HomeMy WebLinkAboutCOM 0354.010 2024-2026P CRco,
GONN.64
From:
Kehau Ke
Sent:
Monday, July 7, 2025 11:35 AM
To:
Council Testimony
Subject:
Geothermal in Ka'u
Aloha, my name is Kehaulani Ke and I was born and raised in Ka'u. 1 oppose the Geothermal in Ka'u. It
has technical and environmental cons. One being the high upfront costs - drilling deep welts and
installing systems can be expensive plus exploration and testing to find a good geothermal resource can
be highly risky and costly. Another is surface instability, removing geothermal fluids from the earth can
cause land to sink over time if not properly managed. Also, enhanced geothermal systems which involve
fracturing rock can cause more seismic activity. Then we have resource,depletion risk. While technically
renewable, geothermal reservoirs can cool down or be depleted if the heat isnt allowed to regenerate
properly. Lastly, some systems require large amounts of water. Geothermal fluids may contain trace
amounts of toxic elements such as hydrogen sulfide, arsenic, boron, mercury, and other heavy metals.
These can contaminate the soil, air and water which affects the human health. Newer Geothermal
technologies are still developing, and long-term environmental impacts are not yet fully understood.
They cannot guarantee that all these cons will not happen and the unkown impacts are scary because its
not somethingthey can keep contained. These are all the possible outcomes if this geothermal is
allowed to be built. I say NO to geothermal in Ka'u.
Comm. No .0% ID
Ref. To:
Ref. gate A — 8 2025