HONOLULU -- A federal court on Thursday granted a temporary restraining order against shipping trash from Oahu to a landfill in Washington state.

Hawaiian Waste Systems has a contract with the city to ship garbage to the Roosevelt Landfill in Eastern Washington. The landfill sits on ceded lands of the Yakama Nation.

Attorneys for the Yakama Nation fought the U.S. Department of Agriculture's decision to grant a permit for the company to ship trash from Hawaii. They contended that the USDA did not do a thorough job of assessing the potential impact on routes and ports and the potential introduction of invasive species.

The attempts to send trash to the mainland has been plagued by delays and problems.

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.

City officials are concerned because it will be another month before a preliminary hearing on the temporary restraining order will be held and Hawaiian Waste Systems is running out of time.

"Until that is resolved, the test pilot run can't run. That is where our concern kicks in," said Acting Honolulu Mayor Kirk Caldwell.

The company did try to contact the city today about what happens going forward. There is some concern about what happens to the garbage if the company decides it is no longer financially feasible to continue.

"If this is the tipping point, the waste will have to go into H-power or the landfill. Under the contract, my understanding is the shipper is responsible for the transportation and tipping fee. Hopefully they will take care of that when they close up their business, if that's what they chose to do," said Honolulu City Council Chairman Todd Apo.