THE SENATE	S.R. NO.	162
THIRTY-THIRD LEGISLATURE, 2025
STATE OF HAWAII

SENATE RESOLUTION

Urging the department of health to ensure the safe management of INCINERATOR ash from waste incinerator facilities.

WHEREAS, waste incineration facilities reduce every one hundred tons of trash to approximately thirty tons of ash; and

WHEREAS, the Covanta Honolulu Resource Recovery Venture (H‑POWER) is the only trash incinerator in the State, operating in Campbell Industrial Park on the island of Oahu and burning up to three thousand tons of waste per day, making it one of the largest waste incinerators in the nation; and

WHEREAS, the ash produced from H‑POWER is currently disposed in the Waimanalo Gulch Landfill in Honokai Hale; and

WHEREAS, although combustor ash from trash incinerators is regulated as hazardous waste in several other countries in the United States, the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) depends on toxicity tests pursuant to the federal Toxicity Characteristic Leaching Procedure, which is based on the risks the ash poses to groundwater contamination, to determine if the ash should be deemed hazardous waste; and

WHEREAS, the EPA's toxicity tests on incinerator ash do not consider the risks the ash may pose via inhalation, ingestion, or dermal contact, which often leads to potentially dangerous waste being classified as non-hazardous; and

WHEREAS, due to its non-hazardous classification, combustor ash that may pose a risk to public health is not processed with adequate care, often being handled and transported without sufficient respiratory protections for laborers and containment protocols following disposal, which risks public exposure; and

WHEREAS, the City and County of Honolulu is currently working with Reworld, formerly Covanta, to develop an ash "recycling" facility at Campbell Industrial Park where incinerator ash would be exempted from being handled as waste and used to build roads or for other construction purposes, that may subject workers, the public, and the environment to greater exposure to the potential hazards of incinerator ash than if it were properly contained and disposed of responsibly; and

WHEREAS, roads and other construction materials will erode over time, releasing more ash particles, including participles of highly toxic dioxins and furans, and toxic metals such as arsenic, cadmium, chromium, lead, and mercury; now, therefore,

BE IT RESOLVED by the Senate of the Thirty-third Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2025, that the Department of Health is urged to ensure safe management of incinerator ash from waste management facilities by treating it as solid waste subject to control under part II of chapter 342H, Hawaii Revised Statutes; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the City and County of Honolulu is hereby notified that "recycling" or "reuse" of incinerator ash is not protective of public health, may violate state laws, and should not be pursued; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Resolution be transmitted to the Governor, Director of Health, Chief Energy Officer, of the Hawaii State Energy Office, and Mayor of the City and County of Honolulu.

OFFERED BY:

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Report Title:

DOH; Solid Waste Management; Incinerator Ash