The city also is evaluating proposals that could lead to construction of a new facility, and a decision is expected soon.

The city planning commission voted to extend the permit to keep the landfill open for two years, but the city must also secure permits from the state Land Use commission and the state Department of Health.

Decisions on both permits are expected within the next several months.

POSSIBLE CHALLENGES

State Senate President Colleen Hanabusa, D-21st (Nanakuli, Makaha), opposes extending the life of the landfill and is threatening to appeal the planning commission's permit approval in Circuit Court.

"The challenge has been that the city has waited until the last minute to try and extend the use of Waimanalo Gulch," said Richard Rapoza, Hanabusa's spokesman. "They knew it was coming and rather than look into alternatives, they've waited until the last minute and now they're saying there is an urgent need."

What to do about O'ahu's landfill and solid waste dumping has been a lingering issue for more than a decade.

Mayor Mufi Hannemann has said he wants to obviate the need for a landfill and has characterized the situation as fluid, saying all alternatives are on the table as the city works toward a solution.

Eric Takamura, director of the city department of Environmental Services, said if you combine the efficiency of the city's waste-to-energy facility with the diverted waste totals, Honolulu recycles, reuses or converts to energy more than 55 percent of all waste produced each year.

A 25-year master plan for trash management is being worked on, and initial reports from the consultant doing it suggest that current technology, if carried forward, could increase the amount of diverted trash to 70 percent, Takamura said.

"We're really trying to change the culture. Hopefully, we change the amount of solid waste we generate per household," he said. "A lot of people don't give us credit for H-Power, and we feel that H-Power is a form of recycling. You don't see many communities out there with waste-to-energy recycling. Right now, we don't see how we can eliminate a landfill right now. We're focusing on diverting as much recyclable material as we can get from the waste stream that ends up at the landfill."

EYEING ALTERNATIVES

Meanwhile, different strategies are being considered.

At least three companies have been working to set up trash-shipping deals, and the city hopes to award a three-year contract by July to ship trash to a Mainland landfill starting in 2009.

Some Honolulu City Council members believe the administration has not done enough to plan for the future and is taking a piecemeal approach to planning for dumping alternatives.

Others say the problem pre-dates the current administration, and that it is the responsibility of the City Council and the mayor to work together and develop a long-term solid waste management master plan.

"One of my biggest issues with the administration is that they have no 25-year solid waste management plan, but I'm not going to put all of this in the mayor's lap," said City Council Chairwoman Barbara Marshall. "I certainly think we can do a better job than we are of minimizing the (landfill's) use, and I don't think it's realistic we can get a new one. Are we doing all we can? I don't think we are. It's a huge problem and a continuing problem."

Councilman Donovan M. Dela Cruz says a plan is vital for the future of O'ahu communities.

"We need to look at the issue long-term because I don't know how the land use commission will approve the permit without a long-range plan," Dela Cruz said. "The administration is approaching solid waste (management) very piecemeal. We have to anticipate new technologies and explore new technologies for the next generation."

Councilman Gary H. Okino said there is "no way" the city could build another landfill. It took seven years to secure the proper permitting for the existing landfill and Okino speculates that the process to win approval for a new site could take twice as long.

And none of that deals with the possible cost associated with creating a new site.

"For now, we have to bite the bullet. From the fiscal side, it would cost tens of millions of dollars to get a new landfill started. We have to keep it. We don't have any choice," Okino said. "We have to make use of the landfill and whatever we can afford, we should ship (trash to the Mainland) because that saves landfill space. If we can delay a new landfill by 30 years, the technology will be there."

The dump opened in 1989 on 64.5 acres, and has generated much controversy in recent years after expansions and health violations.

Former Mayor Jeremy Harris had planned to shut it years ago, but reversed course after plans to expand the H-Power garbage-to-energy plant ran into City Council opposition, leaving more trash than the plant could handle.

In 2003, Harris' administration negotiated a deal to expand the dump by 21 acres and keep it open until next year, while seeking a new site. The council considered alternative locations — including Koko Crater — but voted in 2004 to keep the dump where it is and seek another expansion.