Kauai Nursery and Landscaping workers have been grinding up greenwaste at the Kapa‘a refuge station to prevent more fires from igniting and posing more hazards to the public. “Fires were occurring while we were there, and we had to put
Kauai Nursery and Landscaping workers have been grinding up greenwaste at the Kapa‘a refuge station to prevent more fires from igniting and posing more hazards to the public.
“Fires were occurring while we were there, and we had to put out several fires (caused by combustion of the collected materials),” said Jerry Nishek, general manager of the company.
The county facility in Kapa‘a “overflowed” with greenwaste, and county officials have been worried about “fires from combustion,” Nishek said.
Kauai Nursery and Landscaping won the low bid for the contract to do the work, and its workers began grinding up the compost at the transfer station in March, Nishek said.
“We composted it down, and turned it into reusable amendment for our projects and for sale to the general public (at the business site of Kauai Nursery and Landscaping in Puhi),” Nishek said.
The contract for the work only at the Kapa‘a transfer station runs until June, but the contract is expected to be extended to allow for the grinding of materials found outside the Kapa‘a transfer station, and for the removal of the materials to the Kauai Nursery site.
The work was contracted out because the county’s sole shredding machine is undergoing repairs, said Troy Tanigawa, the county’s solid waste program administrative officer.
Once the compost project at the Kapa‘a refuge is completed, and the county-owned shredding machine is back up and running, mulch created at the facility will be made available to residents again at no cost, Tanigawa said.
Tanigawa said the county’s composting program, started some years ago , has been successful.
Residents have picked up compost that would have otherwise been dumped at the Kekaha landfill. Residents use the mulch for backyard landscaping projects.
“It is a popular program because of the byproducts from the shredding program,” Tanigawa said.
Residents also pick up compost at transfer stations in Lihu‘e and Hanapepe and at the Kekaha landfill, Tanigawa said.
Staff writer Lester Chang can be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 225) and lchang@pulitzer.net
