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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCOM 0761.003 2012-2014 Page 1 of 1 PAW C Murashige, Laura From: Hawaiian Gardens [info @hawaiiangardenshome.com] on behalf of kelly @hawaiiantreefarms.com Sent: Friday, March 28, 2014 2:48 PM To: counciltestimony @co.hawaii.hi.us Subject: Testimony re COMM 761 Attachments: 2014 Council Testimony Comm 761.pdf Please see attached testimony for Monday's AWES committee meeting re: Comm 761 Kelly Greenwell PO Box 1779 Kailua Kona, HI 96745 (808)329-5702 C)c) s z w <—� -- :: -‹ Drn Comm. No. —NO( Ref.To: W e- Ref. Date 3/31/2014 Kelly Greenwell PO Box 1779 Kailua Kona, HI 96745 March 10, 2014 Mayor, Hawaii County Council Members, Hawaii County Dear Council Members, Now that we are again considering the processing of our solid waste I am sending you all the enclosed part of a packet of information I began assembling in the 1990's. I ask that you review this information as I will again be soliciting support for the process outlined. Granted,the info is twenty years old but because composting (the process envisioned) is a natural process the mechanics have not changed. What has changed however is the now obvious impact that delaying the "waste" issue has had on our environment over the last many years. I am of course well aware of the past complexity involved in seeking a solution, however, it can now be irrefutably demonstrated that the lack of organic material (compost) in the soils (cinder) used in coastal development along with the outfall from the Kailua sewage treatment plant has allowed the leaching of nutrient rich irrigation and waste water to alter the near shore bio environment. Hopefully with the growing awareness of the environmental damage along with an increasing recognition of the value of the natural process, we will consider the enclosed more seriously. Fortunately, there has been one significant positive change since I began this quest some 20 years ago which is the building of the new Daniel K. Inouye Highway across the saddle. Because the economy of scale will allow for only one facility and because the critical need for the compost produced is in West Hawaii, the location of the facility would be at Puuanahulu and the new road would now be the route used for getting all of the island's waste to that single point. I don't believe the historic opposition to trucking East Hawaii waste to West Hawaii will remain an issue especially if saving our near shore waters, both in Hilo and in Kona, is the net result. The enclosed explains most of how in-vessel composting works but what also needs to be noted is because this method focuses on soil building,water conservation and environmental Page 2 of 2 protection, Federal assistance through Resource Conservation and Development (RC & D), Soil and Water Conservation District (SWCD), USDA and EPA grants is obtainable. Coupled with the fact that the set up cost would only involve the digester, a concrete pad and rolling stock to move, sort and mix, the expense to the county would range from $0-$5 million. With no need to couple with the power grid or interfere with contractual agreements currently in place with vendors (Waste Management) the benefits are immeasurable. Please review this procedure and respond for further discussion before we go down the road again without a full understanding of the true value of a resource we are calling waste. Aloha to you all, Kelly Greenwell Enclosure CC: Secretary Tom Vilsack, USDA Administrator Gina McCarthy, EPA Chair Rick Robinson, Kona SWCD Governor Neil Abercrombie A D A N CItY 0 C ° NL Waste Nat, an Not As landfills reach full capacity, municipalities are challenged to find alternate means of waste disposal. One Tennessee community rose to the challenge by instituting a co-composting facility — and reduced its waste stream by 75 percent. By Larry Waters Municipalities looking for 'VI proof of the effectiveness and viability of co-compost- V. ing as a contemporary waste management solution will find compelling evidence in —- Sevier County, Tenn., which, -• after instituting a co-com- posting facility less than a year ago, has reduced its mu- „ nicipal waste stream by 75 percent—far in excess of the 25 percent waste diversion mandate set by the state of ).--; - V c ,,r Tennessee. Further, Sevier County's approach to managing its waste disposal problems is a ;;" — case study of the benefits ------ municipalities can achieve through cooperation, cre- . • ativity and a willingness to change. • Located in eastern Ten- ,„ ° . nessee, adjacent to the Great Smokies National Park, Se- vier County is comprised of Reprinted from AMERICAN CITY&COUNTY,June 1993 the three cities of Se- wished to bear full responsi- nessee that went the extra , vierville, Gatlinburg and Pi- bility for managing another step of forming a nonprofit geon Forge. The county's landfill. Further complicat- corporation to actually facil- population, which now ing matters was the fact that itate the waste management stands at around 51,000 — neither Pigeon Forge nor Se- service that needed to be well above the state average, vierville had any previous provided," says Treadway. grew dramatically during regulatory experience in the "This strategy brought cohe- the 1980s, experiencing a 23 landfill management arena. sion to the entire process. percent increase from 1980 Despite what could have We would all be in it togeth- to 1990.Along with this pop- been a potential scenario for er; no one entity, or one gov- ulation boom also came a conflict, Sevier County offi.- ernment, would be in control staggering increase in the cials determined that the of or have responsibility for county's per capita waste: most equitable and efficient the waste disposal process." 100 percent during the same solution of planning for the Working in conjunction time period, county's waste management with the state's local plan- While this increase in per future was to approach the fling office, an entity which capita waste was by itself problem as a group, rather provides technical assis- enough to challenge Sevier than as individual entities. tance to local governments. County's waste disposal re- Sevier Solid Waste began sources, the problem was the task of evaluating both further compounded by the "When comparing the the volume and characteris- area's brisk tourism trade. cost of composting to tics of Sevier County's waste In excess of eight million vis- landfill avoidance costs, stream in an attempt to itors descend on Great h f d identify the most effective te numbers avore Smoky Mountain National method of diverting waste Park each year, funneling composting because of from the area's landfill. A millions of dollars into the the cost savings primary concern was that area's economy, as well as inherent in the process. the plan include a solution voluminous amounts of food We are actually for disposing of the large and paper waste for dispos- producing a usable, amounts of grease generated al into the county's 10-acre by the area's many restau- landfill.landfill. Obviously, this rants, which at the time, environmentally- placed an added burden on was collected by a private the county's waste disposal conscious product. It carting service. facilities, which needed to be really is the ultimate in Sevier Solid Waste opted to taken in to account. recycli.ng..” finance construction of the facility through a $9 million Cooperation Yields public bond issue. This bond Solutions It was this thinking that issue covered not only the By the late 1980s, it be- led to the formation of Sevi- cost of building the compost- came apparent to officials of er Solid Waste Inc., a non- ing facility, but also expens- the city of Gatlinburg, which profit corporation whose es related to the acquisition operated the landfill, that board of directors consisted of a new landfill site, the the facility was reaching full of the Sevier County Execu- construction of a new recy- capacity. Gatlinburg officials tive along with the city man- cling building adjacent to sounded the alarm about the agers of Sevierville, Gatlin- the plant and the purchase site's depleting volume and, burg and Pigeon Forge. The of additional waste disposal along with their counter- corporation was charged machinery. The composting parts in Sevierville and Pi- with finding solutions to and company, Bedminster Bio- geon Forge, began the actually implementing conversion Corp., Cherry process of planning for the waste disposal in Sevier Hill, N.J., did, however, pro- county's waste management County. As Russell Tread- vide turnkey construction needs beyond 1990, the year way, Sevierville's city man- services. „ the landfill's capacity was ager, recalls, the formation At the heart of the New expected to be exhausted. of Sevier Solid Waste was a Jersey company's technology Early in the planning creative first step in solving is the Eweson digester, an process a minor obstacle the county's waste manage- enclosed rotary vessel mea- arose:officials of Gatlinburg, merit problem. suring 12.5 feet across by near the landfill, indicated "We're not aware of any 180 feet long in the Ten- that the city no longer other municipality in Ten- nessee facility, in which corn- . • binations of solid waste with the tipping floor. There, ing facility has been in place, sewage sludge and septage oversized objects such as Sevier County has been sue- are introduced under perfect tires and rolls of carpet are cessful in decreasing landfill environmental conditions removed from the mix before consumption from four-and- that support rapid microbial it is loaded into the digester. a-half to one-half acre a year. activity. The result is hu- "One of the major consid- Treadway points to two prin- mus, the organic component erations of Sevier County's cipal reasons for the sue- d'soil. solid waste management cessful resolution of the Temperatures in the Ewe- plan is its recycling compo- county's waste management son digester reach as high as nent," explains Treadway. problem: the fact that the 160 degrees F, thereby dra- "And the attractive thing board of Sevier's Solid Waste matically accelerating the about how this composting was comprised of public ad- decomposition process. After process aids in recycling is ministrators; and the coun- three days, nearly 70 per- the fact that it is not depen- ty's coordinated approach to cent of the municipal solid dent on public participation rectifying the problem. waste and 100 percent of the as are so many recycling pro- "The solid waste manage- sludge emerges as compost. grams which take place at ment plan that was adopted The balance, now inert and curbside. by Sevier Solid Waste was sanitized by the process, is "Here, everyone can dis- approved by each of the comprised of nonbiodegrad- pose of the garbage the way county's governing bodies. able material that can be they always have and the The confidence that those screened off and either fur- composting facility manages boards had in the city man- ther processed for recyclable the separation process. So, agers had everything to do materials or safely land- it"s a much more cost-effec- with the plan being imple- filled. Live way of achieving recy- mented. And because those "No matter what process cling, and it doesn't require elected board members were you choose, and no matter a change in waste disposal very supportive of what we how well you do-----be it corn- habits on the part of home- were doing, they then car- posting or recycling or incin- owners." ried the ball into the public oration — there remains a Sevier County businesses, arena and informed the res- certain amount of material however, are now required to idents of the specifics of the that cannot be discarded separate cardboard items plan." anywhere else but in the from waste material, follow- Furthermore, the Se- ground,"Treadway remarks. ing Sevier Solid Waste's re- vierville city manager advis- cent initiation of a special es his counterparts else- collection program for this where, who themselves may Since its co-composting item from the commercial be exploring ways to achieve facility has been in sector. In addition, Sevier landfill diversion, that it's place, Sevier County Solid Waste is currently in important to take a"holistic negotiation with the corn- approach to the problem. has been successful in posting company to enhance "Look at the whole solid decreasing landfill the current solid waste man- waste process — from A to consumption from four- agement plan with a system Z," says Treadway. "When and-a-half to one-half that allows for the removal we compared the cost of corn- acre per year. of aluminum items from the posting to landfill avoidance waste stream. "Our goal is to costs, the numbers favored generate enough of that ma- composting because of the Sevier County's 90,000- terial and then resell it," savings inherent in the square-foot composting says Treadway. process. Environmentally, it plant is situated on 2.5 acres is a very attractive process. and uses three digesters, Landfill Consumption We are not taking up as each with three compart- Decreases much land burying garbage, ments. Each day, the three Currently, Sevier Solid but are actually producing a digesters can process more Waste and the company usable,worthwhile,environ- than 150 tons of solid waste share revenues from the sale mentally-conscious product and at least 75 tons of of compost, all of which has in the compost itself It is the sludge. Unsorted waste ar- been sold to two local soil ultimate in recycling." rives at the plant in packing wholesalers by contract. Larry Waters is the county execu- trucks and is off-loaded onto Since its new co-compost- tine for Sevier County.