We really have to do more in the area of reducing, recycling, and reusing, and we know that we can because other jurisdictions are doing it, and our counties are just not making those investments.”


Sen. Mike Gabbard, who chairs the Agriculture and Environment Committee, explained that he's open to conversation about reducing the buffer zone, but that the city should be instead considering federal lands that are not over aquifers.


“I'm not convinced the military cannot spare 150 acres of land that's not over an aquifer to help us out and I want to pursue that,” he said. “The city and county seems to think it's a no-go and it's a done deal. It's not going to happen, but I want to go and pursue that.”


The city was considering putting the landfill on Waipiʻo Soccer Complex, which is on land owned by the Navy. However, the Navy rejected its request in April 2024.


City Environmental Services Director Roger Babcock explained that although the city did do another study on areas where a landfill could be located if the Act 73 restrictions were loosened, it still intends to pursue the Wahiawā location it selected.


“ We're sticking with that plan A is that this is the best option of not a lot of good options,” he said.


“ Then if that doesn't pan out for whatever reason or a law is passed that makes it not possible, which I think that legislation is going to be introduced, then we would move to plan B which is to ask the legislature to modify Act 73 so that some other sites that would be outside the no pass zone would become available.”


The legislative session starts next Wednesday.

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