Dump Still a Problem

Residents don’t have a place to discard appliances and cars.

Press Release

The Maui County Department of Environmental Management, which oversees county landfills, recently disclosed in a press release that it will be hiring a consultant to evaluate Molokai Landfill with the intention of developing a short term plan for the collection and recycling of vehicles and appliances.

“We realize this is a difficult situation for the residents of Molokai and really appreciate their help in temporarily holding off bringing their vehicles and appliances to the landfill while we seek the required permits,” county spokesperson Mahina Martin said. “Department staff are working as hard as they can to keep the current landfill in compliance while finding a way to respond to the island’s needs.”

Cheryl Okuma, Director of Environmental Management at the Maui County, said that a new solid waste permit just completed going through a public comment period, with no comments received. The Department of Health (DOH) is currently in process to get appropriate signatures to issue that permit to the Department of Environmental Management, according to her.

Arthur Suyama, the executive assistant for council member Danny Mateo, said the Department of Environmental Management submitted a preliminary plan to the DOH.  “The plan is still not accepted by the DOH, and the Department of Environmental Management is continuing to work with the DOH to come up with an acceptable plan,” he said in an email.

“We are aware of the problem,” Okuma said. But the issue is complicated and lengthy, so she could not come up with a time frame for when the dump will be able to process appliances and cars again.