Why County Council Shouldn't Override the County Bill 256 Veto

Richard Ha writes: 

I'd like to share with you a letter to the editor I submitted to the local newspapers. It's about the recent County Bill 256. I wrote about it here. The bill passed, but then was vetoed by Mayor Billy Kenoi. Tomorrow the Council meets and will discuss trying to override the veto.

I wrote this letter because I think it's very important to have a solid base of facts to start off with. We need to give ourselves some time to really think about these issues, in order to make good decisions.

I remember so clearly what Kumu Lehua Veincent told me early on. He said, "What about the rest?" And that's what I think is so important here. Oil prices are rising, and there are plenty of people just barely getting by with high electricity rates and other, related, rising costs. We need to worry about the rest.

Dear Editor,

I feel strongly that the County Council should not override the Mayor’s recent veto of geothermal bills before we understand the issues better.

Even the homeowners’ association in Leilani Estates, a subdivision near Puna Geothermal Venture, supports the Mayor’s veto. We agree we must take a systematic and scientific look at the situation before making far-reaching decisions.

Did you know?

No scientific study done anywhere in the world, ever, has shown that hydrogen sulfide levels such as exist in Puna produce the negative effects anecdotally claimed by some.

Hydrogen sulfide (H2S) comes primarily from chemical and bacterial action in the earth. Bacteria even produces hydrogen sulfide in the human gut.

In Hawai‘i, we monitor for two different levels of H2S. 

1) The Hawai‘i State Department of Health (DOH) regulates H2S at "nuisance levels,” which is defined as what one can smell. The human nose can pick up the H2S smell at about 5 parts per billion. 

2) The Office of Occupational Health and Safety Administration (OSHA) regulates H2S "safety levels." According to OSHA, it’s safe for workers to spend 40 hours per week around H2S when levels are at or below 10,000 parts per billion. This is far, far below levels considered unsafe (which are measured in parts per million, not billion) 

Some other facts:

• Many millions of people around the world spend their vacation time and money on health spas and onsens that use water heated via geothermal action. During these vacations for health and well being, they are exposed to levels of H2S much higher than Puna residents have experienced in 99.99 percent of their time in Puna.

• Ambient levels of H2S in residential Rotorua, New Zealand, are routinely 100 to 1000 times higher than the level our DOH regulates for.

• In personally observing Iceland and the Philippines’ geothermal operations, I was interested to note that Hawai‘i is much, much stricter about regulating hydrogen sulfide.

• Even the “blowout” at PGV that happened some years ago was within OSHA’s safety levels. OSHA’s permitted H2S exposure – up to 10,000 parts per billion for eight hour days, five days a week – is the equivalent of 2800 ppb continuously over 24 hours, indefinitely, and this is about what was detected at the perimeter of PGV during the "blowout." The long-term, ambient H2S average in Puna, near the geothermal facility, is closer to 2 ppb. 

• The Hawaii State DOH has said that there are no health issues related to emissions of H2S at PGV.

We need to base our decisions and laws on the facts, not unsubstantiated fears.

Richard Ha
Hamakua Springs Country Farms

Comments

[punated]

A financial headline from today:

http://www.cnbc.com/id/48245362
Could Oil Really Spike to $200 by August?

Hawaii is in the 11th hour and there is little time before the clock strikes the 12th hour. Waiting until then to do anything will be a financial disaster.

[richard ha]

Aloha Punated;
It's not a matter of if--it's a matter of when. When that happens it will devastate our tourism industry. Social consequences will ripple through the Big Island. We all know that.

Geothermal energy can help us cope because it is low cost power. And, it will help all of us --not just a few of us. As oil prices rise we become more competitive. There will be more jobs and we can look forward to our children staying at home instead of leaving for the mainland.

[Michael]

Speculation is dangerous in an economic climate
Lance Duncan wrote "for the 16 billion cost of the cable, we could provide rooftop solar, hot water, and micro wind on every home in hawaii and have freedom from oil and planet drillers forevermore." The Mayor and the Hawaii County Council ought to feel obligated to INSIST that the State Legislature undertake a thorough comparative study of the long term energy options for the state, including costs and benefits, and then obtain widespread democratic citizen input regarding the Hawai'i peoples' preference for funding and implementation.

[richard ha]

There are lots of moving parts. As Henry Curtis said, we need to develop financing methods to encourage land lords to
put up PV for their tenants. The discussion should take place about cable financing capacity, etc. It is always prudent to plan. But, geothermal must prove to be beneficial to Big Islanders or it will simply not be developed further. I think that a manageable target would be to strive for electricity rates that are sufficiently lower than Oahu that it also accounts for the transportation of goods from the Big Island to Oahu. Why do we assume that electricity rates should always be 25% higher on the Big Island than Oahu. We could do that by incorporating low cost geothermal. This would help the folks who are just barely making it now.

[Michael]

I agree mostly I do, and I must say even though we don't always agree, I really appreciate the Mana'o and conversation we carry.

[richard ha]

Aloha Michael
I very much appreciate your opinion! I think that we all want what is best for all. Patrick Kahawaiola'a told me a while ago; "it's about the process". So, that means; " if the process allows for a better result in the end, then we need to aloha everyone, who contributed, no matter on what side of the issue".
Mahalo for your contribution, Michael!!