A public hearing on the county’s permit application for the operation of the Kekaha Landfill is scheduled Thursday. The county is seeking to continue landfill operations in partnership with Waste Management of Hawaii, Inc. and to include a vertical expansion
A public hearing on the county’s permit application for the operation of the Kekaha Landfill is scheduled Thursday.
The county is seeking to continue landfill operations in partnership with Waste Management of Hawaii, Inc. and to include a vertical expansion at the landfill that would increase the permitted height to 120 feet above the mean sea level.
The landfill’s current grade elevations range from 70 to 82 feet.
The hearing will be from 6:30 to 8 p.m. at Waimea Neighborhood Center, 4556 Makeke Road.
DOH and county officials will be available from 6 to 6:30 p.m. to answer questions.
“It’s an opportunity for community members to participate in the permit approval process,” said Steven Chang, environmental engineer program manager with the DOH Solid and Hazardous Waste Branch. “Originally, we had notified the public about the hearing around Christmas and we know that is a busy time of year. We wanted to remind everyone that the public comment period is ending soon.”
The vertical expansion, estimated at $265,000, should provide an estimated five-plus years of capacity at the landfill beginning in April, according to the county.
There are plans for a lateral expansion of the landfill that would keep it in use through 2024.
Plans involve a project called Lateral Expansion Cell 2, estimated at $10 million. This involves the construction of a baseliner and leachate collection system in the area between the closed Phase I landfill and the current Phase II landfill.
Work related to design and regulatory permitting for the project is projected to continue in fiscal year 2015.
The deadline to comment on the landfill proposal is 4:30 p.m. Thursday.
To view the permit application, go to thttp://health.hawai.gov/shwb/solid-waste or call Stephan Chang at 586-4226.
Comments will also be accepted via email sent to ttanigawa@kauai.gov, by fax, 241-6887, or by mail: Steven Chang, Department of Health, Solid and Hazardous Waste Branch, 919 Ala Moana Blvd., Room 212, Honolulu, HI 96814-4920.
