2014-09-04 Hearing Transcript-Mayor - GAF Study

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support of the County government, tried to eliminate all EIS, EAS requirement for all exploratory drilling. Act 97 which is an act, therefore by law, allows geothermal exploration anywhere on this Island of Hawai‛i including Urban, Rural, and Ag lands. I want you to just think about that. They took away 100 percent of the planning responsibilities and ordinances governing this Island so that the people of geothermal can do as they please, and our State government and County government supported it. What I’m asking for now, and I know there is a PGV representative behind me, what is wrong with all of us embracing totally the support of CDC and EPA coming here and doing a thorough study of what has happened. I would like to have the permit revoked until that is completed, but that’s not within your authority, but please understand, it is not against the study. It is to achieve what must be. Why would PGV oppose it? Because if this, what they say has been right all the time, the study will show it by EPA and CDC. So, I’m asking for your support, postpone the granting of these funds until we see if we can be successful in getting the EPA and CDC to come here as they did after 1993—1990 blowout. Thank you for your time. WILT: Thank you. My name is Sofia Wilt. I live at 13-3362 Makamae Street, Leilani Estates. I’m less than one mile from the geothermal. I am also typographically in a depression. The night of the storm, similar experience to many. I heard explosions. I didn’t know what was going on. There was no radio service of any kind. I heard about it through Facebook from a friend. I was panicked. I didn’t know what to do. I couldn’t leave my property. There was a tree across my driveway. I was gassed, and I was knocked unconscious. The following morning, I woke up and felt like I had been hit by a two by four. A few days later, I went to my doctor and was diagnosed with reactive pneumonia. Reactive as in response to a toxin or pathogen. I am extremely grateful for the Puna Pono Alliance being a resource because I noticed curiously following the storm, all the radio announcements would tell you where to get ice and what kind of place to get free water but there was nothing for people that were gassed. There was no information. The Civil Defense and PGV were noticeably silent. I started attended meetings and learned a lot. I was one of the first people that was sent to the emergency room for a blood draw and an urine sample. I recently spoke to my physician on Tuesday to review those results, and they were more or less inconclusive. The five days lapse time from collecting that information made them basically null and void. I spoke to two physicians, and they confirmed th that. So, I feel like there’s been extremely valuable time lost from August 7 to where we are now. Many of us—the immediacy of what happened has been lost, and that’s unfortunate. I do feel that we need a comprehensive health study. I also feel like Harry Kim that digging deeper in involving the CDC and the EPA would be definitely a good route. I’m also, would like to point out how odd it was for the Department of Health to publish an article in the Tribune Herald saying that there was no issue even though as we know, about a hundred or so of us have complained of ill effects. They never interviewed anybody. The monitoring systems were down. I don’t know how they made such a determination based on so little information. I’m also, applied for the relocation program in 2012, and I recently found out I’ve been wanting to move as soon as possible from my residence because I can’t go through another incident like th happened on August the 7, and found out in order to benefit whenever that might happen from the relocation program, I have to occupy my house. So, I find that very ironic that I have to stay th in my house and potentially go through what I went through on August 7, so I think that aside 20 EXHIBIT F