Medical waste
headed for landfill

Items associated with
chemotherapy are being buried
in Makakilo

Star-Bulletin staff

Oahu hospitals are putting some medical waste in a Makakilo landfill as a temporary solution to a disposal problem that's plagued them since February.

Sue Slavish, who heads the Healthcare Association of Hawaii's Medical Waste Task Force, said waste from items associated with chemotherapy treatment is being placed in the Waimanalo Gulch Landfill.

It includes empty IV bags, tubing, empty vials, syringes, disposable gowns and gloves -- but no needles, she said.

Rich Meiers, association president and chief executive officer, said all safety precautions are being taken. "Federal regulations . . . have been specifically applied and followed."

He said disposal of such waste on the island, rather than shipping it to the mainland, is the cheapest method for the hospitals and the community.

The landfill management company has a section designated for "special waste" that's governed by federal regulations for hazardous waste. It's a lined opening that is covered with dirt immediately after waste is placed in it, Meiers said.

The hospitals generate about 500 tons of biohazard waste annually, including about 12 tons of pathological waste and 14 tons of chemotherapy waste.

Castle Medical Center previously burned pathological and chemotherapy waste from the nine other Oahu hospitals at its Kailua incinerator. That operation was halted Feb. 1 because of neighborhood concerns.

The hospitals then began looking into shipment of waste to an incinerator in Oakland, Calif. But costs were estimated at $400,000 annually -- double what they were paying at Castle.

Both Matson Navigation Co. and EIS, the Oakland incinerator, agreed to reduce their prices, Meiers said recently.

However, he said, "Shipping waste off the island is a costly option that would increase health-care costs to consumers and hospitals."

The Department of Health, in a letter Aug. 14, said disposal of chemotherapy waste in the landfill is permitted under its rules, he said.

Waste oil filters, some paints and outdated food products are among other items placed in specially designated landfill areas.

The hospitals still are seeking a solution for disposal of pathological waste, which Slavish said involves mainly placentas from childbirth and some limbs and organs.

Hospitals have been increasing refrigeration to store pathological waste but are reaching capacity. The association is looking for long-term solutions to disposal of Oahu's medical waste, Meiers said.