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Puna Pono Alliance geothermal health impact meeting (Aug 30)


Photography by Baron Sekiya | Hawaii 24/7

Warning: Viewer discretion is advised due to strong language in portions of the video

The Puna Pono Alliance geothermal health impact meeting Saturday (Aug 30) at Hawaii Academy of Arts and Science (HAAS School) hosted speakers Mike Kaleikini, Plant Manager for Puna Geothermal Venture, Jay Ignacio, President of Hawaii Electric Light Company (HELCO), John Peard, Remediation Project Manager representing Hawaii State Dept of Health and Darryl Oliveira, Director of Hawaii County Civil Defense.

The forum was moderated by Robert Petricci, of Puna Pono Alliance, Steve Hirakami, Principal of HAAS and Tom Travis.

Community members questioned the panel as to why the geothermal plant was allowed to operate during Tropical Storm Iselle and concerns regarding the venting of Hydrogen Sulfide Gas during storm.


View Puna Geothermal Venture in a larger map

2 Responses to “Puna Pono Alliance geothermal health impact meeting (Aug 30)”

  1. hale pua'a says:

    I documented this fact with puna pono alliance but I want to make it clear to everyone that when I called civil defense around 8:35 pm during the tropical storm iselle, the man on the phone read me the report left with civil defense from the fire department. He told me that the venting had gone out of control due to the fact that the geothermal had been struck by lightening.
    This was most likely a lie but did the fire department lie? or did the folks at geothermal tell them to cover up? who lied? I dont think it was the man I was talking to from civil defense. or was it? who was responsible for the lie? and what was the truth? anyway, because of it I risked my life by driving out in the storm rather than risk poisoning. Billy Kenoi’s facebook page suggested that anyone feeling ill effects from the gas emissions should evacuate during the hurricane! this seemed pretty damned serious to me.

  2. Aaron Johnson says:

    If i remember correctly, at the time that Geothermal was releasing the pressure, there was no way to go anywhere. I was in my cabin at the time, hoping that one of the trees crashing down nearby didn’t land on me, when I heard the loud howling of the pressure blowing out of the vent. There were so many trees down across the road that I couldn’t drive more than 100 feet from my driveway. The moment I realized that I was stuck, pinned down, as the sulfur smell became stronger, I started to panic but realized that trying to go anywhere was out of the question. Aaron Johnson

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