Kenoi on trash: Burn it

Just burn it.

About three months after Hawaii County ended a pilot project for hauling garbage to the west side, Mayor Billy Kenoi said he is now in favor of a waste-to-energy project to resolve the Big Island’s looming landfill crisis.

“My solution is that I believe we have to move to waste reduction, and I believe H-Power is our model,” he said Wednesday.

Kenoi was referring to a waste-to-energy project on Oahu, known as H-Power, run by the Hawaiian Electric Co.

That plant is capable of consuming 2,160 tons of garbage per day and can generate 46 megawatts of electricity.

It also reduces landfill input by 90 percent, according to the utility’s website.

It’s not yet known how big such a plant would have to be to extend the life of the Hilo landfill, which has just five to eight years left.

A similar $125.5 million waste-to-energy project proposed by former Mayor Harry Kim was killed by the Hawaii County Council in 2008 due to concerns over the cost.

Kenoi tempered his comments by saying the county has not made a decision on whether to pursue construction of an incinerator.

“I’ve got to learn more about it to make sure it’s exactly what we need to do,” he said.

Kenoi said he plans to submit a request for information in the next “couple months” for companies that build and manage such plants.

Still, he said, public input will be sought on the idea and all other options for the landfill, including expanding its size and hauling garbage to Puuanahulu.

“We believe given the three choices that it’s the most beneficial, the most cost effective, and the least harmful to the environment,” he said.

Acting county Environmental Management Director Dora Beck said Friday her office hasn’t been given direction on the issue by Kenoi. She said the department’s approach will still be to present all options to the public “so the community members have a chance to voice their opinions” and take it from there.

No meetings have been scheduled.

Beck wasn’t aware of an information request being considered.

Kenoi defended the decision to haul waste from the east side to Puuanahulu as part of a pilot project earlier this year.

The project was started to verify cost estimates of using cross-island trash hauling as a solution to the Hilo landfill’s capacity problems, he said. The hauling program, first disclosed by Stephens Media, became controversial since it had not been reported to the County Council or the Environmental Management Commission. It also came at the same time Kenoi said he had no plans to haul garbage across the island.

The mayor said he meant he had not settled on that as a solution.

“Could we have communicated that better? … Certainly we could have done a better job,” he said.

That program increased trash hauling to West Hawaii to 78.8 percent in March from 52.8 percent in 2011.

What to do with the county’s garbage has been a long-studied subject across several administrations. The county has already spent at least $2.9 million studying ways for handling its trash since 1990. Kim, who is running for mayor again, said he still supports waste-to-energy projects and would pursue it again if elected. County Council Chairman Dominic Yagong, another main contender in the mayoral race, said he is open to all waste reduction technologies, including incineration.

Email Tom Callis at tcallis@hawaiitribune-herald.com.