After months of study, federal regulators have approved a plan by a Seattle firm to begin shipping garbage from Honolulu, Hawaii through the Port of Longview to a Central Washington state landfill.
The US Department of Agriculture issued their findings Thursday, saying that the trash – which will be packaged in shrink-wrapped bales and then sealed in containers – does not pose an environmental risk.
Hawaiian Waste Systems LLC can begin shipping the waste as soon as a compliance agreement with the USDA is signed by both parties. The firm hopes to have the first barge-load of containers under way sometime this month.
Under the plan, the containers of trash will arrive at the Port of Longview and then be shipped to Roosevelt Landfill in Central Washington by truck or rail.
The firm originally planned to start shipping the trash last October, by USDA review held up the start of the shipments. Since October, more than 20,000 tons of trash has backed up awaiting shipment. HWS's contract with the City of Honolulu calls for the firm to move 100,000 tons a year.
The one barge a week of trash-laden containers arriving at Long view are expected to add six to eight shifts a month of longshore work to the port.
