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COUNITY CLERA
Murashige, Laura C 0 U N T V ill;"
From: Diane Neufeld -Heck <lorendianehi@gmail.com> 2015 JUL 22 PH 12: 15
Sent: Wednesday, July 22, 2015 12:01 PM
To: Council Testimony
Subject: Bill 32
Bill #32 being brought up for discussion by the county Council Environmental Management Committee brings
up a whole lot of questions. My husband and I are fortunate to live on a few acres in Ocean View. We have a
compost pit, a large one, and a truck and so can compost all of our wet garbage, feed our worm farm with the
best of the wet garbage, green waste our own trimmings and property greens, and collect our "truly trash" in 33
gallon rubbish cans (no bags required) to take to the transfer station either about 20 miles away or 38 miles
away perhaps once a month. We are property owners and are happy to pay part of our property taxes to
maintain the transfer stations and landfill.
Here are some questions as I see it.
#1 One 33 gallon bag a week per household. Households are as little as one person and as much as..... You
should know the size of some of the larger size households on the island. And I would venture to say that some
of the larger size households have very limited income. One 33 -gallon bag a week per household?
#2 The logistics of selling the bags, monitoring who is dumping how much and how often. Can a household
save up their one a week and dump four at one time. Let's see, I want to receive (are the free bags free? Or do
we use the ones sold at stores?) 4 free bags for the month, pay for some bags that I may or may not use, or do I
buy the bags and then fill them up while waiting in line to then dump them, all the while someone or a few of
these someone's are keeping track
#3 Plastic bags are one of the most dangerous to the environment man made items. This will require everyone to
bag his or her trash. Doesn't make sense to me. Very reusable trash cans seems much more environmentally
sound.
#4 How will apartment complexes deal with all of this? They do not have the facilities for composting. Hawaii
County accepts green waste, but as far as I know, not the pizza containers which are compostable as are many
of the paper milk cartons, ice cream containers, and so much more food soiled paper which is not to be put with
paper recycles. Another thought, you have people trying to compost the food -soiled papers in their backyards in
small subdivisions. The rats and mongoose and other pests should love that. Perhaps healths hazard in there
somewhere. Comm. No. 1 Cl( CI 1
Ref. To: L
Ref. Date - 12
#5 Penalizing people who do not have the room to separate all their trash and accumulate large bags full.
#6 A recent Hawaii Tribune article (http•//www hawaiitribune-herald.com/news/local-news/council-committee-
consider-pay-you-throw- ag rbage-plan) stated that Councilperson Willie cited a "1997 U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency study of 212 communities in 30 states" toward data to support her proposed bill. This is a
very dated study. I wonder why only 212 communities in 30 states were studied. This is also like comparing
apples to oranges. Hawaii County is not what most would describe as a community. I imagine the size of the
communities in the 30 states would rarely if ever be found to resemble Hawaii County. Why is such a dated
study sited as some sort of support for the bill?
#7 As I want to submit this by the noon deadline, my last comment is this. As a property owner and taxpayer,
my husband and I are happy to pay for trash management through our property taxes. We could pay a little
more. This is a poorly thought out bill. Penalizing those families who have lower incomes. It also looks to
create a huge new bureaucracy. The job creations could be looked at as a good thing, but labor costs are one of
the things that take the most of the dollars of any venture. I think there is a very good chance that the
unintended consequences of this bill will create a worse situation than we have now.
#8 As the cost of taking care of our island wide trash becomes bigger and the piles larger, we may some day see
the cost effectiveness of mining our landfills and using some sort of waste to energy system.
Thank you for your consideration. I would be happy to speak with anyone about my concerns and any questions
you might have.
Sincerely,
Diane Neufeld -Heck, R.N.
Ocean View, HI 96737
808 939 9454