HomeMy WebLinkAboutLEPC meeting 051216 amended 080916
LEPC MEETING MINUTES
County of Hawaii, Puna Conference Room
May 12, 2016, 10:00am
Members Present: Gerald Kosaki, Lead Co-Chairperson; Henry Silva, Co-Chairperson; John
Peard, DOH-HEER; David Cummings, Hamakua Energy; John Bowen, Hazmat consultant;
Tracy Aruga, Hilo Medical Center; Michel Uchida, HFD Hazmat; James O’Connor, HPD; Lance
Uchida, HFD EMS; Ron Quesada, PGV; Jarrett Enriques, BEI, Chenoa Haa, HELCO; Eric
Honda, DOH. Non-Members: Sharon Leonida, DOH-HEER; Jordan Hara, PGV; Mike McVey,
PGV
I. Meeting called to order at 10:09am by Chair Gerald Kosaki
II. Approval of 2/11/16 meeting minutes - No objections, accepted and approved
III. Budget review
a.Chair Kosaki identified the current LEPC budget at $47,974.39
b.Chair Kosaki discussed the amount initially allocated to purchase the radiological meters
for the HFD Hazmat teams that was approved to be funded by the LEPC at $8,500.
However, after discussion with members of the hazmat team, it was identified that a
scintillator would also be needed. This would add an additional cost of $2,500. Mike
explained the importance and usage of the scintillators. This additional amount was
voted upon by the committee and approved. This brings the total amount allocated to
purchase the Ludlum meters to $11,000. Chair Kosaki also explained the justification of
purchasing the Ludlum 14C over other more costly models.
c.Chair Kosaki then discussed attendance to the upcoming NASTTPO conference and
funding for attendance of the Chair by the HMEP grant. The committee also approved
to send the co-Chair Henry Silva and one other LEPC member. Chair Kosaki explained
that there were some concerns from the Fire Chief about who would be attending in an
email that he sent to the LEPC Chair regarding this and the current status of the LEPC
and its website. There was discussion from Sharon (HSERC) and her concerns about
someone overriding the decision of the committee. She recommended that Gerald set up
a meeting with the mayor to discuss the LEPC budget so that the Fire Chief does not get
questioned by the Finance Director for approving travel and other expenses. James
O’Connor advised to set up a meeting with the Fire Chief to discuss this before going any
higher. Chair Kosaki agreed and will set up a meeting to discuss this issue again.
d.Chair Kosaki informed the committee about an Ammonia Safety Day hosted by the State
Department of Health that will be held at Kalaeloa, Oahu on June 15, 2016. There will
also be an International Institute on Ammonia Refrigeration (IIAR) seminar on June 16
along with a round table discussion. Sharon stated that this training was set on these
dates to save on travel costs since the next HSERC meeting is scheduled for June 17.
Chair Kosaki inquired if anyone on the LEPC would like to attend this training. BEI,
Hamakua Energy, and HFD were the only ones on the committee that may have to deal
with ammonia emergencies but with the exception of HFD, the other two companies were
already planning to attend this training. Tracy made a motion to send two HFD
personnel to this training in addition to Chair Kosaki. The additional travel costs would
th
only be for air and car for the two HFD personnel on the 15 and for the car and room for
Chair Kosaki. Henry made a motion to allocate $1,500 to send 2 HFD personnel in
addition to Chair Kosaki to this training. The motion was passed unanimously.
e.The last item that needed to be voted upon regarding the LEPC budget was attendance to
the upcoming Hazmat Continuing Challenge. Chair Kosaki stated that last year the
LEPC sponsored three HFD personnel to attend this conference. Mike inquired as to
what benefit the community is getting out of this training. Jordan stated that those who
attend should pass on the information on current programs and equipment so that the
community benefits. There was discussion on those who attended last year attended the
same classes and basically cut and pasted the same information on all of their reports.
Henry recommended that Chair Kosaki attend along with two HFD personnel, one from
each of the hazmat stations. Tracy made a motion to allocate $7,500 to send one hazmat
technician from each of the hazmat stations along with Chair Kosaki to this conference.
The motion was seconded and passed.
IV. Tier II sub - committee project report
a.John Peard stated that he had posted the tier II notification in the West Hawaii Today
News and the Hawaii Tribune Herald along with a PSA on the radio stations. The costs
for the newspaper was $500 thus far.
b.Chair Kosaki had posted this notification on his Facebook page and also on the new LEPC
website that can be accessed from the County of Hawaii webpage.
c.Sharon stated that these efforts have prompted more calls to the DOH inquiring about tier
II reporting.
V. School Labs and chemicals update/Dr. Peevey presentation to HSERC – this will be tabled to
a later date.
VI. County Reports
a.Civil Defense – None
b.Fire - Haztech Class was completed on May 6 with 12 HFD personnel trained as
haztechs. Dr. Bowen was the instructor. Medical Response to Bombing Incident
training was held in April. CAMEO training was held on May 24-26 for our hazmat
personnel. Chair Kosaki stated that there are several HFD personnel who are attending
the Incident Response to Terrorist Bombing (IRTB) and other hazmat related training that
is supported by DHS and/or FEMA.
c.Police - None
VII. Industry Partners Report
a.BEI – No report
b.PGV – They are doing a redrilling well that should be completed in June. There will be
a scheduled plant outage in July. Ron introduced the new Operations Manager Jordan
Hara.
c.Hamakua Energy Partners - No report
d.HELCO – Chenoa stated that beginning on Monday, they will be running their Puna
Plant. They will be updating their Emergency Response Plan.
e.Other Reports
VIII. Department of Health HEER Report
a.John Peard reported the Kohala Sugar pesticide area was dug out and was sent to the west
Hawaii landfill.
b.John also stated that in the low income housing in Lanakila, during the demolition, lead,
arsenic, and other chemicals were found.
c.John Bowen inquired if DOH had taken any samples from Ice Pond. John Peard stated
that he doesn’t think that any new samples were taken since the old samples were low.
XI. Committee Reports – no committee reports were given
X. Next Meeting-Tentative 8/9/16
XI. Adjournment: Meeting adjourned at 11:45am