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Home My WebLink AboutCOM 0050.000 2006-2008 ~i/C_ OOJ,~tY OF M,~ _ ~ ~6i%%s. Barbara Bell Harry Kim Director Mayor Nelson Ho er ~ ~rF uF~i~~t' Deputy Director C~>Yixn#'~r u~ ~ttfuttii DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT 25 Aupuni S[reet, Room 210 ~ Hilo, Hawari 96720-0252 (808) 961-8083 • Fax (808) 961$086 http://co.hawaii hi us/direc[orv/dir envmng.htm r•. c:. 00 l~ December 2Q 2006 FT• The Honorable Pete Hoffmann, Chair And Members of the Hawaii County Council • ~ 25 Aupuni Street ~ Hilo, HI 96720 ^ - _ Re: November Department of Health (DOH) Correspondence Dear County Council Members, Enclosed is the correspondence from DOH for the month of November. If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to contact me. Sincerely, L/ ~ p~11~~~ ~i~A~ Barbara Bell DIRECTOR enclosures cc: Harry Kim, Mayor SWD Comm. No• M (tef. To: Ref. Uote G~.% 2 Hawaii County is an equal opportunity provider and employer. 46 O i ~8ii 4~ \808 1 0 LINDA LINGLE DHIYOME L. FUKINO, M.D. GOVE0.NOR OF HAWAII ~ 010.ECi0R OF HEALiH ~.A ava F'~~ a STATE OF HAWAII DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH P. 0. BOX 3378 In n:pry, please refer la. EMDISHWH HONOLULU, HAWAII 96801-3378 November 30, 2006 S1134SL The Honorable Barbara Bell DISTRIBUTION: Department of Environmental Management ACCT' County of Hawaii p R 25 Aupuni Street, Room 210 ~C Hilo, Hawaii 96720 SWD C~~~~ WWD Dear Ms. Bell: SUBJECT: Fire/Smoldering Incidences at Mulch Storage/Pickup Site Old Dump Road, Kailua-Kona, Hawaii (TMK7-4-020:007) This letter is to inform the Department of Environmental Management of the County of Hawaii of our findings and recommendations stemming from a complaint we received on October 26, 2006, in regards to fire/smoldering incidences at the mulch storage/pickup site located across Old Dump Road from the Kailua-Kona (Kealakehe) transfer station. The complaint was referred by the Clean Air Branch to our Solid Waste Section (SWS) of the Department of Health (DOH) at 9:OOam on October 26, 2006. The complainant indicated that a fire incident occurred at the mulch storage/pickup site around 7:30am on October 26, 2006. Strong burnt smell from the mulch storage/pickup site reached Queen Kaahumanu Highway. The SWS contacted the County of Hawaii's Solid Waste Division, EKO Systems, Inc., and the complainant. Based on our discussions, we understood that the fire/smoldering was extinguished by the time we contacted the facility. The complainant indicated that the stockpiled mulch was in huge piles with the height of these piles between six and ten feet. The complainant also stated that fire/smoldering incidences occurred frequently since August 2006. The complainant expressed concern of a potential fire condition posed by the mulch storage to its neighboring properties, and requested actions taken immediately to effectively prevent and control the situation from occurring again. Based on our conversation with DOH at the Kona district office, the County's Solid Waste Division, EKO Systems, Inc., and the complainant on October 26, and 27, and November 1, 2006, we confirmed the size of the mulch storage piles and the frequency of smoldering incidences, and understood that: 1. The fire/smoldering were caused by spontaneous combustion from the large quantities of the stored mulch (amount of mulch was not estimated) at the st a site. DEC ~ 5 2006 y6 The Honorable Barbara Bell November 30, 2006 Page 2 2. A large quantity of the mulch accumulated as a result of increased processing of greenwaste from the permitted greenwaste processing site across the street (Solid Waste permit No. CO-0013-06 for a parcel identified as TMK 7-4-20:016 across Old Dump Road), and low demand and pickup rate for the stored mulch at the storage site. 3. Actions to be taken to address this complaint were to connect a large water line/source to improve fire control capability and to remove accumulated mulch to end users as much as possible and as soon as possible. EKO Systems, Inc. removes mulch from the site and delivers it for users vathin ter.-mile radius at no charge. The County's Solid Waste Division indicated that they would consider using their trucks to transport mulch from Kona to Hilo, where there seems to be greater demand for mulch. The Solid Waste Division also planned to take the mulch to the County's various transfer stations for public distribution. Based on our telephone conversation with EKO Systems, Inc. on November 17, 2006, we understand that the proposed water line has not yet been installed and significant quantities of mulch has not been removed from the site. Since solid waste management permit No. CO-0013-06 has processing frequency and storage limit requirements at the permitted site, the processed mulch will continually need to be moved from the processing site directly to the end users or taken to the storage site for public pickup. By November 21, 2006, information obtained from the Hawaii Fire Department shows that there were ten incident reports related to the greenwaste operations at Kailua-Kona since January 1, 2006. Incidents of fire/smoldering from greenwaste operations were reported and recorded in the reports. We recommend that the County manage its mulch storage site in a manner that will provide safe conditions for mulch pickup by the general public, as well as for the surrounding neighboring properties and operations. We believe that at a minimum, the storage piles should be reduced to five-feet in height, separated with fire breaks, to minimize future fire/smoldering. Should you have any questions regarding this letter, please contact Ms. Sue Liu of the Solid Waste Section at (808) 586-4226. Sincerely, STEVEN Y. . C G, .E., CHI Solid and H rdous Was c: Clean Air Branch, DOH Clean Air Branch, DOH Kona District Office Solid Waste Division, County of Hawaii EKO System, Inc. (Lakewood, Colorado and Maui offices)