Geothermal royalties weighed

By TOM CALLIS

Tribune-Herald staff writer

How Hawaii County spends its geothermal royalties could soon change.

The county has used the fund, established in 1983, to relocate neighbors of Puna’s geothermal power plant and support infrastructure improvements in Lower Puna.

County Council Chairman Dominic Yagong has drafted a bill that would amend the relocation policy by expanding it to homes built after 1989, and prohibiting the county from reselling land acquired from residents who want to move away from the plant. It also requires the program to end after 2012.

Additionally, the bill would direct royalties to be used on improving air quality monitoring and public health notices regarding emissions at the 38-megawatt facility, rather than infrastructure.

The move is in response to the dozens of Puna residents who voiced concerns about the plant and level of safeguards at a council meeting held April 24 in Pahoa.

Between 300 and 400 people attended the meeting, nearly all of whom opposed geothermal power.

“If there’s something we can do, we have to address those concerns,” Yagong said.

There’s already one vote against the bill, which will be discussed May 16.

Puna Councilman Fred Blas said he thinks health and safety is important, but doesn’t think the bill is necessary.

Blas said he particularly opposes redirecting royalties away from public infrastructure, adding that he thinks enough safeguards are in place.

“I think it should stay the way it is,” he said.

Several speakers at the council meeting said they have suffered illness, including respiratory problems, that they attribute to the plant, run by Puna Geothermal Venture.

Regarding the plant Blas, who was at the meeting, said, “There are no facts out there that they have a problem.”

The plant, which provides about 20 percent of the Big Island’s power, has had six air permit violations since 1991, according to the Hawaii Department of Health.

But none of the violations emitted enough magma-produced steam to be considered harmful, and the agency has concluded that the plant poses no health risk to the community.

The largest single emission was in 2005, when air monitors detected 0.789 parts per million of hydrogen sulfide. It takes 50 parts per million for the gas to act as a “respiratory irritant,” according to Health.

Health conducted an emissions study of the plant in 1997.

The largest detected concentration found near the plant was .02 parts per million. Most readings detected less than .001 parts per million.

Barbara Brooks, state toxicologist, said the plant uses a closed system so steam and toxins are only released during leaks.

Hydrogen sulfide already exists in the air in low levels due to volcanic activity, she said.

Brooks said it’s unclear how long-term exposure to low levels of the toxin impacts health.

She said Health and PGV both have monitors at the plant.

The county has spent $533,700 on seven relocations.

One relocation was being processed last month.

Yagong said the bill would help create a “buffer” from the plant by no longer reselling acquired properties.

“If we’re going to move a resident out, we don’t want residents to move back in on the same property,” he said.

It’s unclear how many of the seven properties bought by the county were resold.

Yagong said, as a result of the bill, the county may have to demolish any more homes that it buys.

The county gets 30 percent of the royalties paid by PGV for accessing the underground steam, considered a public resource. The rest goes to the state.

Last year, the county’s share totaled $568,000.

The fund has $1.15 million.

Yagong said he also working on other geothermal legislation that would address evacuation plans and buffer zones for new operations.

He said the county currently has no evacuation plan for the Puna plant during a major leak or well blowout.

Opposition to geothermal rose again after Hawaii Electric Light Co. began taking steps last year to have a second geothermal plant built on the island.

The state Public Utilities Commission has agreed to open a docket to handle the bidding process for geothermal expansion.

Next, the private utility will submit a draft request for proposals, which HELCO President Jay Ignacio said will likely be done next month.

The state Legislature has also helped open up geothermal operations on public land by passing a bill to eliminate the requirements for geothermal subzone designations.

Sen. Malama Solomon, one of the sponsors of Senate Bill 3003, said it will streamline the permitting process and provide for “more flexibility to exploring these other areas.”

But it won’t eliminate oversight since permits will still be needed, she said.

Gov. Neil Abercrombie signed the bill into law April 30.

Ignacio agreed the bill will create more opportunities for geothermal power, but added it’s unclear if it will assist efforts to build a new plant since it has not been determined whether a new facility would be built on private or public land.

Email Tom Callis at tcallis@hawaiitribune-herald.com.