Geothermal safety mulled

By TOM CALLIS

Tribune-Herald staff writer

The Hawaii County Council could soon be discussing new legislation aimed at protecting Big Island residents from geothermal power plant leaks and blowouts.

Chairman Dominic Yagong said Wednesday that he is drafting bills to address some of the concerns expressed the night before at a meeting in Pahoa that was attended by more than 300 people, including dozens of anti-geothermal activists.

Yagong said the legislation, which could be discussed as early as next month, will include creating a buffer zone for new power plants and using the county’s geothermal royalties to purchase air-quality monitors for residents.

Additionally, he said he wants the council to review evacuation plans and claims of adverse health effects caused by the island’s only geothermal plant in Pahoa.

“Our job as a government entity is to protect the public health and welfare,” Yagong said. “We certainly need to make sure that these concerns are addressed.”

Several Pahoa residents at the meeting, held at the Pahoa High and Intermediate School to hear from geothermal opponents, claimed to have had health problems, including skin sores, immediately after a 1991 blowout at the 30-megawatt Puna Geothermal Venture plant.

Mike Kaleikini, PGV plant manager, said the company has not received any formal complaints.

The geothermal opponents also questioned the adequacy of existing evacuation plans and the ability of PGV and the government to notify nearby residents of plant disasters.

Geothermal power has become a hot topic once again after Hawaii Electric Light Co. announced earlier this year that it would like to build another power plant that could produce as much as 50 megawatts of electricity.

Kaleikini offered at the meeting to give a presentation at a future date on the plant’s safety features, which he said have improved after the blowout that caused the release of magma-produced steam that otherwise is pumped back into the ground.

Yagong said he is open to the offer.

“Any dialogue that takes place with the community, with PGV, is valuable,” he said.

Councilman Fred Blas, who represents Pahoa, said he welcomes any legislation that improves health and safety for Big Island residents.

“We have to listen to the community and take care of the problem,” he said.

Blas added that also involves the community working directly with the plant, which he said is using modern technology to improve safety.

Palikapu Dedman, Pele Defense Fund president, said he is glad to see the council considering some action, but he feels that religious concerns are still being “completely ignored.”

Some followers of traditional Hawaiian religious practices believe that geothermal power is harmful to the goddess Pele.

Still, Dedman said he was pleased to see the council listen to the group’s concerns.

“I think they should do this in every district like that,” he said.

Dedman said the county should also seek to access the state’s geothermal royalties.

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, said Joaquin Gamiao, administrative officer with the county Planning Department.

The county uses the fund, established in 1983, to relocate residents who live within a mile of geothermal operations and wish to move, as well as public safety benefits in the lower Puna area, he said.

To date, the county has spent $533,700 on seven relocations, Gamiao said.

The fund currently has $1.15 million.

HELCO filed a request with the state Public Utilities Commission on March 16 to allow the private utility to seek proposals for a new geothermal plant that would likely be located in West Hawaii.

Hermina Morita, PUC chairwoman, said a decision on the request may come next week. But approval of a new plant would come later, she said, possibly over the next few years.

HELCO said it would like to build the plant between 2018 and 2023.

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