Ka`u News Briefs Aug. 17, 2012

Free-range natural beef is a growing industry in pastures between Pahala and Na`alehu. Photo from Kuahiwi Ranch

HAWAI`I ELECTRIC LIGHT CO. is seeking a 4.2 percent rate increase that could generate almost $20 million in additional income, according to its proposal filed yesterday with the state Public Utilities Commission. The average household electric bill would go up $8.32 a month in 2013 if the proposal is approved. A report in this morning's Hawai`i Tribune Herald quotes HELCO President Jay Ignacio saying, “We need to increase tree trimming, pole and line maintenance and rebuild parts of our transmission system to better serve our customers.” The Colin M. Stewart story reports that HELCO would use $180,000 of the additional $19.8 million in income for “computerized models and tools to analyze integration of more distributed, customer-sited solar power on the grid and enhanced sensors and tools to help system operations manage more variable clean energy on the grid.” Anyone can weigh in on the proposed rate hikes at puc.hawaii.gov.

Sustainable Biofuels and `Aina Koa Pono say they will help prevent even higher electric rates in the future with their new technology. A biofuel plant using the new technology is planned for land along Wood Valley Road, and HELCO has applied to PUC for a 20-year contract to buy the biofuel at a fixed rate. Photo from Sustainable Biofuel Solutions.

THE CHIEF OF SUSTAINABLE BIOFUELS SOLUTIONS, LLC, which owns worldwide distribution rights to the patent-pending microwave depolymerization process planned for a refinery off Wood Valley Road that would sell biofuel to HELCO, is Rear Admiral David J. Nash, U.S. Navy, Retired. According to his LinkedIn profile, Nash, who lives near Washington, D.C. in Vienna, VA, “has over four decades of experience in building, design and program management for both the U.S. Navy and the private sector. His experience includes the management of multi-billion dollar physical asset programs, including the U.S. Navy’s shore installations worldwide and the reconstruction of Iraq’s infrastructure.”



Sustainable Biofuels President
David Nash, a retired Navy admiral.

      Nash, who took the post as president of Sustainable Biofuels when it was founded earlier this year, served as director of the Iraq Program Management Office under the Coalition Provisional Authority and later, as director of the Iraq Reconstruction Management Office under the U.S. State Department. “Under his direction, these organizations managed the $18.4 billion Iraq infrastructure reconstruction,” says his LinkedIn profile. He retired from the Navy in 1998 after 32 years of service.
      Nash’s LinkedIn presentation says that Sustainable Biofuels “does research and development, sales and marketing, project development, manufacturing, installation and operation of waste-to-energy plants throughout the world using technologies developed by TekGar. Currently there are two technologies ready for commercial use. The first patent-pending technology is a microwave depolymerization process that efficiently converts any carbon-based material into a drop-in diesel fuel (ASTM 975). The second technology is a sublimator that converts any carbon-based material into a gas that is high in methane that can be used in generating power efficiently and effectively. Feedstocks for both technologies can range from biomass to municipal waste to used tires to many other similar-based materials,” says the LinkedIn profile.

      Nash is also a senior vice president of MELE Associates, Inc., whose chair and CEO is Melvin Chiogioji, a founding partner of `Aina Koa Pono, which proposes to employ the SBS process for the refinery off Wood Valley Road above Pahala in Ka`u. `Aina Koa Pono has joined with Hawaiian Electric Light Co. to propose a 20-year, fixed fuel price contract between the utility and `Aina Koa Pono to provide fuel for the Keahole power plant near the airport in Kona. The proposal is before the Public Utilities Commission, which turned down a similar contract last year. Both proposals would raise electric rates for customers, not only on the Big Island but for O`ahu and Maui County as well, the current proposal by an average of $1 a month per household electric bill. However, `Aina Koa Pono says that over time, fossil fuel oil is expected to become more expensive and that the biofuel would eventually save money and prevent electric rates from going even higher.
      `Aina Koa Pono says it plans to grow biofuel crops on what is pasture and fallow land between Pahala and Na`alehu.

The Galimba family started turning land into pasture on fallow and old sugar
lands when the plantation started closing down. Photo from Kuahiwi Ranch

KUAHIWI RANCH, with its natural, free-range beef on pastures between Na`alehu and Pahala, is the subject of a feature story in Ke Ola magazine. Ke Ola, which means The Life, celebrates the arts, culture and sustainability of Hawai`i Island. The article points out that Michelle Galimba, her father Al Galimba, mother Sami Galimba, and brother Guy Galimba started the ranch in 1993, when Ka`u sugar operations began to phase out. Al Galimba, who worked around the state managing dairies, came home to develop the ranch. “At the time there wasn’t a lot of land for raising dairy cattle on O`ahu,” Michelle told Ke Ola. “A lot of the dairy farms had housing developments grow up around them, and the cows got more and more confined in feed lots,” she told Ke Ola writer Denise Laitinen.

Natural beef from Kuahiwi Ranch is sold at Alan Wong's,
Kilauea Lodge, `Ohia Cafe and Foodland markets, as well
as at farmers markets. Photo from Kuahiwi Ranch

      The story reports that “In order to raise calves to become the next generation of dairy cows, many were shipped to Ka`u, where they were raised and then shipped back to O`ahu when they were older.” In 1995, when the last dairy farms shut down on O`ahu, the Galimbas switched to beef cattle. Today the ranch takes care of 2,800 head of cattle, free of antibiotics and hormones.
      Michelle told Ke Ola magazine, “There is much more demand than we can fill right now. Not just on this island, but on O`ahu too.” Kuahiwi natural beef can be found at Alan Wong’s and d.k. Steakhouse on O`ahu, Sansei in Waikoloa, and at `Ohia Café and Kilauea Lodge in Volcano. Kuahiwi beef is also sold statewide in Foodland markets and at the farmers markets in Na`alehu, Volcano, Ocean View and on Kino`ole Street in Hilo, the Ke Ola story reports. See more at keolamagazine.com and kuahiwiranch.com.

Runners arrive today to pick up race packets for tomorrow's
Volcano Rain Forest Runs.

VOLCANO ART CENTER’S ANNUAL RAIN FOREST RUNS are tomorrow, and runners arrive today to can pick up race packets until 6 p.m. at the Niaulani Campus. A luncheon at the Art Center Campus with complimentary pupus and wine is 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., and an all-you-can-eat carbo-load and salad buffet is 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. at Cooper Center. Opening ceremonies are tomorrow at 6:30 a.m. at Cooper Center on Wright Road in Volcano. Half Marathon starts at 7 a.m., 10K at 7:30 a.m., 5K at 7:45 a.m. and Keiki Runs at 10 a.m. All events are open to runners and walkers of all ages and abilities. Registration fees range from $35 to $75. Contact Sharron Faff at 967-8240 or rainforestruns.com.

OCEAN VIEW COMMUNITY ASSOCIATION’S monthly BBQ is tomorrow from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. at Ocean View Community Center. Call 937-7033.

KA`U HIGH SCHOOL ALUMNI AND FRIENDS’ 11th annual potluck reunion invites all Ka`u grads and former students and friends this Sunday from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. at Pahala Community Center.

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Ka`u News Briefs Aug. 16, 2012

Runners make their way through the race course of 2011 Volcano Rain Forest Runs. This year's event is this Saturday.
Photo from Volcano Art Center       

THE `AINA KOA PONO proposal to build a refinery along Wood Valley Road and to clear trees and brush and grow biofuel crops on pasture and other lands in Ka`u is receiving testimony at the Public Utilities Commission from area residents. Ka`u resident Dr. Dennis Elwell, a physicist and materials researcher who worked at Stanford University and Hughes Aircraft, wrote:

       “Our community has read that there is a resubmission of the proposal to construct an experimental biofuels plant near Pahala, Hawai`i island. We hope that the Commission will reject reconsideration of this proposal since it appears to link the project with hikes in electricity rates, a link that the PUC rejected last year. I believe that I can speak for the whole community in expressing an opinion that developmental projects should be funded by research funds and not by downstream promises of a burden on the consumer. HECO/HELCO already charges rates that are around four times the national average and are a burden on all activities in the state (see recent complaints in the press by UH-Hilo about the huge and growing burden that the outrageous electricity rates place on them as an institution). I suggest that the PUC should urge HECO to fix its fundamental flaws that lead to its excessive rates before it indulges in partnerships with high-risk developments.”

       Dr. Linda-Jane Irwin, a Volcano resident, former Volcano Rotary Club president and physician, wrote: “I am a resident of Volcano and emailed you last October to thank you for your very appropriate decision to deny the HELCO and `Aina Koa Pono application to supply and utilize biofuel for local energy. Many of us in the area (especially a large number of people in Pahala where they will be most impacted) have worked hard to learn about this venture and are very disturbed about multiple issues (especially environmental impacts). I detailed some of these in my previous correspondence, and I realize environmental issues are not your primary concern, so this time I will address primarily the impracticality of this approach to reducing our dependence on oil.
       “Perhaps you have seen the Honolulu Star Advertiser editorial which expresses some of these concerns very well. Please allow me to quote, as they are more articulate than I.

Mark Glick

       “‘As new energy options develop, the focus must be on projects and strategic plans that are justifiable to consumers and cost-attritioned, not ones that depend on ratepayers for exorbitant or indefinite subsidies.’ The editorial also states that Gov. Neil Abercrombie’s ‘administration agrees with environmentalists that biofuel should be used directly to power transportation rather than replace oil in power plants. Mark Glick, the state Energy Office director, says the HECO contracts may someday extend to use of biofuel in the way the state desires. However, the use of biofuel in power plants should not dampen advances in other sources of energy — solar, wind and geothermal. We really advocate moving away from power generation as the focus for biofuels.’
      “I certainly agree. The scientific articles that I have seen regarding biofuel point out many flaws in the justifications initially used to promote them. From a practical standpoint, it makes no sense on this island to use ‘sterile grasses’ or truck invasive species to the plant (thereby risking spreading them in new areas on the route) when we have much better energy options. In addition, even considering any surcharge for this fiasco in the state with the highest energy charges in the nation would be ludicrous.
      “I implore you to once again reject the new application for this expensive, unwanted and unnecessary venture.”
      Anyone can write in to the PUC regarding its role in determining whether to approve the 20-year contract between HELCO and `Aina Koa Pono that would allow the utility to raise the electric rates to buy the biofuel. `Aina Koa Pono says it will make jobs, including the 400 for construction workers who would build the refinery over three years and 200 permanent mill and field jobs.

HA`AO SPRINGS & MOUNTAIN HOUSE Ag Water Co-op meets today at 2:30 p.m. at Wai`ohinu Park. Anyone interested in restoration of ag water to the area is invited.

RUNNERS IN SATURDAY’S RAIN FOREST RUNS can pick up their race packets tomorrow from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. at Volcano Art Center’s Niaulani Campus in Volcano Village. A runners’ welcome luncheon with complimentary pupus and wine takes place from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Niaulani Campus, and an all-you-can-eat carbo-load and salad buffet is available from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. at Cooper Center.
      Opening ceremonies are at 6:30 a.m. at Cooper Center on Wright Road. Half Marathon starts at 7 a.m., 10K at 7:30 a.m., 5K at 7:45 a.m. and Keiki Runs at 10 a.m. All events are open to runners and walkers of all ages and abilities. Registration fees range from $35 to $75. Contact Sharron Faff at 967-8240 or rainforestruns.com.

OCEAN VIEW COMMUNITY ASSOCIATION’S monthly BBQ takes place Saturday from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. at Ocean View Community Center. Call 937-7033.

KA`U HIGH SCHOOL ALUMNI AND FRIENDS’ annual potluck reunion happens Sunday at 11 a.m. at Pahala Community Center. Everyone is invited.

SUPPORT OUR SPONSORS AT PAHALAPLANTATIONCOTTAGES.COM AND KAUCOFFEEMILL.COM.

Ka`u News Brief Aug. 15, 2012

Ka`u Coast at end of Road to the Sea will be preserved with county, state and federal funding.

Petroglyphs along the shore are one resource
 within more than 3,000 acres to be preserved
  along the Ka`u Coast.

ROAD TO THE SEA lands with more than a mile of coastline will be preserved through a $1.214 million grant from the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service. The funding aims to preserve habitat for the Hawaiian Hawksbill turtles and green sea turtles. The grant funds the purchase of 3,128 acres which include “an anchialine pool complex containing important habitat for native marine invertebrates, fish, and unique native crustaceans, including three candidate species of endemic anchialine pool shrimp. The property is adjacent to the largest natural area reserve in the entire state and will provide landscape-level protection of the area’s unique ecosystems and habitats. The property will be added to the County of Hawai`i’s Open Space lands where it will be protected and managed for species management in perpetuity,” says a statement from U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service.
      In May, the state Board of Land & Natural Resources passed Legacy Land Funding for the acquisition. The money from the federal and state government will be matched by funds from the county’s Public Access, Open Land and Natural Resources Preservation fund, also known as the Two-Percent Fund. Ownership will be with Hawai`i County.

       The land surrounding Road to the Sea in Kahuku will cost the public $388 per acre to purchase. The Sierra Club stated that the low price makes it “by far the most cost-effective purchase the Legacy Land Conservation could make, and would secure a prized recreational and natural resource for the residents of the Big Island, where recreational resources are generally access-restricted by private landowners.

Green sea turtles that frequent the Ka`u Coast are another reason more
than 3,000 acres at Road to the Sea will be preserved.
Photo by William Neal

      “The site contains many high-quality natural and cultural resources, including anchialine ponds, nesting sites for the endangered Hawksbill turtle, prominent geologic features, one of the state’s largest petroglyph fields, a highly complex cave system with endemic organisms and unique archaeological features. Over 3,127 acres of land, including miles of coastline, are relatively unchanged since pre-western contact in the late 1700s,” says the Sierra Club testimony.
      Numerous other organizations and individuals supported the measure, including Hawai`i Wildlife Fund, which hosts regular cleanups of the Ka`u Coast, and such community members as Jamie Kawauchi and Councilmember Brittany Smart.

Road to the Sea crosses over a parcel of more than 3,000 acres that will be preserved on the Ka`u Coast.

      The Sierra Club also testified that preserving these Kahuku lands will “insure public access to an important fishing and cultural resource.”
      County Council member Brittany Smart said she is pleased with the grant award and grateful to the county Finance Department’s Ken Van Bergen “for his hard work to find matching funds for this parcel’s acquisition. I also want to extend my thanks to the property owners for their commitment to provide public spaces and access.”

VOLCANO HOUSE AND CABINS will reopen “softly,” this Saturday, according to a statement from Hawai`i Volcanoes National Park. The National Park Service’s director of the Pacific West Region, Christine Lehnertz, signed the 15-year concession contract yesterday between Hawai`i Volcanoes National Park and Hawai`i Volcanoes Lodge Company, LLC, a partnership between Honolulu-based Aqua Resorts and mainland-based Ortega National Parks, LLC. According to the new Volcano House general manager George “Jorge” Mangino, the company will hire 50 employees for the hotel.
      Starting Saturday, Volcano House will open daily from 7:45 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. Visitors will be able to stay in the park’s A-frame cabins and purchase a limited selection of food, drink and retail items from Volcano House.

Some of Volcano House's cabins at Namakanipaio
Campground are again available for reservations.
Photo from nps.gov/havo

      All ten A-frame cabins at Namakanipaio Campground will open gradually, and reservations can be made by calling 756-9625. Cabins start at $55 per night.
      The new concessioner “not only fulfilled the qualifications required by the National Park Service, they exceeded expectations,” said Park Superintendent Cindy Orlando. “We are delighted to have Hawai`i Volcanoes Lodge Company, LLC as our newest park partner, and look forward to elevating the Volcano House, Namakanipaio Campground, dining experiences and retail opportunities to the next level.”
      Hawai`i Volcanoes Lodge Company, LLC has promised to complete renovations to the cabins and to the historic 32-room hotel, opening in phases over the next 12 months. Improvements to the eight-room annex are scheduled for the first phase, and rooms could open as early as January 2013. The entire renovation project is expected to cost the company between $2.5 million and $3 million. The National Park Service has invested $4 million in seismic and fire upgrades.
      Volcano House overlooks Kilauea caldera and erupting Halema`uma`u. First opened in 1846, Volcano House has a storied history, with many notable guests in its registry, including Mark Twain, Franklin D. Roosevelt and Isabella Bird.
      “Renovation plans for the Volcano House include a strong commitment to sharing Native Hawaiian culture through interpretive experiences including cultural demonstrations, artwork, and handicrafts. Sustainable Hawai`i Island ingredients will be featured in the restaurant and other food and beverage outlets,” the statement from the park says.

KA`U COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT PLAN’S steering committee held a quiet and civil meeting last night at Ocean View Community Center. According to county planners, a preliminary draft is complete and being discussed with agencies regarding Natural and Cultural Resources of Ka`u, including Kahakai (coastal), Kula (agricultural) Wao (mauka forest) and Cultural.
      The Community section, including infrastructure, facilities and services; the village character of Pahala, Na`alehu and Wai`ohinu and Repair for Ocean View, Discovery Harbour and Punalu`u are 30 percent complete. The section on the economy, including agriculture, food and energy; local business and visitors is 50 percent complete.
      Examples of sections of the plan were presented, including Possible Natural/Cultural Resource Management Strategies that could be Community-based, Collaborative Actions. These include an inventory of Ka`u’s cultural/historic resources, appropriate historic site/district nominations, acquisition of high priority properties and establishing and managing priority trail segments and sites.
      Extensive information on Ka`u Community Development Plan is available on the CDP website at www.hawaiicountycdp.info/kau-cdp.

Bobby Jean Leithead-Todd

NOMINEES FOR A COUNTY ARBORIST COMMITEE are welcome, according to Planning director Bobbie Jean Leithead-Todd, who spoke at last night’s CDP meeting in Ocean View. The volunteer commission will study and seek to protect important trees around the island. She said some qualified tree experts have stepped up to help out. Nominee names can be provided to the Planning Department at 961-8288. 

A CULTURAL RESOURCE COMMISSION for Hawai`i County is an initiative of Mayor Billy Kenoi, Planning Director Bobby Jean Leithead-Todd said during the CDP meeting in Ocean View last night. She said the commission will study and look toward preserving important archaeological and historic sites, cultural practices and ethnic cultural practices. She said the commission position will “require a lot of reading.” She said the commission could include people with expertise in architecture, archaeology and hands-on experience in historic preservation. She said the commission could work with the state Office of Historic Preservation in nominating sites. For more information, call the Planning Department at 961-8288.

Pahala Library is currently open Monday from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.

KA`U LIBRARIES became a topic at the Ka`u Community Development Plan meeting last night. Steering committee member Patti Barry said that she is upset with the whittling away of hours at libraries in Ka`u. She called on the community to volunteer to help keep libraries open and noted that Pahala Library hours are being reduced to one day a week.

A NONPROFIT COMMUNITY GARDEN is proposed for land near the county park in Ocean View. Alan Stafford made the proposal on behalf of an organization called HELP, which stands for Hawai`i’s Exchange Labor Program. He said the organization would lease about four acres from Hawai`i County. The garden would have walking trails as community exercise tracks and raised garden beds made from lava rock from the property to make it easy for disabled and elderly people to grow food. There would be on-site soil production from green waste. People volunteering in the garden or for other community projects would trade hours for food produced at the community garden. For more information, call Stafford at 936-4429.

VOLCANO’S RAIN FOREST RUNS are set for Saturday, with opening ceremonies at 6:30 a.m. Half Marathon starts at 7 a.m., 10K at 7:30 a.m., 5K at 7:45 a.m. and Keiki Runs at 10 a.m. All events begin at Cooper Center on Wright Road in Volcano Village and are open to runners and walkers of all ages and abilities. Registration fees range from $35 to $75. Runners can register Friday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. or at 5:30 a.m. on race day. Contact Sharron Faff at 967-8240 or rainforestruns.com.

Pahala Boys & Girls Club members sang with the governor at his
inauguration event at Pahala Plantation House in 2011.
Photo by Julia Neal

BOY & GIRLS CLUB OF PAHALA presents a community stakeholders event at Pahala Community Center next Wednesday, Aug. 22 at 6 p.m. Families, club members, youth organizations, schools, businesses and anyone who wants to help improve the lives of Ka`u youth are invited. This club wants to find out what programs for youth are needed, what resources are available and what the greatest issues facing youth are. RSVP by calling Dolly Kailiawa at 756-5285. 

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