GOODFELLOW BROS WILL BEGIN STAGING CONSTRUCTION EQUIPMENT, MATERIALS AND MANPOWER by the end of this month to begin installation of new wastewater collection lines and a sewer plant for Pāhala. Goodfellow and County of Hawai'i held a meeting Monday evening in Pāhala that drew about a dozen people in order to get to know the community, to explain noise and traffic impact and to give contact information to the public for any concerns and information on timelines and details on the project.
The streets affected by the $31 million project are Pīkake, Huapala, Maile, 'Ilima, Hala, Hīnano and Hau where buildings are served by the old plantation sewer lines that cross from property to property for collection and delivery into now-illegal gang cesspools.
The setup will involve establishing a baseyard along the mauka side of Maile Street between the old community clubhouse and Kawaiki - the old cane haul road. The baseyard will host construction materials and heavy equipment, along with a mobile office.
Construction will involve much excavation, with digging and rock breaking with jack hammers to create the trenches for sewer lines in streets, some of them more than five feet deep.
The jack hammering noise will be limited to the hours of 9 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., Mondays through Thursdays and 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. on Fridays, though less noisy activity is expected to go on from 7 a.m. on the workdays. The project is expected to last about 18 months. Other noise includes back up alarms on the machinery and the loading and unloading of materials. A water truck will be used to keep down dust.
Representatives of Goodfellow said that there will be an attempt to keep one lane open on all affected streets. Traffic direction, signage and other onsite assistance will be provided. Trenches dug in the day will be filled before end of work, and where necessary, covered with metal plates for safety. Goodfellow representatives asked the community to encourage youth and everyone to stay away from equipment, whether or not it is in use, for the safety of residents and the construction crew.
The project will not only establish sewer lines on streets, it will also install lateral lines into yards for hookups. Three weeks notice will be given to homeowners before work begins on any property, said Goodfellow representatives. When the wastewater system is completed, the old sewer lines in the town will be abandoned.
Goodfellow reps promised regular project updates and notification in media, including The Ka'u Calendar and its online platforms.
The wastewater treatment plant will be established at the corner of Maile Street - the pine tree lane - and Highway 11, extending to the macadamia processing plant.
NEW TECH, FORTIFIED INFRASTRUCTURE, REDUCING HAZARDS AND EXPANDING COMMUNITY PARTNERSHIPS will help Hawaiian Electric "significantly reduce the risk of a wildfire started by its equipment," according to Hawaiian Electric, which released its new
Wildfire Safety Strategy document on Monday, after submitting it to the Public Utilities Commission on Jan. 10.
The three-year safety blueprint is an expansion of a plan first created by Hawaiian Electric in 2019 and updated in 2023 in the months after the August 2023 windstorm and wildfires on Maui. "The enhanced plan, which was filed for review by the Public Utilities Commission, underscores the recent emergence of
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Read the Wildfire Safety Strategy plan at
https://www.hawaiianelectric.com/
documents/safety_and_outages/wildfire_safety/
2025-2027_wildfire_safety_strategy.pdf |
extreme weather events as requiring a coordinated effort by many organizations and supportive public policy to keep communities safe," says the Hawaiian Electric statement.
"Our 2025-2027 expanded wildfire safety strategy builds upon our past work and that of many others. It is not just a technical roadmap, it is our shared and steadfast commitment to a safer, more resilient Hawai'i," said Shelee Kimura, president and CEO of Hawaiian Electric. "We are thankful for the hundreds of stakeholders and partners – local, state and federal agencies, elected officials, landowners, businesses, community organizations, customers, peer utilities, and expert advisors – who have contributed to wildfire prevention efforts, including the work that has resulted in this plan. Through collective action and thoughtful approaches, Hawai'i can create a fire-safe environment for generations to come."
The cost of the 2025-2027 plan is estimated at about $450 million, including $137 million budgeted for work in 2025. Some of the cost is already funded through existing programs, including a federal grant for grid resilience received in 2024. The company plans to continue refinement of the program and the long-term cost and scope of work are subject to change. Additional federal funding is being pursued, reported the utility company.
The
179-page strategy was filed with the PUC on Jan. 10 for its review and acceptance. Many of the initiatives described are already underway, including this work completed in 2024:
Replaced and upgraded 2,124 wood poles; Tested 5,805 poles; Replaced more than 23 miles of older overhead lines with new, more resilient lines; Installed 3,177 single-phase fault current indicators, which allow crews to more quickly locate disturbances on lines in high-risk areas;
Installed 3,558 sparkless fuses, which help reduce the risk of ignition; Changed 213 substation relay settings to shut off power quickly if a disruption is detected.
Hawaiian Electric also installed 53 weather stations in wildfire-prone areas on four islands to provide key information about wind, temperature and humidity to help the company better predict and respond to fire weather conditions. The weather stations, mounted on utility poles, provide meteorological data that will help the company decide whether to activate and deactivate a Public Safety Power Shutoff (PSPS)
Installed 44 artificial intelligence-assisted high definition wildfire detection cameras
Installed 680 new lightning arrestors
Hawaiian Electric listed additional initiatives to be completed in the next three years to include:
Ongoing grid hardening, asset inspections and vegetation management focused on areas with medium to high risk of ignition.
Deploy covered conductor in the highest risk areas. Covered conductor is heavy-duty insulating material placed on power lines to help prevent bare wires from sparking if they touch another line or fall to the ground.
An initial undergrounding of about two miles of overhead power lines in critical safety areas in Lahaina with a community working group convened to provide area-specific knowledge and input;
Replace, upgrade and strengthen poles and equipment;
Enhance inspections of electrical assets;
Expand hazard tree removal, create wider rights-of-way for vegetation clearing;
Installing more weather stations and hazard-detection cameras;
Add more weather stations and install additional standard AI-assisted video camera stations to enable 100% camera viewshed coverage of all high and medium wildfire risk areas;
Create a wildfire-focused Watch Office that will monitor media reports, internal and external weather products and field reports to provide more situational awareness within Hawaiian Electric;
Implement an operational wildfire risk model to inform real-time decision-making and refine the company's PSPS program.
and to continue partnerships with local organizations to host community events, reach individual residents and share resources.
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