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<br /> r~ <br /> HAWAII ELECTRIC LIGHT COMPANY, INC. <br /> Testimony <br /> Bill No. 66 <br /> April 23, 1997 <br /> Good morning, Chariman Arakaki and members of the Hawaii County <br /> Council. I am Clyde Nagata, Manager of Engineering for the Hawaii Electric <br /> Light Company. <br /> Bills No. 66 requests approval for a reclassification of 14.234 acres of <br /> land from Agriculture to Urban district. The subject property is adjacent to <br /> HELCO's Puna power plant. <br /> I am here to express HELCO's concern regarding the applicant's plan. <br /> If the plan is approved and the area surrounding the Puna plant is <br /> developed, HELCO intends to be a good neighbor. However, we are <br /> concerned that new property owners, subsequent to James McCully, may <br /> not be cognizant of the current plant operations or have unrealistic <br /> expectations. Specifically, we are concerned that new neighbors will <br /> complain about air quality or stack emissions, plant noise, and daily <br /> operations such as fuel deliveries, maintenance activities, etc.. Such <br /> complaints would be groundless in that HELCO has obtained permits from <br /> the appropriate regulatory agencies. <br /> For example, we are concerned that new property owners who build <br /> next to the Puna plant may notice stack emissions from time to time and <br /> may claim that the emissions, even though within permit limits, constitute a <br /> nuisance or that the emissions somehow cause damage to their property. <br /> The Puna plant is vital to HELCO's overall operations in that it <br /> provides approximatety 17% of the Big Island's power generation capacity <br /> for the HELCO system and is operated 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. In <br /> other words, the plant simply cannot be shut down without compromising the <br /> availability and reliability of electric power for the entire island. <br /> Moreover, it is simply not technologically oreconomically feasible to <br /> completely prevent the emission of pollutants from the generating units at <br /> the Puna plant or curtail daily operation and maintenance activities at the <br /> Puna plant. <br /> Therefore, HELCO urges that the County Council take these matters <br /> into consideration when deciding whether final approval will be given to the <br /> ~0. 2 i$Loz <br /> 1 FI!e IQo. <br /> Itef. 2b~ase~fe~G0111V GI(~ <br /> Re4 MAR 2 3 1997 <br /> <br />