HomeMy WebLinkAbout04 LEPC Meeting Minutes 090326 DRAFTLocal Emergency Planning Committee September 3, 2026
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Hawaii County LEPC Meeting Minutes
Civil Defense EOC and via ZOOM
September 3, 2026
Members Present: Gerald Koaski/Local Emergency Planning Committee Chair, Christopher
Carvalho/Hawai’i Fire Department Operations, Matthew Ho/HFD Hazmat, Vern Hara/HFD
Emergency Medical Services, Chris Leonard/Media, Clifford Victorine/Mayor’s Office, Cyanne
Becker/Department of Health Public Health Preparedness, Bill Hansen/Civil Defense
Members Present via Zoom: Casey Kishimori/HECO, Eric Honda/DOH
Non-Members Present: Jordyn Mantz/HFD Administration, Sinclair Salas-
Ferguson/Corporation Council
Non-Members Present via Zoom: Sharon Leonida/DOH HSERC, Jason Geneau/Preparedness
Services and Training, Patrick Chong/Security Services Hawai’i Community College, Matt
Chalker/Public
Members Absent: David Cummings/Hamakua Energy Partners, (Vacant)/Hawai’i Police
Department, Jordan Hara/PGV, Neal O’Heron/ BEI Hawai’i, Logan Balingit/Department of
Agriculture, Alfred Leung/Pacific Biodiesel, Logan Rogers/Military
Members Excused: Ha Chi/Hilo Benioff Medical Center
I. CALL TO ORDER: 09:06AM Meeting called to order.
II. STATEMENTS FROM PUBLIC: Written testimony was submitted via e-mail by Sara
Steiner to the LEPC on 9/2 at 6:39AM. Written testimony was received and distributed to
LEPC members for their information. Written testimony was related to concerns
regarding Puna Geothermal Venture. Due to PGV representative not being present at this
meeting, the testimony was acknowledged and there were no statements from any other
members regarding the testimony at this time.
III. APPROVAL OF MINUTES:
a. Chris Leonard moved to approve 07/22/26 Meeting Minutes. Matthew Ho
seconded. The minutes were approved and passed.
IV. COUNTY REPORTS:
a. CIVIL DEFENSE Bill Hansen: Yesterday, President verified approval of
assistance programs for May 22nd earthquake victims. We’re working on that
today to get people registered for funding and programs. Also still working on
supporting victims from the 3 storms back in March. For updates on recovery of
Hurricane Lala, we’re also working with FEMA and Social Services programs to
also assist people who were affected by the hurricane to take advantage of these
services. Current statistics show that 27 homes were destroyed, and 80+ homes
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had major damage. About a total of $47 million dollars’ worth of damage total
around the island.
i. Kosaki to Hansen: Were any gas lines broken in Nāʻālehu?
ii. Hansen: There were private size propane tanks. Don’t know if there were
any fire or gas situations though.
iii. Kosaki: Is there wastewater treatment, chlorine, and sewage there?
iv. Hansen: Yes they have, there is a sewage in Pahala. Just need to run a
generator to it to continue the pumps for those.
b. HFD Operations Christopher Carvalho: Business as usual. Postured up for
both Hurricane Lala and Tropical Storm Moke. For Hurricane Lala we took
significant hits in Kaʻū, losing one of our stations to the debris fallout. We are
now operating full time out of Pahala Station now. Nothing else significant other
than monitoring Hurricane Lowell and Karina.
c. HFD/EMS Vern Hara: Business as usual, reported to Nāʻālehu for assistance out
there. No fentanyl or any other incidents.
d. HFD Hazmat Matthew Ho: Nothing significant since last meeting. We’ve been
talking with PGV and had our Hazmat Station and all nearby stations come for a
site visit last month to get familiar with PGV. We are also sending personnel up
to the Hazmat Continuing Challenge happening next week. Planning to have 3
people attend as one personnel dropped out.
e. HPD (Vacant): Not present.
f. Mayor’s Office Clifford Victorine: We’re in the process of finding someone to
fill Talmadge Magno’s position in Civil Defense. We are lucky enough to have
Darryl Oliviera on a 90-day contract for the meantime. We just had the
recruitment application close and we’re now moving on to the hiring process for
the director to narrow down to one option. Everything else is status quo.
i. Kosaki to Victorine: Is there a timeline for hiring? Number of candidates
so far?
ii. Victorine: Approved candidates have been coming in sporadically to us,
so were working on gathering the information and putting it all together so
we can continue to narrow down the candidates to one option. So far, the
timeline looks like we’ll be able to find a candidate within the 90-day
contract. However, if we need to extend for Darryl, we feel confident in
letting him do so. We cannot share the number of candidates at this time.
V. INDUSTRY PARTNERS:
a. BEI Hawai’i Neil O’Heron: Not present.
b. PGV Jordan Hara: Not Present.
c. HAMAKUA ENERGY PARTNERS Dave Cummings: Not Present.
d. PACIFIC BIODIESEL Alfred Leung: Not present.
e. HELCO Casey Kishimori: Nothing to report.
f. MEDIA Chris Leonard: Fairly busy since the last meeting. Supporting both our
radio stations and market as a whole. Identifying significant structure weaknesses
and working with the County and HI-EMA to help bolster our communication
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weaknesses with the public, having back up power, etc. Lots of work to do for
sure.
i. Kosaki to Leonard: Good work! Thank you for getting the good
information out to the public alongside Civil Defense.
VI. STATE REPORTS:
a. DOH HEER/HSERC Sharon Leonida: I need to ask, did you receive the jump
drive with Tier II report updates?
i. Carvalho to Leonida: Confirming HFD received it last week and it was
given to our IT person to upload documents and files for the Hazmat
stations to access.
ii. Leonida: Did you guys also deposit the check?
iii. Kosaki: Yes, thank you!
b. DOH Eric Honda: Nothing to report.
c. DOH PHP Cyanne Becker: Reporting updates on Dengue. The wastewater in
Hilo tested positive for traces of it. We don’t know who’s infected right now and
if it is locals our people visiting the island.
i. Eric Honda: We haven’t stopped doing control activities so it’s just
everyday work as usual with the exception of Casper that we had on the
14th. Lots of our staff are being pulled to do assessments. Other than that,
they’re providing education to the public on mosquito abatement
d. Cyanne Becker: We’re also continuing to collect data and review the cascading
effects that happen after a hurricane. Reviewing things that are coming up after a
major storm.
e. Cyanne Becker: We’re also noticing a rise of salmonella in infants currently
which is concerning so we are keeping up on researching and monitoring that.
f. DOE Orasa Fernandez: Not present.
g. HBMC Ha Chi: Not present.
h. Ha Chi: Not Present
i. Dept. of Ag Logan Balingit: Not Present.
j. Military Logan Rogers: Not Present.
VII. OLD BUSINESS:
a. Upcoming Hazmat Continuing Challenge workshop 9/7-9/11/26
i. Gerald Kosaki: As mentioned earlier, we have 3 confirmed personnel
attending. Good experience to meet vendors and find the newest most
innovative equipment being showcased at the event from hazmat suits to
monitoring equipment. Also, lots of workshops and training. All the new
stuff that’s good to see and hard to get experience back on the islands.
ii. Matthew Ho: It’s a good thing to support and sending our people out is
great as Gerald mentioned, it’s hard to get great exposure to knowledge
and training like that here on the islands. You’re meeting professionals
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and field specialists with great backgrounds in both response and
chemistry.
b. HSERC updates by Jason Geneau, presenting on Hazmat Workshop
i. Gerald Kosaki: Any updates Jason?
ii. Jason Geneau: Finishing the milestones for all counties. No workshop for
Big Island. Drafts were sent for review to LEPC and requesting feedback
ASAP for drafted plans. Terms of funding portion are nearing the end.
1. Kosaki to Matthew Ho: Did you get the Hazmat Annex from the
committee at the end of the last meeting?
2. Ho: Yes, we got it.
3. Geneau: Please send me any comments within the next two weeks
on it!
4. Ho: Yes, can do!
5. Kosaki: If there is anything to add or change for the hazmat side,
you can send it to him. They are updating the hazmat section of the
plan.
6. Geneau: Key agencies to review this is Civil Defense, Fire, and
Police as they are the major stakeholders who are participating in
all of these workshops on the other islands.
7. Christopher Carvalho: Please also send this to me Gerald.
8. Kosaki: Can do.
c. LEPC Amended By-Laws for Approval
i. Gerald Kosaki: They were approved of in our last meeting, please see
amended document being passed around to committee members to see
final comments with edits on it.
VIII. NEW BUSINESS:
a. LEPC financial report for July 2026
i. Gerald Kosaki: Basic report of revenue and income from June-July 2026.
It shows the Tier II Fees collected and distributed to each island and then
deposited for us. Not sure if anybody was in LEPC a few years back, but
you’ll notice the Tier II fees increased a lot because of Legislature. The Tier
II fees went from $100 to $200 per year. Total amount of revenue for the
Tier II fees is higher which is good. We’ve been using the funds for training
and equipment for the HFD hazmat to purchase over the pass years.
Recently was the rad meters and hazmat push-to-talk speakers. That’s what
we’re here for.
ii. Gerald Kosaki: The Hazmat Continuing Challenge is another one; It is
coming up this month and is where the newest and most innovative
equipment is showcased from hazmat suits to monitoring equipment. All
the new stuff that’s good to see.
iii. Matthew Ho: It’s a good thing to support. It helps us send our Hazmat and
Special Operations personnel out to and get exposure to things you don’t
get back here on the islands. You also get up to date training from people
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with response and chemistry backgrounds, get to try the new equipment
there firsthand. Getting lots of exposure you don’t get back here on the
islands.
IX. ANNOUNCEMENTS
a. No announcements.
X. AGENDA ITEMS FOR NEXT MEETING
a. No requests currently.
XI. NEXT MEETING: Thursday, December 3, 09:00-11:00. EOC confirmed for location.
XII. ADJOURNMENT: Meeting Adjourned at 09:33 AM