Ka`u News Briefs August 5, 2011

Crater Rim Drive has reopened after a precautionary closure with the recent collapse of the Pu`u `O`o crater floor and the creation of this new lava flow.  Photo from USGS

LIFE OF THE LAND, an environmental community action group, has formally asked the Public Utilities Commission for a contested case hearing on the proposed contract between `Aina Koa Pono and Hawaiian Electric Company. Approval of the contract would allow the electric company to raise customers’ rates to help fund a refinery and biofuel farm in Ka`u.
     Life of the Land wants to present research and arguments regarding claims of `Aina Kona Pono, concerning the probability that its microwave process and biofuel farming would be viable, as well as its possible effect on the environment, agriculture and community, and the plan to raise electric rates to pay for it.

Life of the land executive
director Henry Curtis

     Henry Curtis, executive director of Life of the Land, said the PUC could also compare the growing commercial viability of wind, solar, geothermal and other alternative energies, and whether development of these alternatives would be hindered by tying up Hawaiian Electric and its rate payers in a long-term contract with `Aina Koa Pono.
     It also contends that Hawaiian Electric is asking the ratepayers to subsidize the utility purchasing biodiesel “at well above the cost that the utility could generate its own electricity and perhaps at the highest price any Hawai`i utility has ever paid for electricity.” Life of the Land points out that other proposals before the PUC would allow for purchase of energy at lower rather than higher rates.
     Life of the Land was allowed to intervene in an earlier case in which Hawaiian Electric planned to import palm oil from Asia to run oil burning power plants. That plan was rejected.
     Hawaiian Electric earlier objected to the participation of the county and community groups in the `Aina Koa Pono case after receiving requests by Life of the Land, Hawai`i Renewable Energy Alliance and Hawai`i County.

     `Aina Koa Pono contends that the cost of making the biofuel could be higher than other energy sources now, but with the cost of fossil fuel expected to rise, it would be come less expensive than fossil fuel in the long run, saving customers money later.

HAWAI`I CARPENTERS UNION representative Dean Au testified during the public hearings held in Hilo and Kona this week. He said that he loves Ka`u and comes shore fishing along the rugged Ka`u coast. He acknowledged that Ka`u would change with the `Aina Koa Pono project but said that many unemployed carpenters need the jobs.

HAWAI`I VOLCANOES NATIONAL PARK is calling for public input on a new management plan that would replace the one that's more than 30 years old. Proposed are four options, including a status quo plan, and plans that would approach managing the park quite differently. Park Superintendent Cindy Orlando noted that the plans take into consideration the needs of visitors, residents and students. The options can be viewed at www.nps.gov/havo/parkmgmt/gmp.htm. Talk Story sessions will be held at 6 p.m. on Aug. 22 at Kilauea Visitor Center, on Aug. 24 at Pahoa Community Center, and Aug. 25 at Na`alehu Community Center. Park staff will present a brief overview of the options along with informational stations and maps. Some of the ideas included in the plans are incorporating more native Hawaiian land management practices and restricting traffic on Crater Rim Drive to bicycling, walking and shuttles.

CRATER RIM DRIVE has reopened after a precautionary closing with the recent collapse of the Pu`u `O`o crater floor and the creation of a new lava flow. The lava is unlikely to move toward Crater Rim Drive, park officials said.

Mazie Hirono

CONGRESSWOMAN MAZIE HIRONO introduced the Continuum of Learning Act of 2011 into Congress today. The bipartisan early childhood learning initiative helps educators from Head Start, other quality early childhood education programs, and elementary schools work together for successful transition from pre-K to elementary school, said Hirono.
     “Without spending any additional taxpayer dollars, this bipartisan legislation helps our keiki enter school ready to learn and increases their success in the early years,” she said. Hirono, a former teacher, is a member of the House Education and the Workforce Committee. Hirono said the legislation “will strengthen the early education efforts for our nation’s 21.2 million children under age 5, some 86,000 of whom are in Hawai`i.”

TRAUMA INJURIES IN KA`U will receive better treatment at its larger sister hospital, Hilo Medical Center. Hilo has been upgraded to a Trauma Level Three Hospital. Gov. Neil Abercrombie visited Hilo Medical Center this week to commemorate the hospital’s new designation. Hilo Medical Center’s upgrade bolsters the entire Big Island’s readiness and ability to treat trauma patients.

GOV. NEIL ABERCROMBIE also made an appearance at Keaukaha Elementary School in Hilo, and the governor joined the University of Hawai`i at Hilo in celebrating the opening of the campus’ Science and Technology building and then made an appearance at the East Hawai`i State Office Building, where a public hearing was earlier held concerning the plans of the biofuel company `Aina Koa Pono to develop lands in Ka`u. During the Hilo visit, Abercrombie was confronted by citizens supporting the state and the Hawai`i State Teachers Association. Protestors opposed the pay cuts, health insurance hikes, and furlough days that the state imposed on teachers last month.

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.