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Group Memory - July 27, 2006GROUP MEMORY EIS Public Scoping Meetings Welcome and Introductions, Meeting Overview, Purpose, and Guidelines Adoption The facilitator welcomed and thanked everyone for attending this Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) Public Scoping Meeting for the Waimanalo Gulch Sanitary Landfill (here in after Waimanalo Gulch) Expansion. The purpose of the meeting is to obtain a list of concerns and issues from the community that need to be addressed in the EIS process. The facilitator explained that comments from previous meetings were consolidated and posted for meeting participants to review. It was noted by the audience that the organization of the issues by categories was helpful and a request was made to have the consolidated issues sheet in addition to the Group Memories posted on the website. The City agreed to post them on the City and County’s website (www.opala.org). Comments made at this meeting will be recorded on the newsprint at the front of the meeting and then consolidated with earlier comments from other meetings. Finally, the facilitator explained that questions will be answered time permitting and that questions not answered will be posted on the City and County’s website along with answers. The following people were in attendance and introduced: Wilma Namumnart from the Refuse Division of the Department of Environmental Services; Brian Takeda and Kevin Polloi from R.M. Towill Corporation, who is serving as the City’s EIS consultant; and Paul Burns of Waste Management of Hawaii. Councilmember Todd Apo was also acknowledged as being present in the audience when the meeting began. Handouts provided included the meeting agenda, a tentative EIS public input schedule, and comment forms. Written comments will be accepted until August 30, 2006 by sending the comment forms to the address provided on the form (City and County of Honolulu, Department of Environmental Services, Refuse Division, 1000 Uluohia Street, Suite 212, Kapolei, Hawaii 96707). It was also noted that the original date of the Kapolei meeting had been changed to August 10, 2006, due to a conflict with the Neighborhood Board in that area. It was explained that four EIS Public Scoping meetings were or would be held on the following dates: (1) July 10th at Nanakuli High and Intermediate School; (2) July 11th at Benjamin Parker Elementary School; (3) July 27th at Mission Memorial Auditorium and (4) August 10th at Kapolei Hale. Once the public scoping meetings are completed, an EIS Preparation Notice will be posted in August/September 2006 on the website with a link to the document, and a 30-day public comment period will be provided for community members to send in their written comments. The anticipated completion date for the Draft EIS (DEIS) is the end of 2006 / early 2007. DEIS Public Workshops will be held within 10 days of publication of the DEIS. Once these workshops are completed, a 45-day comment period will be provided before the final EIS is set to be completed by mid-2007. An overview of the meeting agenda was posted and reviewed by the facilitator and included the following:
The following meeting guidelines were presented by the facilitator
and accepted
Remarks by the City and County of Honolulu, Department of Environmental Services, Refuse Division Wilma Namumnart of the City and County of Honolulu’s Department of Environmental Services explained that the public scoping meetings are intended to identify the community’s concerns that should be addressed in the DEIS. Waimanalo Gulch Sanitary Landfill is the only operating City landfill for rubbish and H-Power ash on the island of Oahu. This is an island-wide issue, so preparation of the EIS must involve community input at an island-wide level, including communities that are directly affected because of their close proximity to the landfill, as well as other communities located further away but are still reliant on the landfill. Two of the four public scoping meetings are being held in the Leeward/Waianae region, including Nanakuli High and Intermediate School which was held on July 10th and Kapolei Hale which will be held on August 10th , while the other public scoping meetings were held at the Benjamin Parker Elementary School in Windward Oahu and at the Mission Memorial Auditorium in Honolulu – tonight’s meeting. Permits for solid waste operations are issued every 5 years, with the current operating permit for Waimanalo Gulch expiring at the end of 2008. A number of events have occurred since 2003, when the last EIS for the expansion of the Waimanalo Gulch Sanitary Landfill was completed. We acknowledge that some want the landfill to close by May of 2008. However, in 2006, Mayor Hanneman vetoed Bill 037, which sought to close the Waimanalo Gulch Sanitary Landfill. Reasons cited for his decision were that a new landfill site will not be ready by 2008, and for the foreseeable future, the City needs to have a landfill site that is able to handle municipal solid waste, H-POWER ash and residue, and other refuse that cannot be further reduced, recycled, or reused. Waimanalo Gulch was determined to be the best alternative from an environmental and cost standpoint. Thus, the focus for the four Public Scoping meetings is to identify the concerns and issues that should be considered in the EIS process for the expansion of this facility. Last fiscal year, Oahu generated over 1.5 million tons of rubbish, of which 600,000 tons was converted to electricity at H-Power, about 500,000 tons were recycled; over 200,000 tons went to private landfills, and the remaining tonnage was sent to the existing municipal landfill at Waimanalo Gulch. Every day over 1,500 tons of refuse and ash from H-Power must be landfilled. This need and its importance in maintaining public health and safety is the reason for seeking the expansion of Waimanalo Gulch. Development of Scoping Issues and Questions/Comments: ISSUES:
Questions:
There were no more issues and the meeting closed at 7:30. |
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