Judge issues temporary order halting plans to ship Honolulu trash to Wash. state landfill
By APThursday, July 29, 2010
Judge halts plans to ship Honolulu trash to Wash.
HONOLULU — A temporary restraining order has been issued to halt the inaugural shipment of trash from Honolulu to Washington state.
The order was issued Thursday by U.S. District Judge Edward Shea of Spokane, Wash. He questioned whether the U.S. Department of Agriculture had adequately assessed the environmental impacts of the planned shipments.
Hawaiian Waste Systems LLC was to have begun shipping the trash last November. The latest start date was Friday.
The Yakama Nation and several environmental groups filed a lawsuit Wednesday in federal court in Spokane to stop the shipments to a landfill in the eastern Washington town of Roosevelt.
The lawsuit named the department, which approved plans for shipments of plastic-wrapped bales of waste.
Information from: Honolulu Star-Advertiser, www.staradvertiser.com
