RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, the PVT Landfill, owned and operated by the PVT Land Company and located in Lualualei Valley, Oahu, is a solid waste landfill that accepts construction and demolition material and asbestos and petroleum contaminated soils suitable for bioremediation; and

WHEREAS, construction and demolition material contains substances known to be particularly hazardous to health, such as pesticides, polychlorinated biphenyls, cyanide, volatile organic compounds, base-neutral/acid extractable organic compounds, and metals, including lead and mercury; and

WHEREAS, it is well-documented that asbestos releases tiny fibers into the air that can remain suspended for a long time, exposure to which is associated with malignant mesothelioma and other forms of cancer, asbestosis, pleural plaques, and other respiratory and health-related problems; and

WHEREAS, landfills also emit highly flammable gases, such as hydrogen sulphide and methane, that may be explosive at certain levels; and

WHEREAS, the foregoing hazardous chemicals, metals, gases, and materials, along with the fugitive dust from the PVT Landfill, may cause on-site and off-site contamination that may be hazardous to the health of landfill workers and people living in communities near the landfill; and

WHEREAS, the Department of Health regulates the PVT Landfill; now, therefore,

BE IT RESOLVED by the House of Representatives of the Twenty-third Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2006, the Senate concurring, that the Department of Health is requested to conduct a study of the health impacts of the PVT Landfill to landfill workers and the communities near the landfill; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Department of Health is requested to report its findings and recommendations, including any proposed legislation, to the Legislature no later than twenty days prior to the convening of the Regular Session of 2007; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Concurrent Resolution be transmitted to the Director of Health and the President of the PVT Land Company.

Report Title:

PVT Landfill Health Study