HomeMy WebLinkAboutCOM 0462.004 2018-2020 Vn11AMW6
Murashige, Laura
From: Mark Koppel <koppelm@me.com>
Sent: Monday, September 16, 2019 7:04 AM
To: Cory Harden
Cc: Richards,Tim; David, Maile; Lee Loy, Sue;Villegas, Rebecca; Kierkiewicz,Ashley;Chung,
Aaron;Council Testimony, Eoff, Karen; Poindexter,Valerie; Kanealii-Kleinfelder, Matt
Subject: Re:Sept 17 waste/energy
Does any place successfully bum garbage?
cn
C-1
On Sep 15, 2019, at 7:09 PM, Cory Harden< wrote:
0.
comments on Resolution 301: waste and energy
for Agriculture, Water,Energy, &Environmental Management Committee
2:30 PM Tuesday, September 17, 2019 Kona chambers
from Cory Harden, Hilo 333cory@gmail.com
I have three concerns about this resolution.
1 -It has potential to lead to an incinerator.
Past incinerator proposals have failed after community outcry about environmental impacts and
cost.
In 2008, County Council voted down the Wheelabrator proposal--$125 million. Six years later,
Mayor Billy Kenoi finally gave up on a second incinerator proposal--$100 million.
Incinerators produce harmful smokestack emissions and toxic ash residue that are often handled
inadequately. Compared to up-cycling and recycling, incinerators waste far more of the energy
used to make products--extracting raw materials, combining them into products, and shipping
products to consumers.
Taxpayers are often promised that incinerator companies will pay for the incinerators. But the
companies get their money back by charging for every pound of rubbish. Some require"put or
pay"—if there's not enough rubbish,the County still pays a set amount. Obviously,this
discourages recycling.
Also, HELCO doesn't really need rubbish to generate energy—it has many other choices, and
retiring its old fossil-fuel plants would be costly.
2 - This resolution should go to the Commission on Environmental Mana ement before this
committee votes on it. The Commission has people with expertise, and a less formal setting,to
allow in-depth exploration of the issues.
3 -This resolution should be submitted as a possible addition to the Integrated Solid Waste
Management Plan (ISWMP). The current draft of the ISWMP does not seem to include any
waste/energy goals.
Comm. 0.
Ref.To: 18W W1
R r
ef.Sate SEP 16 2U29
The resolution mentions the ISWMP, but does not mention that an update, as required by the
State every ten years, was just drafted. Writing that draft took an entire year of work by the Solid
Waste Advisory Committee, which went over the previous plan with a fine-tooth comb. The
draft still needs to be reviewed by State Department of Health and receive public comments at
the end of the year. So it's a great vehicle for evaluating how this resolution fits into the big
picture.
Mahalo.
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