Kokua Line
Kokua Line
Private garbage collectors
should also walk softlyQuestion: I read your article about the city having a policy of not beginning trash pickup before 6 a.m. and wanted to join the fight to stop all trash pickup before 6 a.m. The city may have a policy of not beginning before 6 a.m., but how about the private companies? Horizon and Alii both begin in our Hawaiki Tower neighborhood at 4:45 a.m.!
I've complained to the police, Health Department Noise and Radiation Division, our Neighborhood Board No. 11 and they still come at an unreasonable time. My point is that if the city doesn't allow their own trucks in neighborhoods before 6 a.m. why does the city permit others?
Answer: If you're sure it's one of his trucks, Michael Goya, president of Alii Refuse (a k a Honolulu Disposal), says to call him directly at 839-0855 with a specific time and date and "that way I can correct the problem right then and there."
Goya said whenever his company receives a complaint, "We have always dealt with it."
We left several messages with Horizon regarding your complaint, but no one responded.
Goya says his company is "well aware" of the 6 a.m. time set by the Health Department, and "If there is a complaint, we don't go into the area."
In your area, Alii has the Ala Moana Center account. Although his workers generally don't head out until 5:15 or 5:30 a.m. to Ala Moana, he said they may start picking up accounts along the way. But he said without specific days and times, he couldn't confirm that was the case and which trucks may have been or are involved.
At any rate, he acknowledged, "We've had complaints," and he tries to resolve them by revising routes, starting in industrial areas, etc.
The basic problem apparently is that there is no law that actually prohibits refuse pickup before 6 a.m., although there are limitations on how much noise the workers can make early in the morning.
In a state Health Department brochure, "Who are you going to call when the noise gets too LOUD," the section on garbage trucks says, "Commercial refuse collection companies are asked to collect the refuse after 6 a.m."
Complaints about commercial pickups before 6 a.m. at public schools can be made to the Department of Accounting and General Services, 831-6727. All other complaints about commercial refuse collectors are directed to the Health Department's noise branch, which is equipped with noise meters.
However, the Noise, Radiation and Indoor Air Quality Branch no longer has authority over vehicular noise, said branch chief Russell Takata, who notes that the brochure was published in January 2000. "We still get calls, but there are some things which we don't have authority over."
The Health Department's authority lapsed when the 2000 state Legislature (Kokua Line, Sept. 20, 2000), repealed a bunch of "obsolete laws," including one that dealt with vehicular noise control, he said.
"Noise is a tough one because it's very subjective," Takata observed. "It's very tough to regulate -- it crosses into the nuisance area, (where) it's OK for some, but not OK for others."
Meanwhile, Takata said police are supposed to enforce the city ordinance relating to "unreasonable noise," and said complaints about noisy refuse trucks should be directed to the Honolulu Police Department.
However, police aren't equipped with noise meters to determine and prove that the allowable decibel level is exceeded, pointed out District 1 Police Sgt. Lester Hite.
Hite remembers there was a sting operation to nab a noisy refuse collector in your area back in the mid-1990s that involved the HPD and Health Department.
"We basically responded to a complaint in a group effort and a company was cited," he said. "That seemed to take care of the problem."
Hite, who formerly supervised a community policing program, says a collaborative effort between the state, county and community is needed to tackle a problem like yours.
He recommends first contacting officials of the companies involved, as Alii's Goya suggested.
If that doesn't work, Hite said elected representatives may need to get involved.
He said you can call him at District I, 529-3386, and police can also call the companies involved if you are unable to get a response.
But, a collaborative, cooperative effort was "the way we did things when we had community policing," Hite said. Instead of immediately going for citations, "Most of the problems can be resolved by sitting down and talking."
Noisy neighbors, barking dogs, crowing roosters, deafening boom boxes, and zooming motor scooters are among the biggest irritants to everyday living, judging from the complaints Kokua Line receives. Noise brochure available
Noise -- "unwanted sound" -- is the subject of a manual developed by the Oahu Noise Advisory Committee under the auspices of the state Department of Health's Noise, Radiation and Indoor Air Quality Branch, Environmental Health Services Division.
The manual lists the most common noise complaints and advises people on where they can direct their complaints.
Call 586-4700 to obtain a free copy.
Got a question or complaint?
Call 529-4773, fax 529-4750, or write to Kokua Line,
Honolulu Star-Bulletin, 500 Ala Moana Blvd., No. 7-210,
Honolulu 96813. As many as possible will be answered.
Email to kokualine@starbulletin.com