Riverkeeper partners with the Yakama Nation to halt barges of Hawaiin garbage
The Associated Press reported that Honolulu is backing down from plans to ship the city's trash to Washington. This is a victory for the Columbia River. According to Honolulu's Acting Major, Kirk Caldwell, the trash shipping plan no longer appears viable. Columbia Riverkeeper and allies challenged this plan in federal court and prevailed on getting an injunction. We are committed to holding the federal government accountable for decisions that pose a serious threat of introducing costly invasive species to the Pacific Northwest. We'd like to thank the Yakama Nation for reaching out to Columbia Riverkeeper on this issue and working together to stop garbage from being shipped to the Columbia.
Federal Judge Halts Hawaiian Garbage from Coming through the Columbia Gorge
Court finds a high likelihood of irreparable harm and likely success on the merits of the lawsuit filed by the Yakama Nation and environmental groups
(Richland, WA) On July 29th, federal judge Edward Shea issued a temporary restraining order (TRO) barring the shipment of hundreds of thousands of tons of Hawaiian garbage to the Columbia Gorge area for at least 30 days. The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) had earlier approved shipments of the garbage to begin on Friday, July 30th despite concerns raised by environmental groups and the Yakama Nation, a federally recognized Tribe with lands in central and eastern Washington.
"During today's hearing, the federal court expressly recognized the importance of the 1855 treaty between the Yakama Nation and the United States. The court acknowledged that the proposed shipping of garbage threatens sacred tribal lands and rights and could harm the Yakama peoples' way of life," said Tribal Councilwoman Athena Sanchey-Yallup.
Judge Shea's written order came in response to a lawsuit and motions for temporary restraining orders submitted by the Yakama Nation, Friends of the Columbia Gorge, Columbia Riverkeeper, Northwest Environmental Defense Center, and local residents seeking to halt garbage shipments until the environmental impacts of transporting garbage laden with invasive species are thoroughly analyzed and tribal consultation requirements are met. The environmental groups are represented by Tom Buchele of the Pacific Environmental Advocacy Center (PEAC) in Portland and Michael Chappell of the Gonzaga Law School's Environmental Law Clinic in Spokane. The Yakama Nation is represented by the Seattle law firm of Galanda Broadman and Julio Carranza, lead attorney for the Yakama Nation.
"Judge Shea's decision today means that the Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area, the region's agricultural base, and the Yakama Nation's tribal treaty rights are safe for at least another 30 days," said Michael Lang, Conservation Director for Friends of the Columbia Gorge. "We are hopeful that this decision will cause the USDA to step back and fully examine the very real threat of harmful invasive species being introduced into the Gorge by the importation of this garbage."
In order to issue a TRO, a judge must find that all of the following criteria are met:
1. Plaintiffs are likely to succeed on the merits of their claims;
2. Irreparable harm would occur in the absence of temporary relief;
3. The balance of equities leans in the favor of the plaintiffs; and
4. An injunction is in the public's interest.
Judge Shea found that "there are serious questions related to whether the USDA adequately analyzed the environmental impacts of shipment and receipt of Hawaiian waste into the mainland." Furthermore he found that "there are serious questions regarding whether the USDA complied with the National Historic Preservation Act" and "serious questions about whether the USDA adequately consulted with the Tribe."
Next, Judge Shea found that the introduction of invasive species or contamination by the garbage would irreparably harm the resources and waterways enjoyed by tribal members, environmental organizations, and the individual plaintiffs. Judge Shea also determined that the balance of equities tipped sharply in favor of the plaintiff groups and that the TRO was in the public interest.
On Wednesday, environmental groups joined with the Yakama Nation to file a lawsuit in federal district court to block the shipping of garbage from Hawaii through the Columbia River Gorge to Klickitat County, Washington, pending thorough environmental review and tribal consultation. The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has authorized the shipments despite concerns over the importation of invasive plants and insects; the failure to fully examine the environmental risks; the failure to prepare adequate accident response plans; numerous violations by the operator, Hawaiian Waste Systems; and threats to Native American cultural resources and tribal sovereignty. The plaintiffs to the lawsuit include Friends of the Columbia Gorge, Columbia Riverkeeper, the Northwest Environmental Defense Center, and the Yakama Nation.
Hawaiian garbage is currently stored in leaking bales at an industrial site in Honolulu, awaiting the 2,500 mile voyage across the Pacific Ocean. Final approval by the USDA's Animal Plant Health Inspection Services (APHIS) earlier this week had cleared the way for hundreds of thousands of tons of garbage to be shipped to Longview, Washington, where it would have been loaded on to rail cars and hauled through the Gorge to the Roosevelt Regional Landfill approximately 40 miles east of the Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area.
The Gorge is home to five ecosystems that support 800 species of native plants, including 16 rare plants found nowhere else in the world and dozens of sensitive animal species dependent on these ecosystems. The Gorge is also an important fruit-growing region and has a burgeoning wine industry with its own federal appellation and 28 wineries. The Columbia Gorge's spectacular scenery and burgeoning wine industry led National Geographic Traveler magazine to rank the Gorge #6 in the world among "World's Greatest Places" in its November/December 2009 issue.
"Today's decision vindicates the public's right to know in advance about how governmental actions may harm the environment," said Tom Buchele, Managing Attorney for PEAC. "The National Environmental Policy Act requires full disclosure by the government, adequate opportunities for public participation, and evaluation of all risks--none of which happened here."
The court's temporary restraining order can be found at: http://www.gorgefriends.org/downloads/hawaii.garbage.tro..pdf
Recent Headlines
Honolulu will dispose of tons of baled trash that was supposed to be shipped to Washington state
Published: Monday, August 23, 2010, 8:05 PM
The Associated Press
HONOLULU -- Honolulu has agreed to dispose of 20,000 tons of baled trash that were to be shipped to Washington state.
Acting Mayor Kirk Caldwell said Monday the city and Hawaiian Waste Systems have agreed that the municipal solid waste will mostly be burned in Honolulu's "H-Power" electricity generating station.
He says what can't be burned will be taken to the city's only dump, which is slated to close in 2012.
Caldwell also says the on-again, off-again trash shipping plan no longer appears viable.
He says the baled garbage will be fed into the H-Power furnaces beginning next month. It will take about 20 weeks to completely dispose of the rubbish, which already has been shredded and crushed.
--The Associated Press
© 2010 OregonLive.com. All rights reserved.
USDA withdraws approval of garbage shipments from Honolulu to Washington
Published: Tuesday, August 17, 2010, 8:05 PM Updated: Wednesday, August 18, 2010, 8:55 AM
Scott Learn, The Oregonian
The U.S. Department of Agriculture has canceled an agreement allowing a Seattle contractor to ship garbage from Honolulu to Washington state, saying in a legal filing that it wants to conduct "further analysis" of the shipments.
The USDA told a federal judge in Washington on Friday that it has canceled its compliance agreement with Hawaiian Waste Systems to ship up to 150,000 tons a year of baled and plastic-wrapped Honolulu garbage up the Columbia Gorge to the Roosevelt Regional Landfill, across the Columbia River from Arlington.
In its court filing, the USDA said a lawsuit by the Yakama Nation, Friends of the Columbia Gorge and other environmental groups challenging the shipments is now moot, adding that the shipments "cannot legally occur" without "affirmative action" by the agency.
Acting Honolulu Mayor Kirk Caldwell told KITV television in Hawaii on Monday that the city will have to consider other solutions.
But the trash drama may not be over. The USDA said it will review the shipments under the National Historic Preservation Act, one of the statutes cited in the lawsuit, and described its action as akin to a suspension and reconsideration.
Hawaiian Waste Systems President Mike Chutz said Tuesday that his company will appeal the USDA's decision, which comes after four years of delays, and still hopes to ship the trash.
"It is another roadblock," Chutz said. "Ultimately, we believe we will be vindicated."
Nathan Baker, a staff attorney for Friends of the Columbia Gorge, said his group wants the lawsuit and an Aug. 30 hearing on a request for an injunction barring shipments to continue. The USDA decision does not make a ban on trash shipments permanent, Baker said.
The Yakama and environmental groups say the shipments would be the first garbage exported from Hawaii to the mainland and could introduce invasive insects and plants into the Northwest. On July 29, U.S. District Court Judge Edward Shea issued a temporary restraining order blocking the first shipment until the Aug. 30 hearing.
USDA officials could not be reached for comment Tuesday.
-- Scott Learn
© 2010 OregonLive.com. All rights reserved.
Yakama temporarily blocks Hawaiian garbage destined for their lands
Terri Hansen | Aug 04, 2010 08:47 AM
Editors Note: This piece is cross posted from Mother Earth Journal, where reporter Terri Hansen writes about indigenous people and the environment.
SPOKANE, Wash.-At the last minute, the Yakama Nation blocked a bid by Hawaii to ship their household garbage to a landfill that sits amid their ancestral lands in south central Washington State.
U.S. District Judge Edward F. Shea approved a temporary restraining order filed by the Yakama Nation July 29, pending a thorough environmental review and tribal consultation.
The bales of waste and rotting food were set to leave Hawaii July 30.
Photo courtesy Robert Harris, Hawaii Sierra Club.
The tribe filed lawsuit in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Washington against the U.S. Department of Animal and Plant Inspection Service, USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack, and APHIS Administrator Cindy Smith seeks to block the importation of the trash.
Their lawsuit alleges that USDA-APHIS, by not consulting with the tribe before they issued Seattle-based Hawaiian Waste Systems LLC permits to export hundreds of thousands of tons of municipal waste to the Roosevelt Regional Landfill, failed their obligations under federal laws and the Yakama Treaty of 1855.
The landfill is surrounded and adjoins land ceded by the Yakama to the United States in exchange for treaty rights.
"We only found out that Hawaii was getting ready to ship three weeks ago," Yakama tribal chairman Harry Smiskin said.
The Yakama Nation couldn't sit idly by and allow exotic waste and invasive species to destroy the Columbia River Basin and Pacific Northwest, "especially at the hands of the federal government and its for profit contractors," Smiskin said.
Their tribal council attempted to consult with USDA-APHIS and Obama-appointed Under Secretary Edward Avalos shortly before the waste was scheduled to leave Hawaii. They guided federal officials through their traditional lands, and historic fishing, hunting, and gathering areas. "We explained our fears that Hawaiian garbage could destroy our resources and ways of life," said Smiskin.
Regardless, Secretary Avalos advised Smiskin July 27 that the USDA planned to allow the first shipment and dumping of garbage to commence that very week. "Our efforts fell on blind eyes and deaf ears."
Judge Shea issued the temporary order on grounds that their case was likely to succeed on the merits of their complaints; that in the absence of preliminary relief the tribe would likely to suffer irreparable harm; that the balance of equities tipped in their favor, and an injunction would be in the public interest. A preliminary injunction hearing is set for August 30.
Avalos referred questions to APHIS. APHIS-USDA spokesperson Andrea McNally responded by email, "USDA will comply with the temporary restraining order. USDA is currently reviewing the matter and will be working with the Department of Justice regarding the future litigation proceedings."
The proposed landfill adjoins and is surrounded by historic Yakama ceremonial sacred sites, cemeteries, cairns and ancestral burial sites, village ruins, petroglyphs, pictographs, and religiously and culturally significant properties, Smiskin said. Yakama citizens have hunted, and gathered plants, roots, and berries for food and medicine around the proposed site since time immemorial. They fish along the Columbia River and other tributaries near the landfill.
Prior to 2006, federal regulations barred the shipping of Hawaiian garbage for dumping in the continental U.S. to protect against the accidental importation of invasive species.
The tribe contends the garbage could potentially introduce hundreds of invasive species, including the Mediterranean fruit fly, now eradicated from the continental United States, and the spotted winged drosophilia, which recently invaded the Pacific Northwest from California and is the focus of major efforts to contain its spread.
Environmental groups and private citizens joined the Yakama Nation in the lawsuit.
"It's incredibly inefficient to ship garbage across the ocean, just because Honolulu isn't being responsible for their own waste," said Brett Vandenheuvel, executive director of Columbia Riverkeeper. "They don't even recycle. Their garbage has sat over there and rotted. We don't think the Columbia River is a good place to dump (it)."
Other plaintiffs to the suit include Friends of the Columbia Gorge, the Northwest Environmental Defense Center, and local citizens.
The Hawaiian garbage is currently stored in leaking bales at a site in Honolulu. Had the permits not been suspended it would have marked the first time Hawaii was allowed to import their waste to the mainland.
Suit aims to halt trash shipping
The Yakama Nation says the project could harm tribal land near the Washington landfill
POSTED: 01:30 a.m. HST, Jul 29, 2010
The Yakama Nation and others have filed suit against the U.S. Department of Agriculture, seeking to halt shipment of the city's solid waste to a landfill on former tribal land in Washington state.
The lawsuit, filed on behalf of individuals and groups, alleged the department should have prepared a full environmental impact statement before giving the go-ahead to the trash project.
"The Yakama Nation cannot and will not sit idle and allow the Columbia River Basin and Pacific Northwest environment to be destroyed by exotic wastes and invasive species -- especially at the hands of the federal government and its for-profit contractors," said tribal council Chairman Harry Smiskin.
"We all know how well that has worked out for the citizens of the Gulf Coast region."
Yakama Nation attorney Julio Carranza said he expects a hearing this week in U.S. District Court on the groups' request for a temporary restraining order to halt shipments.
Carranza said the first shipment by Hawaiian Waste Systems LLC is scheduled to leave Oahu tomorrow for the port at Longview, Wash., and the Roosevelt Regional Landfill.
Hawaiian Waste Systems head Michael Chutz said he's not sure whether the lawsuit will have an impact on plans to ship the waste.
"We're still evaluating our position. ... It's certainly not a happy situation," Chutz said. "We are ready, willing and able to ship."
Chutz said he's not sure about the wisdom of shipping, then having a shipment sit on the docks, pending the outcome of a court case.
He said there are scientific studies showing the method of wrapping the waste will kill pests and that there are several inspection points of the containers from Hawaii to Washington.
He said the same method has been frequently used in Europe. "This is a tried-and-true process," he said.
The lawsuit said that according to a treaty in 1855, the Yakama relinquished more than 10 million acres of land to the federal government.
But it kept rights to some historic fishing, hunting, gathering and religious areas, including the region near the Roosevelt landfill, the lawsuit said.
The treaty also provided the Yakama with $200,000 from the federal government and set aside 1.4 million acres of land for them.
The lawsuit alleges federal officials did not meaningfully consult with the Yakama Nation as required by federal laws and failed to consider the potential irreversible harm that the shipments would have on its lands, resources, and cultural and religious practices.
The groups say the Agriculture Department failed to consult with the tribe before lifting federal regulations in 2006 that barred the importation of solid waste from Hawaii.
The lawsuit challenges the adequacy of an environmental assessment prepared by the department concluding no significant environmental impacts.
It alleges that an environmental impact statement would have fully documented and disclosed to the public the actual risks and possible harms from shipping the waste.
Other groups filing the lawsuit include Friends of the Columbia Gorge, the Northwest Environmental Defense Center, Columbia Riverkeeper and Washington state residents Dawn Stover and Daniel Lichtenwald.
The city entered into a contract with Hawaiian Waste Systems in September to ship a portion of its waste, pending the completion of a third boiler at the HPOWER garbage-to-energy plant.
But its lack of federal approval forced the business to ask the city to halt delivery of trash and left 100 tons of waste in 250 shipping containers at Campbell Industrial Park.
Acting Honolulu Mayor Kirk Caldwell said the city is hopeful Hawaiian Waste Systems will be able to ship the waste to Washington.
"But we're obviously frustrated with the repeated delays, and we're continuing to carefully review our options, including potential termination of the contract," Caldwell said. "We will evaluate this situation and take appropriate action if necessary."
Wash. Tribe Sues Against Oahu Garbage
Yakama Nation Wants Full Environmental Review
POSTED: 11:16 am HST July 28, 2010
UPDATED: 5:36 pm HST July 28, 2010
HONOLULU -- A lawsuit has been filed in federal court in Spokane to prevent garbage from being shipped from Hawaii to a landfill in the Eastern Washington town of Roosevelt.The lawsuit was filed Wednesday by the Yakama Nation and several environmental groups against the U.S. Department of Agriculture, which approved plans for shipments of plastic-wrapped bales of waste.The lawsuit seeks to prevent the garbage from coming to the Roosevelt landfill and to require a full environmental review. The Department of Agriculture had found the project did not pose a significant risk to the environment.Hawaiian Waste Systems signed a contract with the city to ship trash to the mainland last year. After rubbish was gathered and wrapped up the operation came to a standstill because the company did not have necessary permits to store or move the trash.As the delays dragged on, Hawaiian Waste Systems had been cited by the Health Department for storing the garbage in non-permitted areas and recently the city had threatened to cancel the contract of paying Hawaiian Waste Systems $100 a ton because of the delays. About 20,000 tons sit waiting.
Headline photo credit: AP File Photo- Roger Werth
