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

Home

catchment. Our water supply can be threatened by these, by these discharges from the plant. These toxic discharges. We’ve had the recent blowout again, third time in three years, that people have been negatively affected. The State, nor the County, nor even the EPA has ever come down and truly done anything to investigate our concerns. We—a neighbor of ours—we met in Walmart yesterday while we were doing our business here in Hilo, and she was having a hard time breathing the night of the blowout, the night of the hurricane, or I mean the night of the hurricane. And, she could not get out. And what was told to her was well we can’t get you out, so she had to wait 12 hours. She finally got out to get medical treatment, and a friend of ours, a young man and his family, were actually told by the Fire Department, on Leilani Boulevard that guess what? You can’t get out of here because of the fallen trees. The young man, of course, is a trucker and a heavy equipment operator. He had his three quarter ton truck with his two-year old son in the front seat, daughter excuse me, and he told the Fire Department, well guess what, I’m going around. He took his family of six, up Leilani Boulevard, with his chainsaw, chainsaw to pass through, with his chains, pulled the trees aside, and made a path out. There, you know, we have to have health studies, and we have to have this done. This is 32 years late. We might even have, we could even prove deaths on this one, particularly on the ’91 blowout. Mahalo. FOLENA: Mr. Chairman and Members of the Commission, thank you for letting us speak. I’ve done my ranting and raving at home. I’ve done my cussing. I won’t cuss in front of you. I’ve th been in Hawai‛i, let’s see I’ve been here—1983, November 18, and I have not left, and I won’t leave. I’ll stay right here. My address is 13-1263 Kahukai Street. Mr. Smith and I own a home together in Leilani Estates. We’ve been there since 1998. Previous to that, I was in Kalapana Seaview Estates. It’s misnamed, it has nothing to do with Kalapana. It’s four miles from Kalapana on the coast. During the 1991 blowout, we were severely impacted. I called the Police Department at 8 o’clock in the morning because I woke up to hearing a roar, and I was exhibiting—I didn’t know it at the time—classic hydrogen sulfide serious symptoms. And, when I called the Police Department, they said they have a small problem at PGV and hung up in my ear. The way the wind blows, when PGV, Puna Geothermal Venture, was venting, exploding, had well cleanouts, thank you, etc., the wind would blow it down the coast and drop it right on top of Seaview. Drop it right on top of ‛Opihikāō. We were more seriously impacted there then we are now at the top of Leilani Estates, with the top meaning the top of the hill. Leilani is a hill, a long hill. This health study, the money for this health study, must be appropriated because we are overdue to be recognized as being seriously impacted, not just by uncontrolled releases, ventings, well cleanouts. We are being impacted, and have been impacted for many decades now, by long- term, low level hydrogen sulfide poisoning. Dr. Kaye Kilburn, who died, it’s really strange. He th died the night of that blowout on August 7, but he was in California, and he was top grade in finding hydrogen sulfide poisoned communities and helping them to correct it when industry and politics refused to help them. Kilburn got it done. Dr. Legator was here. I was part of that health study right after the ’91 blowout, and the Feds put such pressure on that man. It was unreal. They threatened to cut his funding. He was a University of Texas professor. I am not a conspiracy theorist, but I’ll tell you something. There is a conspiracy here, a big business and some politicians, and we have to cut through it. Our 4 EXHIBIT F