Trash travel plan gels

The city hopes to start shipping waste to the mainland next year

» 20 more months for landfill sought

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The city is finalizing plans to ship garbage to the mainland in early 2008.

The city plans to ask for bids from waste-shipping companies in August and hopes to reach a deal by Sept. 20, Martin Okabe, executive assistant to city Environmental Services Director Eric Takamura, told the City Council's Planning and Sustainability Committee yesterday.

"We've decided that we're going to be putting out a service agreement which would identify the types of waste that would be available, when the waste could be available ... and we'll be asking obviously for price," he said.

If costs are too high, the city would be able to pull back the contract and cancel it, but the three shippers the city spoke with said they could probably work within the city's $70 to $80 per ton price range, Okabe said.

The City Council has budgeted $5 million in next fiscal year's budget to pay for about six months worth of shipping.

A special committee meeting is scheduled for June 27, when Committee Chairman Gary Okino said he would like to see final plans and cost figures.

Okabe said the administration would not object to shipping garbage off island as long as the city maintains control over the flow of garbage in Oahu's waste stream.