HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

H.R. NO.

58

TWENTY-THIRD LEGISLATURE, 2006

 

STATE OF HAWAII

 
   


HOUSE RESOLUTION

 

REQUESTING THE DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH TO STUDY THE health IMPACTS OF THE WAIMANALO GULCH SANITARY LANDFILL.

 

 

WHEREAS, the Waimanalo Gulch Sanitary Landfill in West Oahu is a municipal landfill owned by the City and County of Honolulu and operated by Waste Management of Hawaii, Incorporated, that accepts on a daily basis:

(1) Over fourteen hundred tons of municipal solid waste from county collection routes and transfer stations, private collection companies, and residential and commercial haulers; and

(2) Nearly four hundred tons of ash from the nearby H-Power plant; and

WHEREAS, a recent Department of Health order issued to the City and County of Honolulu and Waste Management of Hawaii, Incorporated, lists eighteen violations of the operating permit for the landfill, including, for example, the following violations:

(1) Exceeding the landfill's allowed height;

(2) Allowing too much leachate to collect at the bottom of the landfill liner, raising structural stability concerns;

(3) Failing to cover garbage daily with soil on at least twenty-seven working days;

(4) Failing to submit annual operating reports on time;

(5) Failing to report overfilling in a timely manner;

(6) Failing to place soil on the H-Power ash portion of the landfill for more than a year;

(7) Allowing excessive liquids in landfill sump pumps for more than four months;

(8) Failing to measure and maintain records of liquid levels in landfill sump pumps for more than a year;

(9) Failing to record the location of asbestos disposal and maintain records for over six months;

(10) Failing to monitor methane gas and maintain records for two years; and

(11) Failing to comply with other conditions of the landfill's permit; and

WHEREAS, the leachate, volatile organic compounds, gases, and dust produced by landfills have been linked to adverse health outcomes, including blood and bone disorders, kidney damage, cancer, leukemia, liver, and neurological damage; and

WHEREAS, methane gas emitted by landfills is explosive at certain concentration levels, may be a health hazard due to other by-product gases, and is known to migrate on-site and off-site, causing a potential danger to surrounding communities and posing the danger of release during construction and development activities; and

WHEREAS, it is well-documented that asbestos releases tiny fibers into the air that can remain suspended for a long time, exposure to which is associated with malignant mesothelioma and other forms of cancer, asbestosis, pleural plaques, and other respiratory and health-related problems; and

WHEREAS, in the areas surrounding the Waimanalo Gulch Sanitary Landfill there are thousands of residences, many businesses, a resort hotel, schools, and much development and construction activity; now, therefore,

BE IT RESOLVED by the House of Representatives of the Twenty-third Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2006, that the Department of Health is requested to study the health impacts of the Waimanalo Gulch Sanitary Landfill upon the landfill workers and surrounding communities in West Oahu; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Department of Health is requested to report its findings and recommendations to the Legislature no later than twenty days prior to the convening of the Regular Session of 2007; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Resolution be transmitted to the Director of Health, the Mayor and the Managing Director of the City and County of Honolulu, and the President of Waste Management of Hawaii, Incorporated.

 

 

 

OFFERED BY:

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Report Title:

Waimanalo Gulch Landfill; Health Impact Study