A planned expansion of Puna Geothermal Venture is inching closer to reality.
PGV’s long-awaited “repower” project, which will boost the facility’s energy production from 38 megawatts to 46 by replacing energy converters with more efficient ones, passed one of its final hurdles Monday when the final draft of an environmental impact statement covering the project was published, anticipating “no unavoidable adverse long-term impacts.”
According to the impact statement, 12 converters will be replaced by three new ones, which will draw half as much geothermal resource from the ground — 3 million gallons daily compared to the 6 million currently — and take up less space. Once the new converters are installed, the old ones will be decommissioned.
The final draft of the statement comes about eight months after the first draft was published in May of last year. Most of the changes between the two versions were non-substantial, but the newest draft does somewhat address widespread criticism levied at the project during public outreach meetings over the last year.
In particular, the final draft includes a lengthy segment detailing consultation with Native Hawaiian practitioners about their beliefs regarding the land and the project. The draft also includes repeated acknowledgment that the project could constitute a de facto violation of Native Hawaiian practices, although it also emphasizes that no cultural sites will be disturbed by the project.
“Some members of the public and some native Hawaiian cultural practitioners believe that volcanic activity is simultaneously a form of Pele and something created by her,” reads a portion of the final draft. “Based on the research conducted for the Project, and the comments and responses from the above-listed individuals, it is acknowledged that given the nature of certain native Hawaiian traditional and customary beliefs, any operation of the PGV facility would be considered by some people and/or practitioners to negatively impact to their relationship with Pele.
“For those who consider geothermal resources to be makana from Pele, the Proposed Action, if conducted in a culturally appropriate manner, would not negatively impact that relationship,” the draft continues.
The draft also includes hundreds of pages of testimony from residents submitted throughout the public comment period, the vast majority of which condemn the project.
Former Puna Sen. Russell Ruderman wrote in June that PGV is unsafe for residents and that people who raise concerns about it are unfairly labeled as “radicals.” He cited a 1992 blowout at the facility that emitted fumes for days, causing nearby residents to fall ill, and suggested, as did many others, that the wells at PGV contributed to the intensity of the 2018 Lower Puna eruption.
“Please imagine being in your home at night when you smell the telltale hydrogen sulfide or hear from your neighbor or the radio that there has been a toxic release and you must evacuate immediately,” Ruderman wrote “You must leave as quickly as possible, you don’t know when you can return, and there will be no security presence in your neighborhood during this time because it’s unsafe even for public safety personnel. Now imagine this happening repeatedly.
“Are you an emotional radical or have you been subjected to an intolerable abuse?” Ruderman concluded.
Dozens of other commenters followed suit, raising concerns about noise levels, inadequate air quality monitoring, impacts on native endangered species, the facility’s vulnerability to volcanic eruption, and more.
For its part, PGV included responses to each concern raised: noise levels are anticipated to remain below regulatory thresholds, an air quality monitoring system is already in place, measures will be taken to minimize impacts on native species, that eruption response protocols have been established, and that the PGV facility does not feature the sort of equipment that could possibly stimulate seismic activity.
Mike Kaleikini, PGV’s senior director, Hawaii affairs, told the Tribune-Herald Tuesday that with the publication of the final EIS, the terms of PGV’s power purchasing agreement with Hawaiian Electric dictate that PGV now has 36 months to complete construction of the project, which could happen by 2025.
“We still have permitting left to do,” Kaleikini said. “I have no idea how long that will take, and we couldn’t start that until the EIS was completed.”
Email Michael Brestovansky at mbrestovansky@hawaiitribune-herald.com.