Vog disaster continues

By PETER SUR

Tribune-Herald staff writer

Hawaii Island’s protea industry has been sick for a long time, but farmers assumed it was due to drought.

Then, in 2008, a vent opened in Halema’uma’u, Kilauea’s summit crater, and the vog wiped growers out.

Nearly four years later, the increased vog levels are still here, prompting the U.S. Department of Agriculture to renew its disaster declaration for the Big Island. Gov. Neil Abercrombie announced the renewal Friday.

Vog, or volcanic smog, is the hazy mixture of volcanic gases that mix with moisture, oxygen and sunlight to form aerosols. Sulfur dioxide, an invisible gas that is emitted from both Halema’uma’u and Pu’u ‘O’o

“We lost our business in 2008, and the vog is still affecting us,” said Tony Bayaoa, who with her husband Samuel owns Flowers by Kona Scent in Ocean View.

The renewed disaster declaration gives agricultural producers the opportunity to apply for emergency loans due to damage caused by volcanic emissions. This has been available for producers since 2008.

“Many farms and ranchers on Hawaii Island continue to have a difficult time with the cumulative effects of vog on their crops and livestock operations,” Abercrombie said in a statement. “The federal disaster designation renews our access to emergency federal loans and other assistance programs in this ongoing situation.”

The damage isn’t limited to flower and vegetable growers. According to FSA county executive director Lester Ueda, the vog is causing losses by corroding cattle fences.

“The fallout area is from Kapoho to Volcano, down to South Point, and going all the way up to Waimea, Puukapu, and up the slopes of Mauna Kea,” Ueda said Friday. “With vog it pretty much goes where the wind blows.”

Sulfur dioxide in the vog is returning to the ground in the form of acid rain, which is wreaking havoc on the galvanized metal fences, and in some places causing them to break down, allowing livestock to wander beyond their ranges.

“It’s really tough to determine where the damages are,” he said.

Bayaoa took the lead in writing to U.S. Sen. Daniel Akaka, D-Hawaii, for help in 2008. The result is the ongoing disaster declaration.

“Because of the programs we have, in particular, through (the USDA Farm Service Agency), we’re now able to get insurance on our plants, which is a good thing. But it’s vog, and it’s Halema’uma’u. You can’t stop it.”

But there are ways to mitigate its effects, Bayaoa said, including applying ash around the base of the plants to absorb some of the sulfur dioxide.

Flowers by Kona Scent ships their 178 protea varieties around the world; cut flowers go are sent around the state and to the mainland. Bayaoa says the business is doing better.

To be eligible for the emergency loans, farmers must have suffered at least a 30 percent loss in crop production or a physical loss to livestock, livestock products, real estate or chattel property, have an acceptable credit history, and be unable to receive credit from commercial sources, among other things.

Producers may borrow up to 100 percent of actual production or physical losses, to a maximum amount of $500,000. The current annual interest rate for emergency loans is 3.75 percent.

Hawaii County agricultural producers who want to apply for emergency loans due to damage caused by volcanic emissions must do so before August 2012.

For more information regarding emergency loans and other available assistance, contact the Hilo office of the USDA Farm Service Agency at 933-8381, extension 2.

Email Peter Sur at psur@hawaiitribune-herald.com.