Ka`u News Briefs July 8, 2013

NATIVE HAWAIIANS MAY FIND IT EASIER to qualify for benefits under a new state law which allows more ways to prove ancestry. The Native Hawaiian Roll Commission, called Kana`iolowalu, will be able to use state Department of Health, Kamehameha Schools and Department of Hawaiian Home Lands and other agency records to determine ancestry. 

      To date, there are under 15,000 on the list being comprised to help form a Hawaiian parallel government similar to those formed by Native American Indian tribes on the mainland.
      A deadline to sign up has been set for January of 2014.

COUNTY OF HAWAI`I HAS SUBMITTED QUESTIONS regarding Hawaiian Electric Co.’s testimony on the proposed contract to purchase biofuel from `Aina Koa Pono. AKP plans to use feedstock from Ka`u to refine biofuel at a facility it would build along Wood Valley Road above Pahala. Hawai`i County questions HECO about its position regarding externalities, or positive and negative impacts of the project.

      Regarding HECO executive vice president Robert Alm’s statement that externalities of a project “are often intangible and difficult to quantify,” the county asks, “Are you saying that … only certain externalities – such as those cited immediately after this statement – should be considered by the Commission?” Alm had listed direct economic benefit to the state, energy security from locally produced feedstock, alignment with the state’s energy policy and lower greenhouse gas emissions as examples of externalities to consider.
      Regarding a similar statement from manager of HECO’s Fuels Department Cecily Barnes that the utilities “have not quantified any negative externalities, and it is difficult to determine the impact, if any, they will have,” Hawai`i County asks: “Are you saying that it is not worth considering negative externalities, since their impact is difficult to determine?
      “You list several negative externalities prior to this statement. Are these the only negative externalities you believe should be considered? If not, could you please provide a full (list) of all externalities you identified as being important?”
      Barnes had testified that “potential negative externalities include: fuel spills or leaks associated with fuel storage or transportation of the biodiesel; social issues, such as traffic congestion; and, land use, such as roadway damage and noise.”
      Hawai`i County states that, “although negative externalities are always difficult to determine, sometimes useful estimates can help provide some perspective. For example, you cite the possibility of fuel spills or leaks as a few. Suppose there is a biodiesel leak in one or more of the four 300-thousand-gallon fuel storage facilities contractually required to be located at the AKP facility (say, from an earthquake), would you be able to compare the estimated clean-up costs to, for example, the promised community benefits package?”

      County of Hawai`i had previously raised the issue of decommissioning the AKP facility if it goes bankrupt. The county asks: “How would these costs compare to the community benefits package?
      “Please quantify the cost of remediation or decommissioning of the AKP facility, and who would be required to cover that cost?
      “Please describe what would be involved in such remediation or decommission process to restore the town of Pahala to its original condition.”
      Regarding statements by Alm and Barnes that assessment of many externalities “more directly associated within the AKP Project itself … is more appropriately addressed in the Project permitting process, or in an environmental impact statement or environmental assessment process if so required,” the county asks, “Are you asserting that the Commission is not to consider either positive or negative externalities of the AKP project? Please be clear whether HELCO is asserting that Commission has no role in evaluating either positive or negative externalities.
      “Is it HECO/HELCO’s position that the Commission should not concern itself with externalities of the AKP project, but that the Commission should concern itself only with the AKP contract?”
      Barnes had testified, “Benefits of locally produced biofuels include the creation of new agricultural and manufacturing jobs, a reduction of greenhouse gas emissions, increased energy security and independence, and the shifting of a portion of our significant expenditures on Imported fossil fuels to locally produced biofuel.”
      County of Hawai`i asks: “Are these the only externalities that you believe should be considered?
      “Do you believe there will be no other agricultural or manufacturing jobs created if the AKP project does not proceed?

      “On what basis do you assert there will be a reduction in GHG emissions? Please provide detailed GHG emissions evaluation based on actual AKP feedstocks and actual AKP processes (including all inputs)?
      “Can you please elaborate on why you believe AKP will contribute to increased energy security and independence, given the many identified risks of on-island fuel production and physical barriers to attaining energy independence?
      “You imply there is an advantage to having ‘significant expenditures’ go toward locally produced biofuel, but can you please elaborate where those ‘significant expenditures’ would go – to whom, how much to investors and technology providers, to management versus workers of AKP, the Island economy, etc.?”
      See more in future Ka`u News Briefs.
      This and other testimony is available at puc.hawaii.gov. Docket number is 2012-0185.

Jurassic Park comes to Na`alehu Public Library Wednesday. Photo from Joe Iacuzzo