HONOLULU — After months of waiting, a company hired to ship trash from Oahu to a landfill in Washington state is expected to get the necessary approval this week, a federal official said.
Some 20,000 tons of trash has piled up at Campbell Industrial Park since Sept. 28 while Hawaiian Waste Systems awaits U.S. Department of Agriculture approval. The company was supposed to start sending the garbage in October.
USDA spokesman Larry Hawkins said Monday he expects the clearance will be announced in the next couple of days.
Hawaiian Waste President Mike Chutz is skeptical.
“I don’t believe anything that the USDA says until they do it, and I don’t even believe it after they do it,” Chutz said.
Chutz criticized the USDA, saying the agency has taken too long to approve the shipments.
“We have been frustrated from performing this contract which we entered into in good faith, and we’ve been prepared to perform throughout the course of this,” he said.
Under a contract with the city, the company is to be paid $99.89 for every ton of trash that is placed at the mainland landfill. Hawaiian Waste agreed to transport 100,000 tons of trash a year.
Shipping the garbage is seen as a way of reducing the amount of trash going into the Waimanalo Gulch Sanitary Landfill, the only facility on the island that accepts municipal solid waste.
Chutz wouldn’t speculate on how soon the shipping could begin after federal approval is received.
Earlier this month, the state Department of Health imposed a $40,400 fine on Hawaiian Waste Systems for the trash that has accumulated.
The action prompted Honolulu City Councilman Ikaika Anderson to say he hoped the city administration strongly considers canceling the company’s contract.
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Information from: The Honolulu Advertiser, http://www.honoluluadvertiser.com
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