Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 6, Number 12, 1 December 1989 — We must defend — No geothermal [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

We must defend — No geothermal

By Moanikeala Akaka Trustee, Hawai'i

In mid-October, over 300 (285 signed attendance list) eoneemed citizens from throughout our islands gathered at Pahoa High School and proceeded to Wao Kele O Puna Forest Reserve. They walked over three miles for Hawaiian religious cere-

monies at the area where True Mid Pacific of Wyoming and Hawaiian Campbell Estate plan to put up the first of 200 geothermal wells. Also planned are as many as five power plants to generate as mueh as 500 megawatts of electricity. This energy would be cabled over to Maui, then to 0'ahuto keep the empty high rise office buildings lit all night long. Several years ago we were told that we only need 25-30 megawatts of electricity for Hawai'i isīand. The Pele Defense Fund is to be congratulated for the successful gathering of young and old alike. Pua Kanahele, her haumana, and we Hawaiians intending to exercise our Native rights, plus non-native supporters crawled under the Campbell Estate gates to begin our three-mile walk through the ohi'a rainforest up to the proposed geothermal sites. Campbell's spokesman ref used to allow a van full of our kupuna to be driven to the site, but they did not impede the march. Yet, the poliee drove their cars — what a

laek of consideration for our treasured kupuna, some walked through the forest with the rest of us anyway. Also present were three OHA Trustees: Frenchy DeSoto, Louis Hao, and I. Wao Kele O Puna is the last lowland tropical rainforest in these Hawaiian Islands. It was set aside as a Natural Area Reserve to protect forever the rare Native Hawaiian plants, birds, andinsects that inhabit the area. Ninety-five percent of the plants and animals living in this reserve are found nowhere else in the world. Last month I wrote my eolumn about the rainforest in Brazil being destroyed. Well, we must first be concemed about protecting our Hawaiian rainforests, in our own homeland. Such sinful destruction perpetuated by Campbell Estate should not be allowed or tolerated, Hawaiian or not! If you recall, more than several years ago I wrote in my trustee eolumn about the 'ohi'a forests being cut down and desecrated by Campbell Estate at Kahauale'a, above Kalapana. At that time, I mentioned that Dr. Mueller Dombois, University of Hawaii professor of biology and world renowned expert on 'ohi'a forests, pointed out to Campbell Estate officials unique portions of that forest whieh "should never be destroyed." The next time he went to Kauhauale'a those "kapu" trees, hundreds of years old and several hundred feet high, had been consumed by a maehine and in seconds turned into woodchips to be burned to generate electricity to meet HELCO's contract with AmFac, an act of blatant corporate contempt. Campbell Estate finally stopped destroying that Kahauale'a forest after they cut down over 1,200 acres. After

that destruction of 'ohi'a forest had ended, Oswald Stender, Campbell's chief executive officer, told us that "we will never cut down another 'ohi'a tree." This statement was made at an OHA land committee meeting in the mid 1980s. However I see that Campbell Estate is at it again, only now cutting 'ohi'a rainforests at Wao Kele. Ever since CampbeD Estate received their permit for geothermal in Kahauale'a, they've had nothing but pilikia. Pele started her meanderings over mueh of Kahauale'a in January 1983 and eontinues until today. In 1985, 1 recall sharing with you through my eolumn that 25,000 acres of Kahauale'a were being exchanged for 27,000 acres of ceded land (Wao Kele Reserve) by the state legislature without so mueh as a public hearing. OHA trustees have a fiduciary responsibility to protect the ceded land resources, yet OHA was not consulted or a part of this decision-making land exchange process. This is another example of the state government, legislature, and the Department of Land and Natural Resources mismanging our Hawaiian resources. And you ask me why we have to get out from under the clutches of the state and start managing our own resources as a self-determining sovereign entity. Mind you, this was an exchange of 27,000 acres of pristine Wao Kele 'aina that belongs not only to the Hawaiian people but to all residents of this state. We cannot afford the loss of our sacred, precious, unique Wao Kele Reserve rainforests, nor ean we eontinue to allow the state to sanction such unfair land exchanges to the detriment of our rainforests and present and future generations. The incursion into these rare ecosystems by geothermal development will allow an onslaught of foreign, exotic species of vegetation and predators to destroy this pristine forest. Hydrogen sulfide poisoning whieh is a by-product of geothermal development causes acid rain whieh has decimated and polluted many forests and plant life. The five geothermal power plants and 200 wells proposed at Wao Kele may well destroy this precious forest forever! It is ironic that Wao Kele was purposely set aside to protect the plants, birds and wildlife of that area, yet 27,000 acres are exchanged for 25,000 acres of Kahauale'a. At the time of the exchange, 6,000 acres of Kahauale'a had been overrun by Pele. By today, that has grown to 15,000 acres according to Pele Defense Fund literature. Of the remainder of that 'aina, 5,600 acres has been promised to Volcanoes National Park, as mentioned above, 1,200 acres have been ravaged for wood chips, and another 1,000 acres are unusable steep cliff land. This means we the people of this state are left with only 3,200 acres of forest land. This, while Campbell Estate received 27,000 acres of pristine Wao Kele whieh they now proceed to destroy for a profit in this geothermal madness. This summer the county-gave True Mid Pacific and Campbell Estate a permit to ctrt thrgeacres for their access road into the forest so they could begin drilling operations. These developers grubbed eight acres, five more than permitted. They were halted only after we picketed the county building and had a talk with Mayor Akana. The developers were fined $16,000 for their actions. The flagrant arrogance of these businessmen's behavior shows a "don't give a damn" attitude for the permit process — the same attitude Bio Power had when they woodchipped Kahauale'a for Campbell Estate. All the while this was happening, a mediation process between developers and concerned eommunity groups was supposed to be in progress. The state refused to participate, yet it is they that continued on page 22

T rustee Akaka

/rom page 21 have been trying to ram geothermal down our throats since the early 1980s. Mind you, this was going on while True Mid Pacific and Campbell illegally cut down five acres of our rainforest for access roads. While all this was proceeding, Pele Defense Fund was in court contesting the illegal land exchange and loss of our ceded lands. Native Hawaiian Legal Corporation, whieh receivesmost of its funding through OHA, has also been representing Kaolelo Ulaleo (whose mother is a Lum Ho) who Bves in his ancestral home in Kalapana and who is also a part of this suit. They elaim the land exchange was illegal and accuse DLNR of breach of trust in not looking out after Native Hawaiian interests. Ulaleo argues that he will no longer be able to gather in the forest of his ahupua'a or conduct religious or cultural ceremonies to his 'aumakua as he had done since childhood with his kupuna. OHA is joining this suit as amicus curiae, friend of the court. The only geothermal well now in existence is being cbsed because of its pdluting effects over at Pohoiki near Kapoho. For years, people Hving in that area have been complaining about rotten egg smell and respiratory problems whieh are byproducts of geothermal development, as well as hydrogen sulfide poisoning. The well is supposed to be monitored, but a women Hving near the weU that has a monitoring device on her property said, "No one has eome to eheek it in over a year." A friend of mine who works for the county said his 'ohana is an instrument speciaHst who monitors the steam coming from the Pohoiki weU. He relates that he is given orders to go up-wind away from the direction of the steam. In other words, he was instructed to not register the "air quaHty." He was directed to go away from where he would obtain a truthful reading. I was told this feUow jokingly laughed about it. This is how health and safety are being protected from a 202 megawatt geothermal weU with this despicable track record. How ean they ask us to permit further geothermal development, mueh less 500 megawatts? That weU is finally being closed. It should never have been opened. The 500 megawatt geothermal proposition wiU be utilized first to industriaHze the Big Island with toxic sea-mining and a spaceport that wUl destroy the rural lifestyle of Ka'u. A major part of the proposed energy output wiU be cabled to Maui and O'ahu. Though the state says the cable will cost $1.9 biUion, the Northwest Eeonomie Associates of Vancouver, Wash. did an "Eeonomie

Analysis of the Kilauea Geothermal Development and Inter Island Cable Project" and they say that the cable to transport the geothermal will cost more than $4 billion; the developers don't know for sure the technical feasibiHty of laying such a cable under treacherous Alenuihaha Channel. Taxpayers will likely be forced to pay for the cable and generator to back it up when it fails. Pirelli, the Italian company building the cable threw a million dollar party at the Democratic National Convention and according to The Washington Post, they also lobbied heavily and made significant contributions to key congressmen to get the seed-money from the feds for this cable project. The Hawaii County Planning Commission recently gave IsraeK-owned Ormat Company a permit to driU 25 megawatts of geothermal near Pohoiki, Leilani Estates. They wUl also take over the now existing pdluting well area to be closed. A week after Ormat got their permits from the Planning Commission, HELCO, the electric company monopdy purchased half of Ormat. Weeks previous to the purchase I attended and testified at a HELCO electric rate hearing on a 16.9 percent increase for residential users. We pay the highest rates in the country in these islands and HELCO greedUy tries to increase our rates almost 20 percent so that they ean turn around and buy 50 percent of the Israeli-Nevada Ormat geothermal driUing company. As it is geothermal is to be sold at the same price as oil. So any way you

look at it, for the people of the Big Island, it's a "no win" situation. The greed and exploitation at the expense of protecting Pele, our Hawaiian native rights, rainforests, and health and safety of the people of Puna is not to be tolerated any longer. The last weekend in October, five Puna residents, members of Puna Rainforest Action Group, were arrested in Wao Kele Reserve on behalf of the present and future generations. They were not Hawaiians, but fuUy Hawaiian at heart. This is only the beginning. It is unfortunate that acts of civil disobedience in the spirit of peaee and aloha are the way we may have to go. When over 300 of us were at Wao Kele in mid-October, there were many of us that were prepared to get arrested. It was not necessary at that point. As with Gandhi and Martin Luther King, sometimes it is necessary to take that kind of stand for justice for our 'aina and people. Now is the time to avert social unrest in Puna and Maui whieh also doesn't want this controversial and iU-advised geothenjial project. Where is the voice of the tourist industry — first to profit from a elean Hawaiian environment, first to suffer when the environment turns toxic? Surely there must be someone responsible in that area. Their silence is deafening. Malama pono. Ua mau ke ea o ka 'aina i ka pono.