Kauai landfill site opposed

A mayoral candidate says the
county would be prone to lawsuits

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By Anthony Sommer
tsommer@starbulletin.com

LIHUE >> Ron Kouchi, Kauai County Council chairman and mayoral candidate, says he is opposed to building a new county landfill near Hanamaulu.

Kouchi's news release, issued Monday evening, said the site would be ripe for an environmental lawsuit from Hanamaulu residents. Hanamaulu, originally built as company housing by Lihue Plantation, is a working-class community with many retired sugar workers. It also has a large concentration of recent Asian immigrants, many of whom are unemployed.

The town already has been chosen as the site for a new Kauai Electric power plant. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency repeatedly has sued local governments on the mainland for putting too many unwanted facilities in low-income areas.

"If legal action were taken on these grounds, possible delays in developing a new landfill site would not be worth the time and money lost as the current Kekaha landfill site continues toward capacity," Kouchi said in his statement.

The county recently agreed to expand the Kekaha landfill again, extending its life to 2007. But the state, which owns the adjoining property, has told Kauai County it will not provide any additional land for future expansions.

Mayor Maryanne Kusaka appointed a blue-ribbon committee that recommended six possible sites last year. None of the current owners of the sites were willing to sell the land, however, and the county was reluctant to begin a lengthy condemnation process.

The Hanamaulu site was recommended by a consultant. It is on former sugar land recently purchased by America Online founder Steve Case and is not visible from the town.

Kusaka's staff spent much of January talking to the Hanamaulu community about the proposal. A town meeting was conducted at a local school, bus tours of the site were provided and members of the mayor's staff walked door to door.

Mayoral spokeswoman Beth Tokioka said yesterday no decision on it has been reached.

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Kauai County