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Repair delays limit
use of Kapaa dump

Question: Why was the Kapaa Transfer Station closed last weekend? I borrowed my neighbor's truck to haul a lot of junk from my property on Saturday. But when I went to the dump about 2 p.m. Saturday, it was closed. There was no sign or any explanation given. My friend's wife went on Friday and also found it closed. When she asked the workers why, they told her they couldn't say. I went back at 10 a.m. Sunday and had to wait for 45 minutes. When I finally got into the building, there were only four parking spots open -- the other spaces were roped off for no apparent reason. Why was the transfer station closed in the first place, and why were only a few spaces open on Sunday, when there were a lot of people lined up to get in?

Answer: Many other Windward residents had the same complaint about the unexpected and unannounced closure of the rubbish dump.

It turns out two transfer stations -- Kapaa and Keehi -- were undergoing repairs, which are expected to be completed today or tomorrow.

The Keehi station has been closed to the general public since Aug. 13, but will reopen to homeowners tomorrow, said Wayne Hamada, disposal operations engineer with the city Department of Environmental Services.

Meanwhile, because collection trucks had to be diverted from Keehi to Kapaa, as well as concern for public safety at the unloading ramp, homeowner use has been restricted at Kapaa since last Thursday, he said.

The station was fully open to the public on Sunday, but open only for limited hours since then. Kapaa was to be open from noon to 6 p.m. today, with normal operating hours -- 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. weekdays, 7 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. weekends -- resuming tomorrow.

Hamada acknowledged all the complaints "point to the need for better communication with the public."

Although the two repair projects were planned "some time ago" and weren't supposed to conflict with each other, unanticipated delays caused them to overlap, he said.

And while officials knew the projects would take place at the same time, "what we did not anticipate was the need to divert a significant number of collection trucks to Kapaa from Keehi," he said.

Hamada said no public notice of closures or time restrictions was given at the Kapaa station, because it was just days prior to the start of the Keehi repairs that officials realized a "significant diversion" would have to be done because of the amount of trash in the Keehi rubbish pit.

By comparison, Keehi users were given two weeks advance notice because officials already knew they would need to close the station, he said.

High-wear sections of the receiving pit floor at Keehi were resurfaced during the two-week project.

At Kapaa, repairs were made to the receiving pit, Kaneohe-side crane, and building side louvers and roof, which were damaged in a fire last year.

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