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Gathering Place
 Mike Gabbard |
ÔShip it outÕ is best way
to handle isle garbageHawaii is uniquely situated to lead the way in implementing modern technology to deal with the ever-increasing amount of trash generated in our "throwaway" society. Our waste disposal challenge is even more daunting because many of the open spaces that would otherwise be suitable for a landfill are above aquifers that provide fresh drinking water for Oahu's people and our future generations. Last year I led the fight to ensure that future landfills will not be placed over our precious drinking water. We simply cannot afford to risk the health and welfare of Hawaii's people in the name of expedience, convenience or profit. Dumping our garbage over our drinking water must never be an option and I will continue to fight any proposal to do so.
Because of our limited land area and geography, the "solution" of simply landfilling municipal solid waste (MSW) is no solution at all. Landfills are harmful to Hawaii's fragile environment. In addition, landfills burden nearby communities -- often those that are already the most economically disadvantaged -- with unhealthy and unsightly troubles. It's time Hawaii gets out of the landfill business and into the 21st century, developing sustainable solutions to reduce the amount of our waste and handle its disposal.
Last year, as chairman of the City Council's Public Works Committee, I initiated a series of hearings aimed at moving the city toward implementing new technologies to manage our solid waste and to ramp up our curbside recycling efforts even as the state granted the city a five-year extension to operate Oahu's sole municipal landfill in Waianae.
Recently, I testified before the state Land Use Commission that the city must "wean itself off its addiction to daily use of landfills." I testified that my goal is to use landfills only on an emergency or contingency basis rather than daily. I said we must explore all options -- including recycling and alternative waste management -- whether plasma arc, mass burn combustion or my proposal to "Ship It Out."
There's a lot of talk about futuristic concepts, such as zapping our rubbish with enough electricity to vaporize it. But, to date, no such system has proven able to handle the volume of trash that Oahu generates daily -- about 3,000 tons. We must be careful not to put our hope into unproved technology to the detriment of solving our looming landfill crisis. That's why I've introduced a resolution asking the city to solicit information from companies engaged in offshore shipment of solid waste. We must determine if this approach is an environmentally sound and cost-effective alternative to landfilling in Hawaii.
In January, I took a trip at my expense to two mainland landfills. Based on what I learned, I believe that shipping Hawaii's trash to a mainland landfill located in a desert-like area can be a cost-effective and environmentally friendly alternative to landfilling our solid waste here -- whether as a permanent solution or an interim fix while we acquire the technology to handle massive amounts of MSW another way.
Ultimately, we need a global solution that includes diverting and eliminating a majority of the volume from our waste stream through enhanced recycling efforts, composting and common-sense product packaging. As we work toward those goals, however, we are nevertheless faced with an immediate landfill problem and it is my opinion that "shipping it out" is a better solution than despoiling another beautiful valley for a garbage dump.
We are faced with very limited options. If we can solve our landfill crisis by "shipping it out" -- at a cost approximate to creating landfills in an island state where open space is scarce -- then it is clearly an idea that we must consider.
Mike Gabbard represents City Council District No. 1 (Ewa Plain, Kapolei, Waianae Coast).