Kaʻū News Briefs April 21, 2024

The plan by Black Sand Beach, LLC for Punalu‘u as published in SFGate on Sunday.

THE UPCOMING HEARING ON THE PROPOSED DEVELOPMENT AT PUNALU‘U DREW A STORY IN SFGATE on Sunday. The story in the San Francisco Bay area publication by Natasha Bourlin is titled Locals outraged by development at one of Hawai‘i's most famous beaches. It quotes opponents and proponents of Black Sand Beach, LLC's quest for a Special Management Permit, which comes again before the Windward Planning Commission with a second public hearing on Monday, May 6 at 9 a.m. at the County Council Chambers in Hilo. Here is the link at https://www.sfgate.com/hawaii/article/hawaii-punaluu-black-sand-beach-19410430.php. Here is the SFGate story:
    It’s one of the most famous black sand beaches in Hawai‘i. On the southeast coast of the island of Hawai‘i, aka the Big Island, the Punalu‘u beach is a popular stop for visitors who want to see their first black sand beach, and it’s a regular rest stop for endangered sea turtles and Hawaiian monk seals often seen basking on its shore. Soon, it may also host a 434-acre residential and commercial development called Punalu‘u Village.
    However, the community is divided on the project. Some residents and environmental advocates are opposed, while others look forward to the influx of jobs it may bring.
In 2020, Black Sand Beach LLC purchased the parcel that straddles two sides of Hawai‘i Belt Road in the Punalu‘u portion of the Ka‘ū district. The land already includes a condominium complex, a private subdivision and a boat ramp. The company also owns the land upon which the County of Hawaii Black Sand Beach Park is located. Black Sand Beach LLC told SFGATE the county pays $1 per year to lease the land for public use.
    In its proposal, Black Sand Beach LLC said it wants to rehabilitate a closed golf course, former restaurant and cultural center. And the developer wants to add 225 new residential and short-stay units, a wellness center, dining and retail establishments, a marketplace, parking facilities, a second condominium complex and a conference and educational center with cabin retreats.
    Black Sand Beach LLC said the development will not be near the shoreline or disrupt beach access. However, it was required to file for a Special Management Area permit because part of the development is in a coastal zone.
    At a public hearing on March 7, hundreds of local residents showed up to be heard either in opposition to or support of the planned development, with more than 100 written testimonies on both sides submitted to the Windward Planning Commission. After eight hours of public testimony, dozens more still needed to be heard, necessitating a future hearing. The next one is scheduled for May 6.
    “I believe that developing this area would desecrate a sacred coastline, ecologically and culturally,” Nā‘ālehu resident Dominic Riolo wrote. “Additionally, I believe that further entrenching the region and island in a tourism based economy, as this development proposes to do, undermines cultural and ecological health.”
  Community members in support of the project believe the developer would help make improvements to the area, which is currently riddled with dilapidated buildings and infrastructure from the previous development, as well as provide jobs and housing for the area.

SFGate published this photo by Peter Unger of Punalu‘u Black Sand Beach on Sunday and called it one of Hawai‘i's most famous beaches. It ran a story with pro and con comments on the proposed development by Black Sand Beach, LLC.

    “I firmly believe that this project holds the potential to rejuvenate Ka‘ū, offering invaluable opportunities for its residents and fostering much-needed employment,” wrote Demetrius K. Oliveira, a lifelong resident of Pāhala.
    “Ka‘ū has persistently grappled with economic challenges, characterized by limited job prospects that force many to endure extensive commutes,” Oliveira continued. “The envisioned resort development serves as a beacon of hope, promising substantial job creation and economic revitalization. Beyond immediate employment benefits, it pledges to pave a brighter path for younger generations, enabling them to flourish in their hometown.”
    But many residents are concerned that the region may be adversely impacted by the creation of Punaluu Village. They believe that at bare minimum, an in-depth environmental impact survey should be conducted before further progress is made.
   Black Sand Beach LLC said the area has suffered more than three decades of neglect, leaving the infrastructure and many existing buildings left from the previous development in disrepair. Since purchasing the land, the developer asserts that it has spent over $1 million making improvements to benefit the overall community, such as by fixing existing sewer lines, potable water lines, roadways and irrigation systems.
    Many more improvements are planned, Black Sand Beach LLC said in an email to SFGATE, including firebreak roads and coordination with the county to create a broader shoreline management program for the black sand beach to manage visitors and overuse, plus additional protection for shoreline resources.
    “It’s an area that we all love and treasure. Punalu‘u is not an undeveloped green field site but a living active community that needs constant maintenance and care,” Daryn Arai, land use consultant and

representative for Black Sand Beach LLC, told SFGATE in an email. “We take our role as the stewards seriously by providing water, sewer, road system maintenance, and property management services to the Punalu‘u community. The task of maintaining these vital services is becoming more challenging in striking the delicate equilibrium between fulfilling the community’s needs and managing the associated financial burdens of these services.” Arai said the developer has consulted extensively with the local community and kupuna (elders) during the crafting of its master plan, and will be dedicating an approximately 30-acre area, including the beach, to conservation and coastal management activities.
    Amid the community’s concerns, on March 4 the nonprofit Center for Biological Diversity announced it had filed a legal intervention against the developer. “Punalu‘u is celebrated for its breathtaking beauty, cultural significance and unique ecological diversity,” the nonprofit said in a news release. The nonprofit argued in the release, “Developers are relying on an outdated environmental analysis and the permit application they filed with the county fails to consider harms to the local community. Increased traffic and a surge in visitors will compromise the residents’ quality of life and exacerbate existing challenges faced by Punalu‘u’s fragile ecosystem.”
    One of the things the department looks for in proposed plans is “consistency with the Ka‘ū Community Development Plan (Ka‘ū CDP), and the project is generally consistent with the Ka‘ū CDP,” Zendo Kern, planning director for the County of Hawai‘i, told SFGATE in an email. “There are mixed feelings in the community on how the project could benefit the island,” he also said. “Some feel it’s important for economic growth and job opportunities close to home and others feel it will negatively impact the area and would prefer to see things remain as they are.” In October 2023, Kern conditionally approved the issuance of a Special Management Area Minor Permit for two components of Punalu‘u Village: a proposed open market complex and firebreak roads. As stated in the approval, he didn’t think the project would have significant adverse impacts. However, Kern stated that “there will be specific conditions that the applicant/owner must adhere to that mitigate cultural and environmental impacts” should the project receive approval, such as water quality plans, marine life monitoring and cultural resource management. 

       “The integrity of our community and the natural and cultural resources of Ka‘ū will suffer immeasurable loss from the impacts of this shallow shortsighted proposed development,” wrote Volcano resident Kalena K. Blakemore. “... What few job opportunities afforded from the project will not compensate for the damage to our sacred cultural sites, fragile ecosystems and loss for the Ka‘ū families right to traditional and cultural practices. Tourist impacts have exceeded appropriate capacity yesterday and today, therefore, why would you approve of the SMA permit for the future of tomorrow?”
    Given the amount of opposition, Punalu‘u Village may move forward at the pace of some of Punalu‘u’s marine inhabitants. Kern said three petitions have already been filed for a contested case hearing.
    “This is a sensitive project and it is important that process is followed, and we hear from the community and provide all available information for the commission to make an informed decision,” Kern said.

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Kaʻū News Briefs April 20, 2024

Local residents were invited to Kamehameha School's Kahuku Ranch on Saturday to participate in community

input for a stewardship plan for the 1,368 acres at Kaunāmano on the Kaʻū Coast. Photo by Julia Neal

NOHOPAPA HAWAI‘I HOSTED A SESSION ABOUT KAUNĀMANO STEWARDSHIP along the Kaʻū Coast. The public meeting was held Saturday at Kamehameha Schools' Kahuku Ranch. Nohopapa said it invites engagement "with individuals, ‘ohana and organizations that have long-standing lineal, cultural, and community connections to this wahi pana, and have knowledge and mana‘o on traditional uses or ongoing cultural practices in the area or general vicinity."
    The Nohopapa organization, which has been contracted to develop a Resource Stewardship Plan in

A stewardship plan for Kaunāmano is in the making and public input
is sought. Photo from Ala Kahakai Trail Association

cooperation with Ala Kahakai Trail Association, which owns the 1,368 acres at Kaunāmano,

is asking for input from the public on:

    Mo‘oku‘auhau ‘Āina, Wahi Kupuna - cultural, historical and archaeological resources;

    ‘Āina Mauli Ola - Native plants, marine and avian resources;

    Traditional and Existing Access Structures and Fire Prevention;

    Recommendations or mana‘o for stewardship planning for Hawaiian wahi kupuna or traditional customary practices within or around the area; and

    Referrals of Kupuna and Kama‘aina who would be willing to share their cultural knowledge of the area.

    Input is also sought on public access with a key challenge of determining the use of the place by the local community, including the timing and number of people who can go there. 

    To participate, contact rachel@nohopapa.com. 

    According to representatives of Nohopapa and Ala Kahakai Trail Association, community outreach, consultation and interviews will be conducted through July and the stewardship plan will be presented by the end of November. 

    See more on Nohopapa at www.nohopapa.com and more on Ala Kahaki Trail Association at https://www.alakahakaitrail.org/kaunamano.

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Armando and Karina Rodrigues, with coffee farms in Honomolina and Kaʻū, have launched Aloha Latinos Hawai‘i, an organization to assist the growing number of Latin American immigrants and workers to become involved in the community
and to provide them with the help they may need here. Photo from Aloha Star Farms

ALOHA LATINOS HAWAI‘I ASSOCIATION has launched. It was founded by Armando Rodrigues, Kaʻū and Kona Coffee grower of Aloha Star Coffee Farms. He has become Aloha Latino's first President. Rodrigues, his wife Karina, son Elias and grandmother Marina say that they are Americans who also appreciate their Latino background and want to help other Latinos to connect for cultural reasons, help with farming, immigration and other challenges. 

Teachers who help immigrant children around the country
visit the coffee farm of Armando Rodrigues, who founded
Aloha Latinos Hawai‘i Association. Photo from Aloha Star Farms

    Armando said Aloha Latinos is "an effort created to unite, empower, and uplift the voices of the Latino community in Hawai‘i County, the Big Island of Hawai‘i." 

    The state of Hawai‘i reported last September that Hawai‘i County has the fastest-growing Latino population in the Islands, reaching some 13.6 percent. Rodrigues said the Latino population is growing faster and has reached about 22 percent, with about 80 percent of farm workers Latino on Hawai‘i Island.
    Aloha Latinos also serves in diplomacy with arrivals from the Mexican Consulate. Aloha Star Coffee farm recently hosted a group of teachers from across the country who specialize in the education of immigrant children.
    Mayor Mitch Roth recently swore in Rodrigues as President of Aloha Latinos. Vice President is Jennifer Bladeras, who has worked with many farmers in advising on finance and farm purchases under the USDA Farm Service Agency. Treasurer is Anna Marie Smith. Secretary is Alejandra Cisneros. Board members are Jazmin Allison, Ana McKnight, Marlene Villatora, Karina Rodrigues, Claudia Hartz and Victoria Magana.

    Follow @alohalatinoshawaii. Contact Armando and Karina Rodrigues at 808-987-4918.

Founders of Aloha Latinos Hawai‘i Association with Mayor Mitch Roth and County Council member Michelle Galimba.
Photo from Aloha Latinos

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Kaʻū News Briefs April 19, 2024

A USGS team visited a webcam at Kīlauea Crater to maintain it on Thursday. Photo by K. Anderson/USGS

NEW TECHNOLOGY FOR OLD QUESTIONS is the focus of this week's Volcano Watch — Magnetics, magma, and monitoring. Volcano Watch is a weekly article and activity update written by U.S. Geological Survey Hawaiian Volcano Observatory scientists and affiliates. Today's article is by HVO geophysicist Ashton Flinders:
    Earth's magnetic field surrounds us every second of the day, everywhere on the planet. Anyone who has picked up a pocket compass and seen the magnetic needle quickly align itself has seen the action of this ever-present invisible field. But can we harness the magnetic field to forecast volcanic activity? Emerging technology in the field of "quantum" science may aid us in doing so.

Volcano Observatory Scientists at the rim of Kīlauea volcano measuring variations in magnetic field strength in 1950. 

Photo by Ray E. Wilcox

    On a large scale, the structure of the Earth is divided into four main layers: the crust, the mantle, and the inner and outer core. The outer core, which starts at about 1800 miles (2,900 km) beneath your feet and extends for an additional 1,400 miles (2,260 km), is composed mostly of iron and nickel. At these depths the temperature (about 9,000 Fahrenheit or 5,000 Celsius) keeps the outer core fluid and constantly moving. This movement sets up a process a bit like an electrical generator you might be familiar with—the moving metallic fluid creates electrical currents. These currents generate the Earth's magnetic field—the same one you use to orient a compass to North.
    At volcanoes, variations in the magnetic field arise primarily from four sources: long-term changes related to changes in the motion of Earth's outer core, external electrical currents, space weather events (such as solar flares), and changes in magnetic properties of rocks due to volcanic activity. In general, the

Image of crust, mantle, inner and outer core of Earth. Art from USGS

changes caused by the first three sources of variation can be considered relatively uniform over a small area, which allows us to correct for them using measurements at a remote, but still "local" and "magnetically quiet" reference site.
    Rapid magnetic changes associated with volcanic processes are usually very small, between 1 and 10 nanoTesla (nT) units. For context, a refrigerator magnet has a magnetic field strength of about five million nT! The sensitivity of magnetic measuring instruments ("magnetometers") determines whether volcanic changes can be detected within the considerable noise produced through other, non-volcanic, electromagnetic fluctuations. These volcanic fluctuations can arise from variations in the magnetization of rocks induced by stress redistribution or changes in the thermodynamic state of the volcanic edifice.
    Italy's National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology (INGV) has had a magnetic monitoring network on Mount Etna for over 20 years. The network is comprised of eight stations on the volcano and a reference station. All stations measure the total local magnetic field every 5 seconds, and the network is designed to make it possible to easily distinguish deep sources of change from superficial ones.
    From their long time series of data, INGV has shown that the variations they observe in the magnetic field can often be attributed to shallow magmatic intrusions (when magma moves into a new area beneath the surface but fails to erupt). These intrusions cause permanent magnetic anomalies which, together with observed earthquake swarms and the ground deformation, generally precede and accompany magma

Dr. Gordon MacDonald first investigated changes
in the magnetic field at Kīlauea in 1950. USGS photo

moving towards the surface. For example, INGV has observed pre- and syn-eruptive magnetic anomalies during the eruptions of Mount Etna in 2001, 2002, and 2008.
    At Kīlauea, measuring changes in the magnetic field to monitor the volcano has only been briefly explored. Initial investigations were performed by USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory (HVO) geologist Gordon Macdonald between 1950–1951. Macdonald realized that conditions weren't ideal, but he gave it his best attempt given available time, staffing, and the state of the current technology.
    Two decades later, in 1973, HVO geologist Paul Davis showed that daily averages of records from three synchronized magnetometers on Kīlauea revealed a 1.5 nT change in the local magnetic field during the ongoing Maunaulu eruption. A few years later, USGS volcano geodesist Dan Dzurisin operated a small network of magnetometers, but no results were ever published.
    Similar to recent instrument advances in measuring the absolute acceleration of gravity, newly available quantum-based sensors have opened the door on previous magnetic-monitoring challenges. These new quantum magnetometers provide comparable sensitivity and data rates to traditional technology but require significantly lower power and are simpler to install. The new sensors are also dramatically smaller, about the size of your thumb!
    While HVO does not currently operate any quantum-based magnetometers, the observatory is constantly testing the potential of new technology for volcano monitoring. The questions we ask about volcanoes fundamentally remain the same—where and when will a volcano erupt—and our ability to answer those questions only gets better as technology advances. Will magnetic monitoring have a future in monitoring Kīlauea volcano, as HVO scientists from 70 years ago hoped? We don't know yet, but when we do, we'll let you know!

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VOLCANIC OBSERVATORY UPDATES: Kīlauea is not erupting. Its USGS Volcano Alert level is ADVISORY. Rates of seismic activity increased beneath the summit over the past week but remain low relative to periods before recent intrusions or eruptions. About 365 events were detected, which is nearly double that of the week before. The tiltmeter near Sand Hill continued to record inflationary trends.

Ongoing ground deformation patterns in the Southwest Rift Zone indicate that magma continues to migrate down rift in this region. No unusual activity has been noted along the East Rift Zone.
    Mauna Loa is not erupting. Its USGS Volcano Alert Level is at NORMAL.
    Webcams show no signs of activity on Mauna Loa. Summit seismicity has remained at low levels over the past month. Ground deformation indicates continuing slow inflation as magma replenishes the reservoir system following the 2022 eruption. SO2 emission rates are at background levels.
    Two earthquakes were reported felt in the Hawaiian Islands during the past week: a M3.2 earthquake 5 km (3 mi) S of Pāhala at 32 km (20 mi) depth on April 15 at 8:16 a.m. HST and a M2.8 earthquake 5 km (3 mi) S of Pāhala at 32 km (20 mi) depth on April 15 at 6:31 a.m. HST. HVO continues to closely monitor Kīlauea and Mauna Loa.

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‘O KAʻŪ  KĀKOU HAS ANNOUNCED THE 2024 Nāʻālehu Independence Day Parade, Saturday, June 29 at 11 a.m. along Highway 11 in  Nāʻālehu. OKK is looking for businesses, churches, organizations, and individuals that would like to be in the parade. Call or text Lee McIntosh 808-854-7846 as soon as possible.

SCHOLARSHIPS ARE AVAILABLE FROM KAʻŪ HOSPITAL FOUNDATION for students seeking to pursue a career in the medical field. Scholarships are also available to Ka'u Hospital staff who wish to further their medical education. Scholarships are $1,000 per year per recipient. Any student who resides in the Kaʻū District or any staff employee of Kaʻū Hospital are eligible to apply. Email Kaʻū Hospital Foundation at kauhospitalfoundation@gmail.com to receive an application. There is no application deadline. Scholarships are available as funding permits.

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