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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCOM 1072.005 2014-2016 Pi PS WC Murashige, Laura From: Sara Steiner <pahoatoday@gmail.com> Sent: Monday, October 03, 2016 7:54 AM To: Council Testimony;.Rep.Joy San Buenaventura; Russell Ruderman;jen@jenruggles.com; Eileen Ohara Subject: Testimony for Public Safety Comm. 1072 Civil Defense preparedness Attachments: TESTIMONY REGARDING COMM 1072.pdf; U4P Request for Review of Civil Defense.pdf; BRIEF ANALYSIS final.pdf; Signatures 8 pgs U4PReview CD.pdf Dear Hawaii County Council, Please find my testimony supporting the attached Request to Review Civil Defense Advance Warning and Emergency Response. See you in the morning. Sara Steiner cam• la!' :4 4J- t Ccenm. No. WO-1s Ref. To: frii9lAtli . Ref. Dote OCT p 4 ?nJ 1 TESTIMONY REGARDING COMM. 1072 Requesting Discussion with Civil Defense Dear County Council, Civil Defense, Some of you are aware the Pahoa community has been waiting for this opportunity to question Civil Defense's preparedness as regards hurricanes, tsunamis,wildfires and lava flows for quite awhile now. At this time I would like the council to amend this request to include the man-made disaster known as Puna Geothermal Venture. I really thank Ms. Willie for thinking of all of the residents of the Big Island, and remind you all that lower Puna's issues could be any of your issues in the next disaster. Less than one week ago (September 29th) around 3pm there was an explosion with loud hissing and and noxious gas plume at Puna Geothermal Venture, where residents were experiencing extreme eye, other irritation and vomiting, but H2S meters were blank for over an hour. It was obviously some secret gas mixture and PGV refuses to advise anyone what it contains. Civil Defense did not respond to the gas release, though they made statements that everyone is safe and there were no injuries from the PGV release, which is a lie. I would like to officially notifying you right now that you County and State representative tasked with protecting us are instead letting PGV do what it wants to the detriment of the surrounding residents, and we are getting sick from it. Why do we need to sue our own government to do it's job? Just a month earlier, as Hurricane Madeline was due to hit, I called Civil Defense and inquired about protocol for shutting down the geothermal plant. The lady who answered said"what geothermal plant?" Can you believe that? First she came back and tried to give me the PGV hotline number, I said no, I want to know what Civil Defense has ordered regarding the Puna Geothermal Ventures plant shutting down during hurricanes. After about 5 minutes, she came back and told me "we are letting HELCO and PGV decide what to do." This is exactly what they did during Iselle when PGV blew injuring surrounding residents, and that Civil Defense procedure is completely unacceptable. Who is in charge here? Hours before Madeline was due to hit, radio broadcasts were instructing persons that hurricane shelters were opening at various locations around the Island at a certain time. For some strange reason,the Pahoa shelter was late opening, leaving people stranded. Why did the Pahoa Shelter open 2 hours late? Who is in charge here? You all must be aware there is no cell phone service along much of the Red Road. About 2 weeks ago I had a need to contact Kalani Honua. Their land line phones had been out since a wind storm a week prior. This is a major problem which in 2014 Civil Defense,through Darryl Olivera, had offered to help mitigate by offering a$10,000 grant to Kalani Honua to cover the charges of erecting the proper tower, instruct the proper number of people and purchase a HAMM radio which could be used as an emergency tool for residents throughout lower Puna/Kalapana. Despite numerous requests, no grant was ever forthcoming. A representative of Kalani Honua is here to talk about that issue. 5. The Puna District used to have a National Guard baseyard with heavy equipment to help respond to natural disasters. A few years ago those protections were appropriated to the Hilo Airport area headquarters, making them inaccessible, therefore non-existent to the residents they were purchased for. Please return our equipment,perhaps to our Puna fire stations,where they will be more accessible when they are needed. Looking back at what has happened just in the last month, not to mention 2014, there are obvious issues with the effectiveness of our Civil Defense Administration as regards disasters in Puna. These are not new problems, they repeat frequently, and I ask you now to please schedule an in- depth review of Hawaii County Civil Defense Advance Warning and Emergency Responses for the past several years as requested today, because planning for our future includes actually acknowledging and reviewing the past mistakes and making the appropriate policy changes. Sincerely, /s/ Sara Steiner Attachments: REQUEST TO REVIEW CIVIL DEFENSE ADVANCE WARNING AND EMERGENCY RESPONSE TO HURRICANE ISELLE AND THE JUNE 27TH LAVA FLOW IN THE PUNA DISTRICT, HAWAII ISLAND. SG NATURE PAGES for Unified 4 Puna Community Working Group / , i, • .1 L • DERSON Kapoho Vacationland . 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KALANI OCEANSIDE RETREAT(Submitting separate signature page) SIGNATURE PAGES for Unified 4 Puna Community Working Group Signature sheet attachment for: KALANI OCEANSIDE RETREAT Richard Koobe ,ir Tiki DeGenarobt :... ary3icbt %1\.117.„ 1 i (Le— .ff.,,,„„ Oa a',.0$ £ �. ,/,' J e '- Pc % t`F 1il- ' , •,4 N.,,,fic...,„,1 , i i ‘--'4'''' k.,..4.,,A.-'2A-4X).4k,„,„.. 10,1;' ç\OyZ AllitJ Le-el- ----_ . X ' w F ``9 mai..+,. 3 `�,c'" k 1 . a�y ./ „,r c7. , ' ”. I ��W--.w. s i rte..- fc,„ 0-6,i „f-4fps ,�- _ . z" ,./.:1,01�/'� `," d v „ J ft„ 7 ,.ov\A 1 '''' it it, v (,,,,,,,_, t P ' - el.,„.(l $,.. .:''. .1r•riu(/ 514 tivitil r-T-455 <- pranr-A.„.wor-----4if . - • , • x C\ i - Z,1 h6:1 ( , A Ak (). ,k e,e-,r--cv4-5-- _--- . 4- /161-- -,--/ 1 :2Avc 6PIKR:ETT -17„40-)1.-i- ANN US.iNi- ht.-BET-7J Oh II, :-... # s .......... . . • - . .-.-- - .- . ) t - A---C.,--- SIGNATURES COLLECTED ON OCTOBER 2015 Signed OBE Name .r':,- �. . . 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Q 2 — ~ {© 2 . / ,�{ } . \ .ja d! . l / \ ( > u ,51 , & wy {(' ® . \K I . t: I . , x �x " ,! ƒ \� 7 < [ � A � 1 P.O.Box 2011 Pahoa,Hawaii 96778 z Unified 4 Puna Working Group 808936-9546 pahoatoday@gunall.com November 3, 2015 HAWAII COUNTY COUNCIL ATTN: DRU MAMO KANUHA Chair, Hawaii County Council ATTN: DANIEL PALEKA Chair, Public Safety and Mass Transit 25 Aupuni Street, Suite 1402 Hilo, Hawaii 96720 SUBJECT: REQUEST FOR REVIEW OF EMERGENCY RESPONSES TO HURRICANE ISELLE AND JUNE 27TH LAVA FLOW, PUNA DISTRICT,ISLAND OF HAWAII. Dear Chairman Kanuha, Chairman Paleka: We, businesses, residents and friends of Pahoa and surrounding Puna District, recognize that our rural location offers various challenges to the County and State of Hawaii. Hurricane season is an annual affair, and evacuations due to long-term ongoing lava threat on Hawaii Island are known possibilities that must be considered by state and county emergency responders. Unified 4 Puna Community Working Group was formed to help the County get a better understanding of the past year's events from the people who were impacted, and to more clearly articulate Puna District's unique needs during emergencies. Our group considered three events in which county response was led by Hawaii County Civil Defense, focusing primarily on advance warning and first responder actions rather than the recovery. A brief analysis of incidents is attached to this request. INCIDENTS CONSIDERED BY OUR GROUP Kapoho Vacationland was inundated by storm surge, destroying 5 homes. Residential communities surrounding Puna Geothermal Venture were gassed while trapped in their homes during Hurricane Iselle. The June 27th lava flow started approaching Pahoa. Huge community lava meetings were held. Perhaps 10-15% of residents moved out after attending first several meetings. Some evacuations occurred but circumstances were questionable, public charter schools, businesses and residents suffered massive un-reimbursable losses. RECOMMENDATION AND PURPOSE OF OUR LETTER It is hoped that by frankly and openly reviewing what happened in these incidents and in examining opportunities for improvement, our Hawaii County Civil Defense can become a learning organization, committed to improvement and pursuit of excellence. Therefore, we are requesting a council review, with strong community input, of Hawaii County Civil Defense Advance Warning and Emergency Responses to: • Hurricane Iselle, specifically considering the chain of events at Kapoho Vacationland and what type of assistance the community can expect from Civil Defense. • Hurricane Iselle, specifically Civil Defense emergency planning, emergency response and medical follow-up in response to toxic gases released at Puna Geothermal Venture. • June 27, 2014 lava flow, specifically looking at evacuations from schools, homes and businesses including those at Pahoa Village Center, Malama Marketplace/Woodland Center. OUTCOME Unified 4 Puna Working Group wants the findings from this review of emergency_responses to be used as a learning tool to improve the Hawaii County Civil Defense emergency response to include: • Improvements to: advance warning protocol, notification and alarm systems; coordinated use of CERTS with real-time information; messaging for public release during casualties. • Preparation of first responders, including capability to make earlier contact with impacted communities in event of extreme weather; Civil Defense follow-up with affected communities. • Implementation of necessary emergency planning, including incorporation of EPA recommendations made in 2000 as concerns casualties at Puna Geothermal Venture, and including automatic phone calls, and H2S monitoring at the stack/source. • Clarification of lava flow evacuation stages and criteria to assist schools, homes and businesses to make fully informed decisions. As the County and State of Hawaii have permitted subdivisions in Puna directly on known Lava Zone 1, there should be regular Civil Defense meetings with interested community regarding possible scenarios and responses, evacuation levels, impacts to infrastructure, relocation,provision of essential services, insurance claim requirements, and with time for public questions if presented in writing (2 copies). PUBLIC OUTREACH This request for review with attachments will be posted on County representatives official websites during review process, circulated to the media after request is presented to the Hawaii County Council and available at various Pahoa businesses or request a copy by emailing PahoaToday@gmail.com. Unified 4 Puna will continue to collect signatures for this review., Impacted persons residing in 96778 zip code who would like to provide testimony regarding this review may email contact 2 info and brief synopsis and one photo to PahoaToday@gmail.com, subject line "Testimony for CD Review" COORDINATION This review request was coordinated by Unified 4 Puna Community Working Group who are residents, homeowners and business owners from Ainaloa, Hawaiian Paradise Park, Kapoho, Kalapana,Nanawale, Opihikao, Pohoiki, and Pahoa in general. POLICY ALIGNMENT This review and resulting findings will further assist Hawaii County Civil Defense Agency and federal and state partners with their stated goals on issues of concern and in their efforts to protect the civilian populations in rural Puna District. CONCLUSION We, the signers of this request recognize all persons, regardless of where they live, work or go to school, have a right to the same level of advance warning and emergency response from our government agencies, especially to known hazards like hurricanes, geothermal toxins and lava flows. Unified 4 Puna Community Working Group would like to thank Mr. Ilagan for presenting our request, Mr. Kanuha, Mr. Paleka and the entire Hawaii County Council in advance, for their interest and commitment to improving critical health and safety concerns while also helping to protect state and county investments in infrastructure. We look forward to working on this together. Sincerely, UNIFIED 4 PUNA COMMUNITY WO12KINCK Qiwup • Brief Analysis attached. • A total of 8 SIGNATURES PAGES attached. • 10 copies provided for all County Council members 3 BRIEF ANALYSIS: What follows are issues that were considered by the Unified 4 Puna Working Group. These issues (and others as appropriate) should be included in the recommended review of Civil Defense. Hurricane Iselle, Vacationland, Kapoho, Red Road—Issues to be considered include: • Only some of the residents who should have been contacted in advance concerning the dangers were contacted. (Advance warning papers had been passed out by a CERT team, but only to residents right on ocean. Storm surge area covered multiple streets). • No Siren on August 7, 2014. • Debris and pollutants from five homes washed off foundations and broke apart. Overflow from cesspools washed inland. • Pleas for County assistance with neighborhood security before and after Iselle and with hazardous cleanup did not receive effective response. • Kua 0 Ka La public charter school was directly impacted by Iselle. Offers of assistance from legislators never materialized. There were no reimbursements from FEMA, leaving school to suffer losses out of monies for students educations. • Community members throughout Puna cut trees and cleared roads of debris. National Guard was present after hurricane but gave no help. Kalani representatives alone cut and removed over 2000 trees along Red Road and in their community. • In some cases State and County workers were not used when they could have been. • After Iselle, Civil Defense offered HAMM radio to Kalani along with promise of a$10K grant for tower and training expenses) to help with emergency communications for Red Road-Kalapana. In anticipation, Kalani purchased and installed the radio tower to specifications, sponsored seven of their community to obtain their HAMM radio licenses, and have prepped a room, at a cost of$6,663.00 to date. As of August 7, 2015, no HAMM radio nor$10K grant has been forthcoming despite multiple requests. • Primary Election Day was Saturday, August 9th, 2014. Election officials had communicated with Civil Defense to ascertain which precincts were affected. Civil Defense did not adequately communicate that many roads in voting precincts were inaccessible due to fallen trees, and many residents were unable to get out of their yards or subdivisions to vote. Puna Geothermal Venture—Shortfalls in the County response infrastructure and planning for geothermal casualties, many of which have been identified by the EPA in 2000 (and by PGV themselves in 1990 worst case scenarios) have not been resolved. These shortfalls contributed to over 100 persons becoming sick from hydrogen sulfide emissions during Hurricane Iselle. Issues include: • No effective notification of residents of the PGV release. • Hydrogen sulfide samplers used to monitor toxic gas in the community lost power. The samplers did not have backup power supplies. • The County's response plan fell short in dealing with community issues during this casualty. These shortfalls included: 1 o The County not reviewing the decision to keep PGV operating. o The County had no effective evacuation plan for residents. o The County had no decision making process on which direction to evacuate the residents. • Civil Defense did not follow up to check on the health of those that called for help from the affected area. Neither Civil Defense nor the County would participate with the Community in determining the extent of health impact. • First Responders did not follow the PGV emergency procedure for hurricanes in that they did not sample for hydrogen sulfide as they approached the plant. June 27'2014 lava flow —Many Pahoa residents and business owners have only recently moved here (last 20, 10 or 5 years) and are not familiar with lava flows and evacuation procedures. In early September the lava flow had left the deep cracks above Kaohe Homesteads and headed directly towards the town of Pahoa. • The Community and Senior centers were evicted to set up Command Center located in path of approaching lava. • National Guard troops mobilized for many months. • High-powered lava meetings continued for months at Pahoa High School, without opportunity for public on-the-record questions and answers to the Mayor. • Act 111 was created to help receive assistance from FEMA, but no FEMA monies were ever approved for any business, charter school or resident. • Pahoa Village Road was barricaded during approaching lava flow, and left closed for 6 weeks after lava stopped flowing, incurring losses for businesses and an unnecessary additional 2-mile walk for pedestrians. • Civil Defense business meetings were only called a few days prior to evacuations. Not all businesses in effected areas were invited. Discussions of various evacuation criteria, and how those criteria affected reimbursement were not held. • Businesses at and near Pahoa Village Center had what they believed to be evacuation flyers posted on their buildings. The owner of center boarded up windows in many of their buildings. Some evacuated only to find out later it wasn't really an evacuation order, therefore not reimbursable expense. • Businesses evacuated at Malama Marketplace and Woodland Center after hearing they could get a head start, not fully understanding the unpredictable movement of lava on flatter ground, or financial consequences of premature evacuation, including owing rent for the months evacuated. • Thousands of residents without reliable transportation were left without major grocery and pharmacy and had to commute for months to Keaau and Hilo for medications and supplies. 2