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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2017-05-24 Environmental Management Commission MinutesENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT COMMISSION MINUTES May 24, 2017 West Hawai'i Civic Center Community Hale, Kailua-Kona, HI COMMISSIONERS PRESENT: James Fritz, Chair Richard Bennett, Vice Chair Jeffry Fear Jon Olson Rick Vidgen STAFF: William Kucharski, Director Diane Noda, Deputy Director Marcie Toguchi, Private Secretary Renee Schoen, Assistant Corporation Counsel Presentation by BioEnergy Hawaii on Waste to Energy Project • Presentation was done prior to the start of the meeting while waiting for quorum. • BioEnergy Hawaii, LLC (BEH) was established in 2006 by Pacific Waste, Inc. (PW) who is a waste collection and disposal company on the island of Hawai`i. • BEH is a project development company, specializing in material recovery and alternative energy projects in the State of Hawai`i. • Main objectives is to divert as much trash as possible from the Landfill, recover valuable products, and provide alternative energy. BEH will create three (3) end products, biogas, electricity and compost. • The sustainable cycle for this project will entail PW picking up trash from their clients and taking it to the resource facility where it will be sorted and items that can't go towards technology will be taken out. Will also provide separate bins to their clients for organics so it can be sorted at the source instead of at the facility. Any solids that come out will be mixed with greenwaste and create compost. • This project is by no means zero waste. They are anticipating about 30% residue (products they cannot use) which will go to the Landfill. • One end product will be biogas which will be pipeline quality renewable natural gas. BEH has an ongoing conversation with Hawaii Gas regarding these pipelines, and Hawaii Gas is interested in purchasing the biogas. Also had conversations with Electrical Utilities to purchase the electricity end product. • BEH has an arrangement of 40 years plus a 10 year option for 14.99 acre quarry in Waikoloa that's owned by Goodfellow Bros. The quarry is located 3.0 miles from Waikoloa Village, 3.5 miles from Waikoloa Beach, and 6.5 miles from the West Hawaii Sanitary Landfill. • Facility will be located in West Hawaii because they have a larger tonnage going into the Landfill, PW is larger on the west side, and BEH knew the South Hilo Sanitary Landfill would close so they didn't want to truck the residue to the west side. • Ulupono Initiative is an Equity Partner, and recently just signed an engagement letter with Bank of America/Merrill Lynch. Has also been in contact for the past year with Federal and State Regulatory Agencies, as well as the County of Hawai`i. • Secured $100 Million Special Revenue Bond for electrical generation. Has been modified since then to include biofuels and extend the timeframe. • Current proposal for project is to only accept trash from commercial haulers, however the way it's designed, tires could also be accepted but would need to be shredded first. • BEH has their EA completed. Next step is to go to the State Land Use Commission to submit their Special Use Permit. Estimated in 11 months all permits will be in line and ready to start construction. Construction time would be approximately 18 months. 1. CALL TO ORDER & ANNOUNCEMENTS: The meeting was called to order at 10:10 a.m. by Chair Fritz. 2. APPROVAL OF MINUTES OF APRIL 26, 2017 MEETING: Dr. Bennett stated he found 13 items that concerned him but is willing and think it's in the best interest of the Commission to let this go and not review all 13 items as it will take at least half an hour. He made some inquiries and realized that at the last meeting there were some substitutions with the person taking minutes and was told there were difficulties with the recording device. Dr. Bennett would like to provide his annotated copy of his minutes to the Chair for the records and attach as an addendum to the minutes. Mr. Vidgen moved to accept this addendum to the minutes as edited and corrected by Dr. Bennett. Mr. Fear seconded, and it carried unanimously. Dr. Bennett stated he has had members of the public call him and say the minutes are very unclear of what happened. Believes the minutes of the meeting should be able to stand alone and any member of the public should be able to know and understand what happened at the meeting without having to be there. Chair Fritz moved to accept the minutes as written. Mr. Vidgen seconded. Mr. Olson abstained because he was not present at the April meeting. Ms. Schoen stated if Mr. Olson is abstaining, the Commission does not have a sufficient number to take action so it will have to be agendize for the next meeting. Also, if at any time the Commissioners do not feel the minutes are accurate, they may come to the meeting with any changes. All minutes are considered a draft until they are adopted at the next meeting. 3. APPROVAL OF ADDENDUM AND/OR SUPPLEMENTAL AGENDA: None 4. STATEMENTS FROM THE PUBLIC ON ITEMS LISTED ON AGENDA: • Jerome Warren stated he did more research on gang cesspools. There is a resale rate per 1,000 gallons of R1 water. This Commission is more concerned with Rl water than gang cesspools. Mr. Warren received information regarding NWalehu's gang cesspool closure from the EPA District Office in San Francisco. There is a federal indictment (per Mr. Warren, he may not be using the correct legal term) against Hawai`i County and named Mayor Kim as the defendant. The County's reply is vague and hard to understand. Today's Director's Report is also flawed as it confuses Na`alehu with Pahala which are two separate towns with sites miles apart. We're still in a fog and doesn't see any clarity coming from this Commission. 5. OLD BUSINESS: a. Litter control options for homeowners (attached to original minutes) o Dr. Bennett worked with Mr. Fear to draft a Resolution about litter issues in Hawai`i County. It's a draft Resolution of the Environmental Management Commission (EMC) of the County of Hawai`i supporting an anti -litter ethic for Hawai`i Island dated today, May 24, 2017. o Mr. Fear stated the penalties for littering need to be higher. o Mr. Vidgen stated the penalties need to be enforced first. o Dr. Bennett would like the Resolution to be communicated to the Mayor, County Council and if the Mayor chooses, passed on to the Departments. 2 o Ms. Schoen stated if the Commission wants to support this Resolution, she will work with the Department and someone from the Commission to formulate this in resolution form and present to the County Council. Suggested to agendize for next month so within the month can work on it with the Department, and figure out the best way to present the Resolution. Mr. Vidgen volunteered to be the contact person from the Commission to work on the Resolution. Chair Fritz also asked if Dr. Bennett can also be included in the communication. o Mr. Vidgen moved to take this Resolution and draft it in such a way we can present it to the County Council. Chair Fritz seconded, and it carried unanimously. b. How to get the Environmental Management Commission on the list of organizations that respond to County wide Environmental Impact Statements (EIS), Draft Environmental Assessments (EA), etc. o Ms. Noda checked with the Department of Public Works and Planning Department and both recommended that we sign up on the State of Hawai`i Department of Health Office of Environmental Quality Control (OEQC) to obtain their Environmental Notice (website: http://health.hawaii.gov/oegc) that lists by County the different EIS and Draft EA's available for public comment. o Director Kucharski commented that most comment periods are for 30 days and since the EMC only meets once a month, we could miss that window. Ms. Schoen stated the notice goes out MI the 8th and 23rd of every month, and since our meeting is at the end of the month the timing may be tough. o Director Kucharski stated the Department will send the OEQC notice to all Commissioners when it comes out. 6. NEW BUSINESS: a. Presentation by Bio Energy Hawaii on Waste to Energy Project o Presentation done prior to start of meeting while waiting for quorum. 7. REPORTS/CORRESPONDENCE: a. Director's Report (attached to original minutes): o We have a $20,000,000 dollar State Revolving Fund (SRF) Loan to deal with the closure of the South Hilo Sanitary Landfill (SHSL). This SRF Loan will be used for the design and construction of the ultimate closure. Will be meeting with the Department of Health on June 1, 2017 to discuss the closure options. Looking at two to three years before we stop taking any more waste. Department will have a Contractor come in to determine the appropriate design for our Landfill closure. o There is an error on page 1 of the Director's Report. The 8.5 acres in Pahala should say in Na` alehu. o We are making progress on the Hilo Outfall Project. We did have some issues with the Contractor, however they have been resolved and should be able to meet the deadline of our Compliance Order which is June 1, 2017. o Kealakehe Aeration Upgrade and Sludge Removal project also had problems with the Contractor who defaulted on their contract. The Surety Company has stepped in to complete the repairs and maintenance of the facility. In the process one of the elevations in the lagoons have been lowered. Therefore we now have more Hawaiian Stilts and Coots that are nesting. Chair Fritz asked if all pumps are working at Kealakehe Wastewater Treatment Plant. Director Kucharski responded yes, we are working on maintenance issues that are part of the repairs we are dealing with. o Mr. Olson asked what the annual cost for groundwater monitoring at SHSL is. Director Kucharski responded about $300,000 a year but will double check. Part of the closure contract will be ongoing monitoring of groundwater for twenty to thirty years. Mr. Olson also 3 asked if there is a plan B in case the monitoring turns up problems. Director Kucharski stated we will have to take corrective action to determine why it happened. Dr. Bennett stated the concern of having metals in the Landfill is warranted due to its age. Landfill could possibly have batteries and other metals. o At the last meeting Dr. Bennett stated he raised a question about wastewater not being disinfected. Director Kucharski stated we are not required by Department of Health regulations to chlorinate discharge. However we do add 0.1 milligrams per liter of chlorine to the effluent to be a little safer. Dr. Bennett stated he looked at the science of chlorination of wastewaters and depending upon how much organic material is in solution, you need to add more chlorine. To effectively disinfect wastewater it takes between 2 and 10 milligrams per liter so would have to conclude that the disinfection that is occurring is negligible if any. This is a concern because the groundwater flows down towards Honokohau Harbor and there is ample evidence that that water is showing up in the Harbor and flowing out towards a public beach. Dr. Bennet would like this Commission to write to Sina Pruder, Chief of the Wastewater Branch and ask her why the department deems it appropriate to dispose of untreated wastewater in the ground. Also true for injection wells. Dr. Bennett stated there are a number of ways to greatly reduce the microbial load. With our new process we will use ultra violet which is much more environmentally friendly. Chair Fritz asked Dr. Bennett to draft the letter and bring to the next meeting. Mr. Olson stated it might be more effective if the letter went to someone with a higher authority since Ms. Pruder is probably following direction from someone above her. Dr. Bennett stated that would be Director Pressler. Ms. Schoen objected stating she feels uncomfortable with this letter as it goes beyond the scope of the task of the Commission which is to advise the Department per County Charter Section 10.5. Mr. Olson stated the mission statement he received in his packet states the Commission advises the County Council. Dr. Bennett asked if the mission state is invalid. Ms. Schoen stated it's not completely invalid as part of the Commission's duties in the County Code is to provide comments and recommendations to the County Council on matters of legislation. Dr. Bennett stated unless there is a law that prohibits the Commission from doing this, they should do it. Mr. Vidgen stated it's a big concern for the community so we should proceed with the letter. Dr. Bennett will draft a letter to Director Pressler and bring to next month's meeting. b. Commission Member District Update Reports: o District 4: Mr. Olson stated they are anxiously waiting for a wastewater system in Pahoa. On the Solid Waste side we do have two recycling centers unfortunately they were not well placed because the central population is Hawaiian Paradise Park and rapidly filling up. We have four different bodies trying to sort out connectivity and emergency response, Wastewater issues for the development of regional town centers, and how to preserve our quality of life. o District 8: Mr. Fear stated on May 20th they had a keiki surf contest with 150 kids ages 14 and under. We were teaching them about micro plastics. A great day to teach the kids to take care of the earth. Park clean up at the old airport was supposed to take place in April but it got cancelled because they need to figure out where to put the homeless people. In the meantime the park is still under stress. Homeless people is still a problem. Should clean the park so tax payers can use it. Need to keep pressure on the County to do their jobs. The highway seems to be moving along more. o District 6: Dr. Bennett stated South Kona is growing. As a result Waiea Transfer Station is getting busy and the recycle bins are frequently full and can't take anymore. Plus the 4 Transfer Station is only open three days a week, so people are leaving their trash outside the gate. If can open it one more day a week that would help. Director Kucharski stated the Department does not currently have a large enough budget to do so. However if they feel a site is being used more and more, the Department will take a look at reallocating assets, but can't make any promises. o District 9: Chair Fritz stated the Waimea district has a world class Transfer Station that works really well. Puako's Transfer Station is okay but they have more cardboard than they know what to do with. o District 7: Mr. Vidgen stated he found an old tire chipper and the guy would love to use it. Director Kucharski reminded the Commission that even if the tires are chipped, the Department is not allowed to take the tires because it's illegal. If anything it will make it easier to ship off island. 8. FUTURE AGENDA ITEMS a. Review of Landfill permit process - June o Chair Fritz stated a few years ago the County was faced with millions of dollars of companies dumping that were in arrears, so instigated an extensive permitting process for commercial haulers. Would like to look at the process and make it easier for contractors/businesses to maintain their permit and do business in the County. b. Bill 13, Draft 2 — An ordinance amending Ch. 20 by adding a new article relating to reduction of polystyrene foam "Styrofoam" food containers and food service ware — June c. Integrated Solid Waste Management Plan o Ms. Noda stated she spoke with Greg Goodale, Solid Waste Division Chief, and he asked if the Integrated Solid Waste Management Plan could be on the October agenda. The plan is due in 2020, so by the end of 2017 the Solid Waste Division would have more information. Director Kucharski stated the plan needs to be done every ten years, but with a five year review. • Dr. Bennett commented that it might be helpful if there was a verb associated with the agenda items. That way the public can tell what will be done with each topic. • Mr. Olson asked if there could be discussion about other funding mechanisms for Solid Waste and Wastewater other than from the County. This topic would probably fall under the Integrated Solid Waste Management Plan, but it's something to start thinking about. • Dr. Bennett gave Chair Fritz a written memo requesting to agendize a 30 minute presentation on Wastewater Microbiology for the next meeting. 9. MEETING ANNOUNCEMENTS June 28 Hilo Puna Conf. Room, County Bldg. July 26 Kona WHCC Council Room A August 23 Hilo Puna Conf. Room, County Bldg. September 27 Kona WHCC Council Room A October 25 Hilo Puna Conf. Room, County Bldg. November 22 Kona WHCC Council Room A December 27 No meeting Dates are selected per the Commission Rules. 5 10. ADJOURNMENT Commissioner Olson motioned to adjourn the meeting. Commissioner Vidgen seconded, and it carried unanimously. The meeting was adjourned at 11:34 a.m. Minutes Respectfully Submitted by: ,0c 4— MARCIE TOGUHI Environmental Management Secretary 6