After years of fighting plans to ship some of Honolulu's trash to Mainland dumps, the city has abruptly reversed course in the wake of a recent U.S. Supreme Court decision.

Barges could start hauling trash across the Pacific by the end of the year — as long as the city controls the flow and collects a fee for every ton.

That would extend the life of O'ahu's Waimanalo Gulch landfill by reducing the amount of trash going into it, officials told a City Council panel yesterday.

"We changed our position," said Martin Okabe, city environmental services executive assistant. "We are not opposed to shipping, but we are opposed to losing flow control."

City-sanctioned trash shipments could lessen the amount of money the city would lose if private trash haulers cut their own deals with shippers and Mainland dumps, said Eric Takamura, city environmental services director.

The high court ruled two weeks ago that local governments can stop private trash haulers from circumventing municipal dumps by disposing of trash more cheaply in other states.

The city had long opposed plans by three Mainland companies competing to set up trash-packing sites on O'ahu, where garbage would be accepted directly from private haulers and sent to dumps in Washington or Oregon.

By charging less than the $92 "tipping fee" the city collects for every ton of trash dumped here, those operations would have jeopardized an important city revenue stream, officials argued.

Such fees, paid to the city by haulers that collect trash from apartment buildings and businesses, offset the cost of free city trash collection from most private homes.

WHAT ABOUT H-POWER?

Allowing private haulers to bypass city trash facilities also would undermine plans to expand the H-Power garbage-to-energy plant or build a more modern plant, officials said.

But garbage shipping could be viable if the city continues to collect $92 per ton, then pays considerably less than that for every ton a private company takes to the Mainland, Takamura said.

The city is contractually obligated to send more than 500,000 tons of trash per year to H-Power, and a new facility also would need a guaranteed trash flow. O'ahu produces more than 1 million tons per year.

COMPETING BILLS

A bill sponsored by City Councilman Charles Djou would bar the city administration from interfering with the private trash-shipping plans.

But a competing measure backed by Councilman Gary Okino would allow the city-controlled shipments discussed yesterday.

Companies that have been working to set up trash-shipping operations include Hawaiian Waste Systems, Pacific Rim Environmental Resources and Idaho Waste Systems. Other companies also could become involved if the city solicits bids for an operation it controls.

Reach Johnny Brannon at jbrannon@honoluluadvertiser.com.