Ka`u News Briefs August 4, 2011

A brush fire burned between the two entrances to Punalu`u yesterday.
Photo by Tim Bryan courtesy of Big Island Video News

KA`U RESIDENTS testified this week at the public hearing on the proposed biofuels refinery between Pahala and Wood Valley and biofuels farm between Pahala and Na`alehu. Dennis Elwell, a Discovery Harbour resident and retired university science professor, suggested that before the contract is approved to fund a high risk, high return energy project like this, there should be a pilot project built to prove that it can work. He said the plan to use a microwave reactor to make biofuel is still experimental.
     Chris Manfredi, manager of Ka`u Farm and Ranch for owners of 6,000 acres in Ka`u, said that it is important to study the proposal entirely before changing the direction of local agriculture, which has diversified into coffee and other products in recent years. He said the project uses "the air we share," the water used for agricultural and pointed to the the seismic risks since large earthquakes have been recorded here.
     Manfredi is president of the Ka`u Farm Bureau but said he was speaking for himself. He asked for a farm plan to show what would be grown for biofuel crops. He also said it would be good will toward the community to conduct an Environmental Impact Statement to answer questions from the community, even if there is no trigger requiring it. He brought up dust, smoke and odors as questions for the developers. And asked where any such biofuel plant is up and running in a community anywhere on the planet.

     The public is invited to send testimony to the Public Utilities Commission at 465 South King Street #103, Honolulu, HI 96813 or hawaii.puc@hawaii.gov.
     See more in tomorrow's Ka`u News Briefs.

A BRUSH FIRE BURNED between the two entrances to Punalu`u yesterday, shutting down Hwy 11 into the afternoon and evening and forcing traffic through Ninole Loop. The fire burned on both sides of the highway, and the road did not reopen until 11 p.m. Water was still being dropped by helicopter this morning to put out the hot spots. The fire started on the Hilo side of the north entrance to Punalu`u, jumped Ninole Loop and then Hwy 11. Most of the damage was to grasslands. Arson is suspected. Discovery Harbour and Pahala volunteer firefighters responded. Engine 10 from Pahoa joined the Pahala county firefighters, along with Engine 19 from Volcano. A water truck from the county road crew helped out. 

Lava broke out on the west flank of the Pu`u `O`o cone.
Photo from Hawaiian Volcano Observatory

MANY PEOPLE DROVE to Jaggar Museum and Hawaiian Volcano Observatory last night and witnessed three glows. A bright glow lit the crater walls of Halema`uma`u crater. A very bright glow was shining from Pu`u `O`O, and the moon presented a glow to the south. Pu`u `O`o crater floor collapsed yesterday afternoon, taking the lava lake with it. About 15 minutes after the start of the collapse, a high-volume lava flow issued from west flank vents on the Pu`u `O`o cone and flowed northwest and south along the west edge of previous flows. At the summit, the lava lake surface started to slowly recede yesterday afternoon. Seismicity was elevated within the summit area and low elsewhere. Gas emissions remained elevated from summit and rift zone vents, according to Hawaiian Volcano Observatory scientists. 

Raylene Moses
Photo from Bay Clinic

RAYLENE MOSES, OF NA`ALEHU, has been nominated and confirmed to fill Rell Woodward’s position on the Hawai`i Windward Planning Commission. She works with Ka`u Electric, a family contracting firm, and is a longtime member of the community group `O Ka`u Kakou. 

“THE SLOPES OF MAUNA LOA” is the theme being used by the committee that is working on designating Hwy 11 through Ka`u as a federally recognized scenic byway. The group had three public meetings recently and has divided the highway into three sections for different subcommittees to focus on. The sections are: from Manuka Park to South Point Road, from South Point Road to the Punalu`u turnoff and from the Punalu`u turnoff to the entrance to Hawai`i Volcanoes National Park. Anyone interested in helping can call Marge or Dennis Elwell at 929-7236.

Ka`u News Briefs August 3, 2011

`Aina Koa Pono says that 200 of the 13,000 acres proposed for its biofuels production have been set aside for
growing food crops along Wood Valley Road.  Photo by Julia Neal

STATE CONSUMER ADVOCATE JEFFREY ONO told the Public Utilities Commission that he has yet to recommend support or opposition to the contract between Hawaiian Electric Company and `Aina Koa Pono. `Aina Koa Pono plans to build a refinery between Pahala and Wood Valley and harvest existing trees and brush and biofuels crops it plans to grow between Pahala and Na`alehu. The PUC is tasked with deciding whether to allow Hawaiian Electric to raise the rates to its customers by some two dollars per month in order to help pay for the development.
     Ono told area residents who attended public hearings on Aug. 2 in Hilo and Kona that they can still send in their comments and ideas to the consumer advocate. Testimony can be submitted to the consumer advocate at Division of Consumer Advocacy, 335 Merchant Street, Room 326, Honolulu, HI 96813 or consumeradvocate@dcca.hawaii.gov.

NUMEROUS PEOPLE FROM KA`U who attended the public hearings yesterday had questions about the project. Some asked the PUC to be the governmental body to require an Environmental Impact Statement, since Hawai‘i county and state agencies have said that none is needed, as the refinery is tied to renewable energy and agriculture.

     One speaker said that the proposal for the biofuel farm and refinery on 13,000 acres of ag-zoned land has put the PUC in the position of not only setting policy for alternative energy production but also policy over what happens to farmlands and food security. Representatives of the project said that 200 acres of the 13,000 proposed for the project have been set aside to grow food along Wood Valley Road.
     Supporters of the project were the electric companies, the firm that won the contract to engineer the refinery, a representative of the carpenter’s union, a retired sugar union leader from Pāhala, a representative from investors and a representative of property owners leasing land for the project. Mayor Billy Kenoi submitted a letter of support but cautioned `Aina Koa Pono to work closely with the Ka`u community. 

     Those with questions were predominantly residents of Ka`u, from coffee farmers to a beekeeper to a land manager, retirees and Hawaiian cultural practitioners.
     A retired professor said he wanted to say he could support such an alternative energy project but had many unanswered questions, including proof that the proposed microwave processing of biomass would actually work. 

     Another testified that the PUC and electric company might consider how money generated by the proposed rate hike (some half a billion over twenty years) could best be used for alternative energy production. She suggested that the PUC and electric company consider a number of projects that could be funded. 

     Many testifiers outright opposed the project, saying that land needed to be preserved for growing food rather than energy crops. Some testifiers also talked about possible erosion from stripping the land of trees and brush and planting grasses to harvest for biofuel. One speaker said that taking biomass that has been turned into oil underground over millions of years has become unaffordable and likened the harvesting of biomass growing above the ground to “skinning the planet.”
     Several speakers said they dislike the name chosen by the company – `Aina Koa Pono – which means “good for the land.”
     Supporters pointed to hundreds of jobs promised by the ‘Āina Koa Pono team and the need to relieve Hawai‘i from the importation of fossil fuel.
     `Aina Koa partner Chris Eldridge said the company will be answering all questions that came up during the public hearings.
     More coverage of the public hearings will follow.

A meeting about designating Hwy 11 through Ka`u as a
Scenic Byway is scheduled this evening in Pahala.
Photo by Michael Martin-Neal

A SCENIC BYWAY MEETING will be held at Pahala Community Center tonight at 7 p.m. Highway 11 in Ka`u has been nominated as a State Scenic Highway, following an application by the Ka`u Chamber of Commerce to the federal government. “The Slopes of Mauna Loa” with its large stretches and untouched landscape, was the theme chosen by the committee established by the Chamber to oversee the designation of the scenic byway. 

Ka`u News Briefs August 2, 2011

Coffee and mac nuts along with making soil from mac nut husks, near the proposed `Aina Koa Pono refinery site. Photo by Julia Neal

TWO PUBLIC HEARINGS, one in Hilo at 9 a.m. at the state building and one in Kona at 4 p.m. at West Hawai`i Community Center, will be held before the Public Utilities Commission today on the proposed electric rate hikes and contract between Hawaiian Electric Companies and `Aina Koa Pono. The `Aina Koa Pono project would include development of a biofuel farm between Pahala and Na`alehu on old sugar lands now used for pasture It would also include construction of a refinery built between Pahala and Wood Valley, on Meyer Camp Road.
Aina Koa Pono recently raised its estimates of permanent jobs it promises at the factory and farm from 100 to 150 and 200.
     The process would include large microwave processors to make biodiesel from trees, shrubs and crops harvested in Ka`u and elsewhere. The bulk of the synthetic fuel produced at the refinery would be hauled in tanker trucks to the power plant near Kona to be used as a substitute for the fossil fuel the electric company burns there. The rest would be used to make transportation fuel and would likely be trucked to the harbors for shipment to a refinery where fuels for cars, trucks, boats, ships and planes could be made to their specifications.
     According to the county and state, no Environmental Impact Statement nor Environmental Assessment are needed as the refinery that would be constructed here serves agriculture and renewable energy.

Mayor Billy Kenoi

MORE PUBLIC BUILDINGS ARE GOING OFF GRID. Mayor Billy Kenoi will activate the West Hawai`I Civic Center’s 250-kilowatt solar photovoltaic facility today, just before the `Aina Koa Pono public hearing on developing a biofuel refinery in Ka`u in the same building. The ceremony is at 3:30 p.m

THE AMERICAN ASSOCIATION OF UNIVERSITY WOMEN invites Ka`u fifth graders to sign up soon for the annual Girls Exploring Math and Science conference on Nov. 17th at the Keauhou Beach Resort in Kona. Space is limitied. Girls who participate in GEMS will be joined by women from the local community who will show them how math and science relate to their careers. Through these hand-on workshops and exhibits, the AAUW hopes to stimulate interest and boost girls’ confidence in math and science. All fifth grade girl students residing in the West Hawai`i School Complex Area – whether from private or public schools – incuding Ka`u, are welcome. Girls will be eligible for scholarships. Registration forms will be distributed to public and private schools the week of Sept. 6. Registrations will be accepted on a first come first served basis until the Sept. 30 postmark deadline. Space is limited, so girls are advised to register early. For more information email AAUW at gemsreg@aauwkona.org or call the GEMS registrar Laurel Gregory at 322-4858.

WHILE KA`U IS WORKING on its Ka`u Development Plan, Puna’s Community Development Project Action Committee is looking for three people to serve. The Puna CDP includes the south end of Volcano Village, the golf course area and Hawai`I Volcanoes National Park headquarters, even though these are in Ka`u. Prospective candidates must send in their applications to the Planning Department by 4:30 p.m. on first of September. Terms for three of the current members of the committee will be expiring this November, and the county Planning Department is calling for people living in the CDP area – all the way to Volcano Golf Course – to consider volunteering.

BIG ISLAND POLICE report the arrest of 25 drunk drivers last week, bringing the year total to 835 DUI arrests so far. Police say this is a 5.4% decrease from the number of DUI arrests this time last year. The number of traffic fatalities are also down over 21%, from 19 last year to 15, 8 of which were drug or alcohol related.

A SCENIC BYWAY MEETING will be held at Pahala Community Center tomorrow at 7 p.m. Highway 11 in Ka`u has been nominated to as a State Scenic Highway, following an application by the Ka`u Chamber of Commerce to the federal government. “The Slopes of Mauna Loa” with its large stretches and untouched landscape, was the theme chosen by the committee established by the Chamber to oversee the designation of the scenic byway.