Tag: hazards

May 27: Lava reaches PGV property

I see from Hawaii NWS that small summit ash explosions continue, probably dusting downwind communities. But events down at Leilani Estates have dominated the news today.

To recap: after much foot dragging and a history of safety violations, Puna Geothermal Venture has not won the confidence of many Puna residents.

But Hawaii Civil Defense also confirms the now-quenched wells are “essentially safe.” The concern is that toxic hydrogen sulfide could be released if lava breaches a geothermal well. PGV worked to secure these wells last week, but they’re flying in 200,000 pounds of clay from California today to contain explosions, so…we’ll see.

#LeilaniEstatesEruption #KilaueaVolcano UPDATE (May 27 at 10:15 AM): Hawaiʻi County Civil Defense agency officials cannot tell me what would trigger a mandatory mass evacuation of the area surrounding Puna Geothermal Venture — despite the fact lava has reached the 40 acres of their operational plant site and is approaching the well field. Civil Defense officials say no wells have been impacted and a team is working to prevent threats from developing. At this time, no hydrogen sulfide has been detected. I asked Civil Defense: “What would trigger a mass mandatory evacuation of the area?” We were sent this response: “If it becomes necessary for public safety. At that point, we will alert the public.” We followed up with these questions: “Can you explain what government officials have determined this threshold to be? It’s obviously not lava inundating PGV property, so can you clarify?” We were told there was no additional information beyond their statement. We have since reached out to the Governor’s office for assistance and have confirmed Gov. David Ige will be returning to Puna this afternoon. At last check at 7:30 AM, PGV spokesperson Mike Kaleikini said the nearest well was about 130 feet away from the lava flow front. “All of the production wells nearest to the lava flow are plugged and shut in. According to HVO scientists, movement is currently stalled. As long as conditions are safe, we will have personnel on site. Primary concern is sulfur dioxide from the eruption and lava coming on site. We monitor for hydrogen sulfide and sulfur dioxide on a continuous basis. There are no hydrogen sulfide emissions from PGV wells,” said Kaleikini. PGV officials maintain they believe they have mitigated the threat of an uncontrolled release of hydrogen sulfide if lava inundates their property and makes contact with their wells. However, PGV officials have conceded they don’t know if hydrogen sulfide is the only possible hazard the community could face if lava interacts with their wells. Stay tuned to @HawaiiNewsNow (Video: Civil Defense)

A post shared by Mileka Lincoln (@milekalincoln) on

UPDATE:  Half hour Press Conference with Gov. David Ige and Tom Travis of Hawaii Emergency Management. The gist: the wells are secure, and they’re being monitored.

Lava covered one well this evening. So far, so good:

Hazards in Hawaii: Most of the State Is Just Fine, Thanks

I wasn’t going to do this, because hazard information is best left to emergency officials and experts.

But I don’t want the videos and images I’m sharing to mislead people into thinking this event is larger-scale than it is. It’s overwhelming to those who have lost homes or had to evacuate. I don’t want to downplay what they’re going through. At the same time, major hazards are confined to a very limited area, yet news media are whipping this up to apocalyptic proportions and tossing out headlines with “fears” and “anxieties” and “major” to scare people. I don’t want to add to their hype. A volcanic eruption one can watch from a few miles away without dying is moderate, not major.

So let me try to give a rundown of Kilauea hazards, and why I think it’s not greedy nor crazy for officials to be urging tourists not to cancel their visits.

Hazards from the Current Kilauea Eruption

Continue reading Hazards in Hawaii: Most of the State Is Just Fine, Thanks