2016-03-03 Hearing Transcript - Update Puna Pono Alliance et al GAF Claim

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would be on the Adler group, on the commission that Dr. Kilburn’s study would have an equal footing, that if it stood up to the rigors of the analysis, it would have an equal footing. After the Adler group finished up, we found a testimony by Mr. Jeff Melrose, who had served as the Mayor’s point man throughout the Adler study, in which he said the current Mayor thought the solution being proposed, that is a funding by Dr. Kaye Kilburn wasn’t the solution and, therefore, he vetoed the bill. I point out that they had told us as a condition to participate that Kilburn was on the table but then there’s that statement made in the public record. The second issue is the Geothermal Asset Fund being used for a Geothermal Health Meta-Study. I testified in front of this group that there is no way that the University of Hawaiʽi’s meta-study as specified by the Mayor’s office proposal, to have ‘em do a meta-study, could in any way compare to the meta-study already done as the technical document to the acute exposure done, acute exposure guideline provided by the Environmental Protection Agency, and that is, that meta-study was done by the National Research Council. That study was funded. It went ahead, and the result of that was a sophomoric study in which a group of people, who had no expertise on how to conduct an epidemiological study, made a recommendation to do so. th The fourth \[sic\] issue I have is that on August 7, Puna Geothermal Venture had a major release of hydrogen sulfide that caused loss of consciousness of over a dozen people, contributed to the death of two people, caused respiratory problems, skin rashes, and other exposure related symptoms to over a hundred people. My wife interviewed all of those people and gathered the time of the study. The County did not assist community members in investigating these people although we asked that they did. Despite my advice, the request for proposal for the geothermal health study that has been previously discussed, the one by the Mayor’s office, was not modified to include the fact that the harm had already occurred to these people. It strikes me as odd— Tom Travis—it strikes me as odd that we would do a study for almost $800,000 to try to determine if there’s harm from geothermal in lower Puna when all we have to do is go out and th talk to the people that were hurt on August 7, but we have not even done that. Now, for a year, nothing has happened with the Planning Department despite the Planning Director’s words, I will, I personally will make sure that this RFP gets put together, gets formatted, and gets processed in the most expeditious way I can do it. I believe those were your words, Director Kanuha. The evidence would either indicate that the Planning Director has been prevented from expeditiously taking action or is not very effective in doing so. I am losing confidence in this County’s administration’s use of the Geothermal Asset Fund. It seems like to me that it’s a fund that can be used by the Mayor’s office at will but at which the community has no access. Thank you. HEAUKULANI: Thank you, sir. Cory Harden. HARDEN: Good morning. Cory Harden for Sierra Club Moku Loa Group. I first want to thank all of you for your volunteer service on this Commission. I am not going to claim to understand 9 EXHIBIT E