A measure to ban landfills over aquifers continues to move along in the state Legislature.
In December, Honolulu Mayor Rick Blangiardi’s administration announced plans to site Oʻahu’s new landfill in Wahiawā. The controversial decision would place the facility on agricultural land and over an aquifer that supplies drinking water to the island.
That prompted several measures to be introduced at the Legislature this year to clarify where landfills and waste facilities can, and can't, be placed.
Most have died, though House Bill 969 is still moving along this year. That measure would ban the placement of landfills over aquifers.
Testifiers are now concerned about the landfill storing toxic ash, which comes from burned waste that they say would eventually leak into the environment, including into the aquifer. Many also oppose the city’s plans to recycle some of that ash to build roads, be used in concrete mixes, or create a daily liner for the landfill.
“If it's too dangerous to have the same ash in a double-lined landfill over the aquifer, it's surely too dangerous to be putting in roads, all over the aquifer with no liner systems,” said Mike Ewall, founder of the Energy Justice Network.
Ash amendments that were proposed for other landfill-related bills are now being proposed for HB 969.
That ash comes from H-POWER, a waste-to-energy facility on Oʻahu. As part of a city administration project, ash is being recycled for use in construction materials. The city said it can help reduce the amount of ash sent to the landfill by 60% or more.
The Honolulu Department of Environmental Services, in written testimony for another landfill measure, said 150,000 tons of that ash goes to the Waimanalo Gulch Sanitary Landfill every year, making up 75% of the landfill’s contents.
“The ash amendment being proposed is not germane to the underlying bill to ban landfills over aquifers, and would also kill the City’s project to reuse ash to prolong the life of the existing landfill,” said Reworld, the operator for H-POWER, in written statement opposing an ash amendment for HB 969.
Some testifiers asked lawmakers to ban the use of ash in construction and road-building.
The Senate Committees on Health and Human Services, and Water and Land passed the measure along Monday, and noted that some testifiers want the permitted use of burned ash to be implemented on a case-by-case basis.
The bill must still be heard by the Ways and Means Committee.
