Kaʻū News Briefs Tuesday, June 12, 2018

HAWAIʻI IS EXPECTED TO BECOME THE FIRST STATE TO BAN PESTICIDES WITH CHLORPYRIFOS, a chemical linked to developmental delays and learning disabilities in children, according to a statement from the governor's office today. Gov. David Ige has scheduled his signing of SB3095 into law for Wednesday. Kaʻū supporters of the bill include state House of Rep. Richard Creagan, who chairs the House Agriculture Committee, and Sen. Josh Green. Both are physicians. Also supporting the bill was Sen. Russell Ruderman, who owns food stores.

EXCHANGING LAVA COVERED LAND FOR PROPERTY AWAY FROM THE RIFT ZONE is the proposal from Sen. Russell Ruderman, who represents east Kaʻū into Puna. He said a formula could be used based on value of lava damaged property. The state would acquire the land where homes were lost to lava and provide victims with new land. Ruderman said he has identified several parcels in Puna that are owned by the state and could be used to help the lava victims.
RAPID RESPONSE WORKSHOPS FOR THOSE WITH EMPLOYMENT OR BUSINESSES AFFECTED BY THE VOLCANIC ERUPTION will be held in Volcano and Pāhoa next week.

HAWAIIAN AIRLINES WILL REDUCE FLIGHTS TO HAWAIʻI ISLAND to and from Honolulu starting July 1. The new scheduling is a result of a slump in arrivals during the ongoing volcanic activity. One daily round trip evening flight to both Hilo and Kona airports will be taken off schedule, along with one round trip morning flight to Kona, said officials of the airline.

EXPLOSIVE ERUPTIONS HAVE BEEN ASH POOR in late May and early June, according to USGS. Twenty-three have occurred at the Kīlauea volcano summit since May 17, Janet Babb, a geologist at USGS Hawaiian Volcanoes Observatory, told press today, June 12. Six of the last seven explosions happened in the dark, so height estimations have not been available, she said. Babb estimates none have been above 10,000 feet above sea level. She also said the explosions since the end of May seem to all have been ash-poor. Brain Shiro, a seismologist at USGS HVO, said each recent explosion has happened about 20 hours apart, and generated a seismic effect similar to a 5.3 earthquake.

Three closely spaced lava fountains at Fissure 8 continue to feed a channelized flow trending north and then east to the ocean entry at Kapoho Bay. This video is from an HVO helicopter overflight of the braided lava channel June 11, around 6:30 a.m. Minor overflows of the channel levees have  occurred at several places along the channel, but have been short-lived and do not pose an immediate threat to areas not previously covered by lava. See the USGS video:  volcanoes.usgs.gov/observatories/hvo/multimedia_uploads/multimediaFile-2227.mp4

     “We don’t really know what’s controlling the intervals… it may be a good thing this is happening… rather than building up,” said Shiro. He said that 3,100 earthquakes have been recorded at the summit in the last week. Babb said, “There is a lot of science happening to try to understand these events, to try to figure what is happening.”

     Babb said the greatest subsidence in the floor of Halemaʻumaʻu has been measured as about 1,000 feet deep. Each explosion adds about six to seven meters to that depth, said Babb, who emphasized, “that’s a very localized area” within Halemaʻumaʻu crater. She said other areas, plus the slumping of the rim wall, have subsided less.

     As of today, June 12, over 5,800 acres of new lava covers lower Puna. Fountaining at Fissure 8 measures up to 160 feet high. Small overflows are happening at the edges of the lava flow from Fissure 8. The flow is continuing to enter the ocean at Kapoho. The new lava delta at Kapoho measures about 250 acres. The delta measures about 1.4 miles across, as a straight measurement. There is weak activity at Fissures 16 and 18.

     Jaggar Museum’s floor and ceiling have “very noticeable damage.” The items in the park store were “strewn about.” However, all the exhibits have no noticeable damage, she said, and there is no broken glass. There are also more significant fractures in the parking lot and the surrounding walkways around the museum and the HVO building. The newer viewing area, near the tour bus parking lot, shows “very significant fracturing.”

     Ferracane said the visual of the fracturing and slumping of the crater wall of Halemaʻumaʻu was “quite shocking,” and that the entire museum and HVO area looks as though it had been “coated in white flour.”

Kaoʻe kea, the white tailed tropicbird, remain at Halemaʻumaʻu during this eruptive time. Photo from U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

     Ferracane also said she saw “a lot of” kaoʻe kea, the white tailed tropicbird, flying about the summit, and nesting on the walls of the crater.