Mayoral hopefuls keep
options on trash open

Both candidates say they would
not rule out shipping waste

Both candidates for Honolulu mayor say they won't rule out options for coping with Oahu's trash, including shipping waste to the mainland, exploring alternative technologies, expanding the waste-to-energy plant and recycling more.

Mufi Hannemann and Duke Bainum also said that Oahu will continue to need a landfill and waste management will be one of the biggest problems the next mayor faces.

Last week, city Environmental Services Director Frank Doyle said his department will not seek proposals to ship garbage to mainland landfills, even on a temporary basis. Doyle said such a move would distract the city from permanent answers to its garbage problems.

But Bainum said that until he has more information about all the options, "I see it as imprudent to dismiss out of hand" the possibility of shipping trash to mainland.

Hannemann also wants to keep that option on the table for now.

"I'm not sure how everything is going to occur until I get there and open up the books and see the research that's been accumulated," Hannemann said.

The City Council is to decide by Dec. 1 where to put a new landfill.

"The mayor is going to be a major player in any landfill and all waste management decisions -- that's just a fact," Bainum said, adding that he would ask the Council to reconsider if he thinks they made a wrong decision.

Bainum said the landfill should not go in Kapaa Quarry in Kailua because of the high rainfall there and because that would displace Ameron Quarry, a business that supplies vital construction materials.

Hannemann said wherever a landfill is sited should receive a benefits package to help offset the inconvenience. "I just don't think it's fair for one community to have to shoulder the burden of everyone's opala," Hannemann said.

Oahu produces 1.6 million tons a year of solid waste.

The outgoing Harris administration plans to begin phasing in an islandwide recycling program in November, but Hannemann and Bainum said they think the program should wait for the new mayor.

"Let the next mayor come in and do it right," Hannemann said. "Let's not rush it out."

Hannemann said the city needs his help negotiating a labor contract for recycling pickup with unionized city garbage workers.

And Bainum said any recycling plan needs to be reviewed to make sure it's "an efficient, economical and environmentally workable recycling plan."

Hannemann pledged that the first thing he'd do to improve solid waste handling is implement more frequent pickup of appliances and other bulky items.

"To me that's part of my philosophy -- fix existing policy," Hannemann said.

Bainum said it appears that the city will have to expand its H-POWER waste-to-energy plant. "Although it has done a wonderful job, it's also a 35-year-old technology," Bainum said, adding that the city should thoroughly explore newer technologies to see if they could be viable.

"I'm going to spend a lot more effort and time to identify options other than a landfill, like plasma arc and shipment," Hannemann said.