NEWS RELEASE

                             Public Communications Division

                             Department of Customer Services

                             City & County of Honolulu

                             523-4385

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE - September 16, 2002

HEIGHT EXTENSION OF WAIMANALO GULCH LANDFILL GRANTED

          The State Department of Health has granted the City a permit to raise the height limit of the Waimanalo Gulch Landfill by 30 feet.

 Tim Steinberger, director of the Department of Environmental Services, said “the permit allows us time to finish our study on alternatives to solid waste disposal and to respond to issues raised on the revised draft EIS for the expansion of the Waimanalo Gulch Landfill.”

          “We continue to move forward on our plan to close Waimanalo Gulch landfill in five years,” Steinberger said. “Our plan involves completing a feasibility study on plasma torch technology, expanding the H-Power plant, acquiring 23 acres next to the H-Power plant that will allow us to separate mixed waste and increase recycling, putting out a request for proposals for interested companies to demonstrate and test new waste to energy technologies.  In addition, we are proceeding with beneficial use of our solid waste from Sand Island Wastewater Treatment Plant by converting the sludge into a soil amendment for local agricultural use or marketed abroad.”

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