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HomeMy WebLinkAboutLEPC Meeting Minutes 020223HI County LEPC Meeting Minutes Aunty Sally's (CD) and via Zoom February 2, 2022, 9:00 am Members Present: Gerald Kosaki, Chair; Darwin Okinaka, HFD Fire; Bill Hansen, CD; David Cummings, Hamakua Energy; Jordan Hara, PGV; Reed Mahuna, HPD; Ha Chi, Hilo Medical Center; Phil Carper, BEI; Eric Honda, DOH; Matt Ho, HFD Hazmat. Non-members: Sharon Leonida, DOH; Terry Corpuz, DOH HEER; Liz Galvez, DOH HEER; Orasa Fernandez, DOE. I. CALL TO ORDER - Meeting called to order at 9:05 am by Chair Gerald Kosaki. Introduction of all attendees. II. APPROVAL OF MINUTES — November 2, 2022 meeting, Newton moved to approve and Chief Okinaka seconded III. COUNTY REPORTS Civil Defense — Bill reported that the AAR for the Mauna Loa eruption was completed and are collecting all the documents. He also stated that they are working on the evacuation plan for extreme incidents including, Tsunamis generated by earthquakes and for earthquakes in general. HFD Chief Okinaka stated that there were no specific significant incidents that they responded to in regards to hazmat incidents. He stated that there is a hazmat technician class, funded by the HMEP grant, that is currently going on now with 16 personnel attending. Also, coming up is training for response to lithium battery emergencies on February 14-16. Also, they just had a meeting with the CST for training that will be scheduled in June this year due to the Merrie Monarch that happens in March. Chair Gerald discussed a report of a Glycol leak in the chiller. Leak began on January I Oh but was well below the reportable quantity. They notified DOH HEER OSC, Adam Teekel. Gerald also inquired about the reports from the HFD personnel who attended the Chemical Safety Day training back in July 2022. Chief Okinaka stated that he is still missing one report and will follow up on this. • HFD — Reed stated that they have nothing to report at this time. IV. INDUSTRY PARTNERS Hamakua Energy — David reported they are in phase 2 that has started up in January replacing the lines for their Naptha fuel. Looking at going away from Anhydrous Ammonia and using urea to reduce their NOx emissions. BEI — Phil Carper stated that they have been having a higher turnover at the Hilo office so working on their personnel. Looking for someone here locally. They will know in a month or two in regards to a branch manager and also getting their personnel trained in hazmat that Matson is doing. Gerald inquired as to the level of training and Phil stated that it is probably in the ops level. PGV — Jordan reported that they are drilling KS21 which in an injection well and KS 19 which is a standby production well that would be ready in March. They also had a community meeting to discuss any concerns and updates. Jordan stated that they are also updating things to control sound restrictions within their permit due to the lack of trees that were destroyed with the recent lava flow. Bill inquired to Jordan if they will update their EAP with the introduction of the new wells. Jordan confirmed that they will for any changes. V. STATE DOH HEER — Gerald informed the committee about the Ocean Regional Response meeting that was held on December 16, 2022. Sharon reported that they are still in the planning stages of the response workshop. She stated that Chief Okinaka will be involved in the planning committee and coordinating. Gerald asked to clarify the training. Chief Okinaka stated that the February training is the risk -based response training to battery emergencies in general and the June training is the Lithium battery response training. Sharon stated that the training will be only on Oahu, Hawaii island, and Maui since Kauai has been having problems with their overtime budget. DOE — Orasa reported that they brought in 40-foot containers to collect hazardous waste and e-waste that was completed. Gerald inquired about the cleaning up of old chemicals in the schools. Orasa stated that they do have pick-ups as needed depending on the budget. Disposal of these chemicals are costly and per Orasa, it comes out of the DOE budget. She stated that they spend approximately $230,000 annually on disposal of these old chemicals. Hilo Medical Center — Ha Chi stated that they are doing training for hazmat to decon patients. Gerald inquired if the CST will also be training with them as they have done in the past and Ha Chi stated yes, they would. VI. OLD BUSINESS • Chemical Safety Day — Gerald reminded Chief Okinaka to submit the reports from those HFD members who attended the past Chemical Safety Day training on Oahu. This is a requirement for all LEPC funded training. Chief Okinaka said that he is waiting for one more report. This was the same response from our last meeting in November 2022. • HFD Canberra Purchase — Chief Okinaka stated that there was a problem with the winning bid that came in at a higher cost. VIL NEW BUSINESS HFD Request — Chief Okinaka stated that he would like to request additional funding for the radiological meters of which $17,000 was already approved by the LEPC. He stated that the company that gave them the quote of $17,000 did not submit a bid and the company that won the bid, did so at additional $6,000 higher that was the lowest bidder. This was for 15 meters. Gerald gave the committee the LEPC budget status as of November 2022, with a balance of $95,000. Gerald stated that we had an increase in revenue due to the tier H fees increase from $100 to $200 annually. We also had no travel over the past 2 years due to Covid. Gerald stated that it is an important piece of equipment due to the hazards of radiation. It is a personal meter assigned to each HM specialist. Jordan asked about other monitors used when making entry to a possible radiological atmosphere. Jordan made a motion to allow for $6,000 additional funding toward the purchase of the 15 radiological meters. David seconded the motion. Newton inquired if the budget had already reflected the $17,000 encumbered and Gerald confirmed. Motion was passed unanimously. Jordan asked for the ETA of these meters. Chief Okinaka stated that they will not know until the bid is awarded. Gerald stated that it should be on the bid specs as to the timeline of delivery. Chief Okinaka stated that since Covid, delivery of items has been delayed. He said that the normal specs for arrival is about 90-120 days. NASTTPO WORKSHOP 2023 — Gerald announced that there will be the annual NASTTPO workshop held on April 17-20, 2023 in Salt Lake City, Utah. He stated that the HMEP grant pays for the LEPC Chair, so funds do not come out of the LEPC budget. However, it would be good for others in the committee to attend. He suggested that it would be good for at least 1-2 members from the committee to attend. Sharon stated that there are many attendees from other states and jurisdictions and that they want people from Hawaii to attend since we are so isolated. There is also some good training there as Tom Bergman who does the CAMEO training always attends. Reed made a motion to allot for 2 members to attend at $5,000 each, for a total of $10,000. Chief Okinaka seconded the motion and stated that it would be good for someone from the department to attend. Motion was approved unanimously. Gerald stated that he will send out a request for those who may be interested in attending. UPDATE OF LEPC MEMBERSHIP — Gerald stated that he will be sending an updated membership list to the mayor and stressed the importance of having a quorum at every meeting. VIIL NEXT MEETING — Next HSERC meeting in on March 17, 2023. Next LEPC meeting is scheduled for May 11, 2023. CD will check on the room availability. IX. ADJOURNMENT - Meeting adjourned at 10:00am