EPA criticizes
Hawaii County,
Puna Geothermal

The agency claims the county's
plan is vague and the company
has poor public relations

By Rod Thompson
Star-Bulletin

HILO -- Hawaii County's plan for dealing with possible geothermal emergencies doesn't meet national standards, a draft report by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency says.

The report also says Puna Geothermal Venture, which has supplied up to a quarter of the Big Island's power since 1993, fails to cooperate with its neighbors.

A 1995 complaint to the EPA by the community group Puna Malama Pono about incidents of smelly hydrogen sulfide gas led to more than three years of review and the recent draft report.

The report covers two emergency plans, one from the county and one from Puna Geothermal Venture.

"PGV's historical and continuing reluctance to communicate and cooperate with its neighbors interferes with effective emergency management," the draft says.

Puna Malama Pono spokesman Adrian Barber said: "It's our view that the community wasn't sufficiently engaged, and they're still not. We'll want equal representation (in future discussions)."

Company manager Jack Dean said the agency's comments may have been valid years ago, but he doesn't think they're accurate since Constellation Energy Inc. began managing the company in the early 1990s.

"I can't believe that's the way EPA believes at this point in time," he said. "We publish so much data. It's phenomenal what we publish."

But Dean promised to cooperate in resolving concerns.

The draft report also criticizes the county plan for not following the nationally standard Incident Command System.

Instead of a joint command of the county and the company, called for by the standard, the company now decides how serious a situation is, and government agencies have to respond based on what the company tells them, the draft says.

County Civil Defense Director Harry Kim said the lack of clarity about who is in charge was one reason he refused to approve the company plan in 1992.

Mayor Lorraine Inouye approved the plan without Kim's agreement, and Kim has had no policy-making role in geothermal since then, he said.

County planning director Virginia Goldstein, whose department now oversees geothermal matters, said her staff is still reviewing the report.

The draft is available in public libraries in Pahoa, Keaau, Hilo and Kona, the UH-Hilo library, the EPA Honolulu office and at http://www.epa.gov/region09/waste. Instructions are included for making comments up to May 31.