BY TOM BERG – The people of the Waianae Coast are adamantly opposed to letting a precedent be set that the industrial dump of PVT, located in a residential neighborhood right next to homes, be used as a regular backup landfill for Waimanalo Gulch.
The State Department of Health must reject the City administration’s application for an exemption to PVT’s permit, which currently prohibits such dumping. The residents near PVT have not been consulted on this maneuver – this is not pono.
Any move to dump the island’s bulky items into residentially-located PVT would be an act of condoning, enabling, and placating the well-documented mismanagement of the Waimanalo Gulch Landfill.
By shifting the burden of responsibility from Waste Management to PVT, such a move will undoubtedly lift the sense of urgency for a permanent solution and reward bad behavior. If piles of junk were instead allowed to grow on every street corner on Oahu, maybe then a real contingency plan would emerge.
If the ‘emergency’ plan is approved by the Department of Health, then subsequent tipping fees for PVT should be borne by Waste Management and not the taxpayer. WM should have the floodlights up and running and working 24/7 to get the Gulch back into business.