2025-01-07 Mike Reimer, Ph.D. - Laserfiche WebLink

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TESTIMONY: Hawaii County General Plan 2045: Leeward Planning Commission January 16-17, 2025 P. 1 The concern that the Hawaii County 2045 General Plan does not include sufficient discussion of subsurface issues has been presented in public forums and has considerable merit because, in Hawaii, there is a strong connection of subsurface environment and the surface ecosystem. Perhaps the best way to state concern about this omission is to mention a statement by Dr. Nicole Deziel, lead author of an article addressing subsurface environmental manipulation. In an overview of her article, she cautioned, "Researchers and policymakers tend to focus on only one domain, when they really are interconnected." (Synergies and Trade-Offs in Reducing Impacts of Unconventional Oil and Gas Development on Wildlife and Human Health in Bioscience 72: 472-480, March 2022). Because of this robust surface and subsurface domain connection on Hawaii Island, I strongly concur with the concern to have the 2045 General Plan include subsurface issues and I provide commentary on some issues that have been previously mentioned. The issue of the subsurface environment with emphasis on hydraulic fracturing (or fracking) has been addressed as a need for inclusion in the 2045 Hawaii County General Plan (Brenda Ford, Letter to Editor, West Hawaii Today, December 6, 2024). When fracking is mentioned, most people think of it being employed for enhanced oil and gas extraction from tight rock formations underground. That may not seem to have any application in Hawaii but fracking can be used for much more than oil and gas extraction and for situations that are common in Hawaii. For example, hydraulic fracturing can be used for: Stimulating groundwater wells; Mining; Waste remediation and disposal; Measuring Earth stress; Electricity generation for geothermal resources; Geological sequestration of CO2; Pumped storage hydroelectricity (for non oil and gas issues, see ittpsJ/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tracking). Because the impact of fracking extends beyond underground rocks and fluids, and influences both surface and atmospheric characteristics, fracking, and indeed, other subsurface activities that may be implemented, are reasonable items for discussion and inclusion in the General Plan. Fracking exclusion was added in 2013 to the Hawaii County Code (Chapter 14), Article 21 , Section 14-120 through 14-127. There will most likely be requests for exceptions to this exclusion. There was a plan in 2015 to evaluate the possibility of a geothermal resource on Hualalai but it was canceled. (https-//www.thinkgeoenergy.com/university-of-Hawaii-cancels-planned-geothermal- exploration-work-at-h ualalai/).