HomeMy WebLinkAboutCOM 0679.003 2010-2012 testimony for Hawai'i County Council special meeting
6 PM Tuesday, April 24, 2012 Pahoa School cafeteria
by Cory Harden. PO Box 10265, Hilo, Occupied Hawai'i 96721 808-968-8965 mh,cr?.interpac.net
Thank you for spending your evening in Pahoa.
Please stop geothermal fast-tracking by contacting BLNR (Board of Land and Natural Resources) before
Friday—when BLNR seems poised to okay a 65-year lease, with no Environmental Assessment, on the
old HGP-A site, next door to PGV.
The lease would go to NELHA (Natural Energy Laboratory of Hawai'i Authority). NELHA has an old lease
on the site that runs from 1979 to 2014. BLNR staff report there have been no known significant
impacts..." since 1986 from this HGP-A site.
Debbie Ward, chair of Sierra Club Moku Loa group. but writing to BLNR as an individual, disagrees. She
cites years of hydrogen sulfide venting, hazardous chemical spills, and toxic brine overflows that required
numerous evacuations. She also cites contamination of ground water, plus hydrogen sulfide corrosion of
roofs, gutters, and catchment tanks, leading to high levels of lead in drinking water.
NELHA plugged the HGP-A well about 1995. Has anyone been monitoring the air, soil, and water since
then? BLNR and NELHA had no immediate information. By the way, plugging the well cost taxpayers
about $300,000, and was supposedly permanent.
No one knew exactly what would be done under a new lease for the next 65 years. NELHA said they
planned "research", but until specific projects were proposed, no environmental studies would be done.
Please contact BLNR as individual Councilmembers and call for the following--
• For all geothermal projects--no fast-tracking
• For this lease--a public hearing in Pahoa and an Environmental Assessment
• For this site--air, water, and soil monitoring, whether or not NELHA gets a new lease
Mahalo!
Adaline.F.Cummings(ct}hawaii.gov 1-808-587-0404 toll free 974-4000 x 70404
Friday, April 27 BLNR agenda item D - 1
Mutual Cancellation of General Lease No. S-4602; Re-Issuance of Direct Geothermal Resources Mining
Lease to the Natural Energy Laboratory of Hawaii Authority for Geothermal Well Facility Purposes,
Kapoho, Puna, Hawaii, Tax Map Key: (3) 1-4-001:082
Comm. N•. 7q•3
Ref.To:
Ref. Date ApR 2 d 9(11?