Ka‘ū News Briefs Monday, May 21, 2018

LAVA IS ON THE PROPERTY OF THE PUNA GEOTHERMAL VENTURE PLANT,  Pacific Business News reported this afternoon. A flow from fissure 22 moved toward the well pad and apparently stalled about 100 meters from the grounds.

     In the meantime PGV, county, state, and federal partners are attempting to reduce the risk of explosions, should lava penetrate the geothermal wells. They have poured cold water into the geothermal wells and are close to completing their attempt to kill the last well and cap it.

Lava approaching Puna Geothermal Ventures. Image from Tropical Visions Video and Paradise Heliocopters

     Hawaiʻi News Now reported at 6 p.m. that PGV representatives said that one well, hotter than usual, apparently under pressure from the approaching lava, is proving troublesome in the attempt to kill it. An alternative approach using mud instead of water to cool and kill it is being attempted, the news report stated.
     Tom Travis, chief of state Emergency Management, said that he "should know soon if efforts are successful to neutralize KS 134, the last 'active' well." Said Travis, "We have quenched 10 of 11 wells and we are pumping fluid to plug the last well as we speak.
     “Should have an idea whether or not that’s successful tonight. Once that step is taken, we will be in a much more solid state for having lava overflow the site. This is important, because I think, as all of you know, lava is starting to intrude on the southern edge of Puna Geothermal Venture site. It’s not easy to predict where it’s going to go or when it’s going to get there."
     See the press conference on Puna Geothermal covered by Big Island Video News.
   
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LAVA BOAT TOURS ARE STARTING UP along the lower Puna coast as lava pours into the ocean. Kalapanalavaboat.com is advertising trips on its U.S. Coast Guard certified 49-foot catamaran called Hotspot, saying it sold out today's tours. The website says: "Lava flows have reached the ocean and our lava boat tours are now scheduled twice daily, both at 4 a.m. and 4 p.m. respectively." The trips embark to the left of the Suisan Fish Market hoist in Hilo.

Kalapana Lava Boat photo from days when the flow was farther from people's houses. Photo from kalapanalavaboat.com

     The Coast Guard will allow already permitted boats to sail offshore of the lava going into the ocean near MacKinzie State Park where two lava lobes are flowing into the Pacific.
     The website says, "With all the devastation, heartbreak and loss the current lava flow is causing here on the Big Island...the powerful earth's core still is the most amazing thing you could ever witness in person. We see it everywhere on video and the media every day over and again, but it will never compare to putting your digital device down and witnessing the amazing path of Tutu Pele in person.
     "Although we have opened up our booking schedule, we ask that you please continue to respect incident personnel working hard and the residents who have been displaced and have lost their livelihood due to the Kīlauea Volcanoes destructive path."
     The website says passengers must be in good health with no recent injuries, no back injuries, and not currently pregnant. See www.kalapanalavaboat.com.

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County Managing Director Will Okabe was being interviewed Sunday as reporters  and military rushed toward him from spattering lava. Photo from Big Island Video News

REPORTERS AND SOLDIERS SCURRIED AWAY from a lava spattering explosion on Sunday, as County Managing Director Will Okabe gave an interview to news cameraman Daryl Lee. The interview was held in front of one of the two massive lava flows,  200 yards wide and 20 feet tall, that crossed Highway 137 in lower Puna. 

     As Okabe went on camera to warn to the public to stay away from the area, an explosion sounded and military and press ran toward him. "It's exploding right now. It is definitely a hazard," said Okobe.

     Okabe told Lee and Big Island Video News that Kalapana people still have access to evacuate on Highway 130. “But they need to really pay attention to what’s happening because anything can happen. Madame Pele can come out at any time,” Okabe said, “but we don’t want to cause panic. We want them to just be well informed, that’s it.”

     See the interview on bigislandvideonews.com.

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"It is easy to see the activity on Hawaii’s #Kilauea Volcano from @Space_Station. We hope those in the vicinity of the eruption can stay out of harm’s way," Tweeted astronaut A. J. (Drew) Feustel @Astro-Feustal from the  International Space Station on Sunday, May 13.

“DO NOT BE NEAR” LAZE is the best way to avoid health impact from the particles and gasses generated from lava flowing into the ocean, stated Dr. Alvin Bronstein, of the state Department of Health, during a press conference today. Bronstein stated the danger is influenced primarily by the amount and makeup of lava going into the ocean, and the direction of wind. Laze is a health risk in air for particles and sulfuric acid, he said; once particles are on the ground, exposure risk is minimal.

     Janet Babb of USGS warned today of a new danger: methane explosions from lava or fire reaching pockets of decayed vegetation, which can happen further away from lava flow than expected.

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TWELVE DAYS OF HAWAIʻI VOLCANOES NATIONAL PARK CLOSURE - plus earlier, shorter closures this year - have cost the island millions of dollars in lost revenues, according to figures presented by HVNP spokesperson Jessica Ferracane.

This morning's overflight of Kīlauea Volcano’s Lower East Rift Zone shows lava flowing around a kipuka (an "island" of land surrounded by younger lava flows) before entering the ocean. The ocean entry is producing a laze plume.  Photo from USGS/Carolyn Parcheta

     The economic impact on the local community is “quite significant,” said Ferracane, noting that HVNP is the number one attraction in the state, drawing more than two million visitors a year, spending $166 million in 2017. The cumulative benefit to the local economy was estimated at $222 million in 2017, the park reported.
     Two thirds of Hawaiʻi Volcanoes closed on the evening of May 10 due to risk from volcanic activity and it is unknown when it will be safe enough to reopen. It was also closed May 4 through 6 during Kīlauea eruptions. From Jan 20-22, Hawaiʻi Volcanoes and other national parks were closed until Congress funded the federal government.

     Ferracane stated the last long closure of the park was in October of 2015 during a federal government shutdown, which lasted 16 days. 

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HAWAI‘I ELECTRIC LIGHT COMPANY HAS ANNOUNCED CONTINGENCY PLANS to restore electricity to communities in lower Puna that may be cut off by lava flows. Options include diesel and solar battery generators.With lava moving more quickly over the past few days, Hawaiian Electric Light engineers are identifying suitable locations.

     In addition to possibly employing large capacity diesel generators and portable solar-battery-generator units, the utility is considering the use of steel poles strong enough to support wires able to span lava flows and temporarily connect to undamaged distribution lines.

     Hawai‘i Electric Light has created a page on its website “for the latest information for customers affected by the eruption and for those who may have questions about billing and service during the emergency” at https://www.hawaiielectriclight.com/lava. Updates also are available on the company’s Twitter - @HIElectricLight - and Facebook - HawaiianElectric - accounts.

AIR QUALITY INDEX AFTER SEVERAL DAYS OF FREQUENT ASH PLUMES from Halemaʻumaʻu as of 4 p.m. today in Pāhala is good at 21, Ocean View is moderate at 74, and Kona is moderate, nearing unhealthy for sensitive groups, at 90. AQI measures particulate matter, as well as gasses.
     SO2 measurements were good for most of today, with Ocean View measuring at 0.03 and Pāhala at 0.01 at 4:30 p.m. Pāhala had a spike of moderate levels around 8 a.m., up to 0.19, back down to good range by 930 a.m.
     See AirNow. See Hawaiʻi Short Term SO2 Advisory. Also see the University of Hawaiʻi air quality prediction website at http://weather.hawaii.edu/vmap/hysplit/