Landfill site only temporary, Maui mayor says

Jan. 5—Maui Mayor Richard Bissen announced Thursday that a former cinder quarry in Olowalu will not be considered as the final disposition site for the ash and debris being excavated from the disaster area in Lahaina.

Maui Mayor Richard Bissen announced Thursday that a former cinder quarry in Olowalu will not be considered as the final disposition site for the ash and debris being excavated from the disaster area in Lahaina.

During a meeting of the Maui County Council's Disaster, Resilience, International Affairs and Planning Committee, the mayor said, "You have my promise that the Olowalu site will not be used as a permanent site and that the debris will be removed from this temporary site once the permanent site is identified and built."

The remarks came two days after a standing-room-only crowd and more than 100 people testified before the Council committee, many of them urging the county leaders to reject Olowalu as any kind of landfill site for the wildfire debris and particularly a permanent one.

The Council is weighing a bill that would provide a right-of-entry permit for the Federal Emergency Management Agency, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and contractors to proceed with the temporary site.

The Council is scheduled to vote on the second and final reading of Bill 120 on Jan. 12.

Bissen urged the Council to support the construction of the temporary site to expedite the process and allow survivors to return to their properties and rebuild their lives.

He said more than 12, 000 people were forever changed by the Lahaina wildfires, and close to 7, 000 have been living in hotels for nearly six months. Many of those folks, he said, are leaving the island.

"Every day we delay this process is one more day survivors must put their lives on hold, " he said.

Bissen said the Olowalu site is only 8 miles from Lahaina, a fact that lessens the potential for traffic safety concerns and potential spills if the ash and debris has to be hauled across the pali to Central Maui or beyond.

The State Historic Preservation Division confirmed that no cultural or historical sites would be disturbed at Olowalu, Bissen said, while the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service signed off on the fact that there are no significant environmental concerns.

"This location provides the ideal landscape to accommodate the expedited construction of this temporary location, " he said.

Bissen said his staff is reviewing other potential sites for long-term storage and containment, and he said the Central Maui Landfill is a candidate for the permanent wildfire debris site.

But he told Council members there are a multitude of challenges that come with transporting more than 400, 000 cubic yards of debris—nearly five football fields filled five stories high—some 26 miles across the island.

"These are challenges and significant issues that we will all be impacted by, " he said.

The issues, he said, include the fact that up to 40, 000 semi-truck loads will be traveling 52 miles round trip. It will require an estimated 133 semi-truck loads daily over a period of 300 days or so, creating unprecedented traffic impacts for up to a year and a half.

The project will put the community at higher risk for traffic accidents, safety concerns and high potential for debris spills, he said, plus increased roadway maintenance expenses and substantially increased maintenance needs due to wear and tear.

Because the debris from Lahaina is the equivalent of two years of typical disposal intake, the landfill will need to undergo a significant expansion effort—and likely the acquisition of land, he said.

Bissen said he couldn't say just how temporary the temporary site would be.

"It depends on how quickly we build the temporary site, " he said.

During a state Board of Land and Natural Resources meeting in October, county officials said construction of the 12.3-acre landfill within a former cinder quarry off Honoapiilani Highway would take about six to eight months.

They said the landfill's only use would be for debris from the Aug. 8 wildfires, which killed at least 100 people and damaged more than 2, 200 buildings.

The cost of the project has been estimated at approximately $65 million, which includes design, permitting, construction, monitoring and management of the site, plus operational expenses.

During seven hours of testimony at Tuesday's Council committee meeting, concerns were raised about the potential impact on the Olowalu community and the area's groundwater, burials and nearshore environment.

A number of testifiers said debris from the landfill would threaten one of the state's top reefs, which lies just offshore.

Many expressed the fear that the temporary site would inevitably become permanent.