No. The Hawaii County is not preparing to direct a river of lava down Kahakai Boulevard. ADVERTISING No. The Hawaii County is not preparing to direct a river of lava down Kahakai Boulevard. So said Civil Defense officials Thursday after
No. The Hawaii County is not preparing to direct a river of lava down Kahakai Boulevard.
So said Civil Defense officials Thursday after 48 Pahoa-area agricultural lot lessees received letters from the Department of Agriculture warning that an effort to “do what is necessary to channel the lava flow down Kahakai Boulevard to try and control the direction of the flow” could make a “significant portion” of the road impassable.
The Oct. 29 letter, sent by DOA District Property Manager Joyce W. Wong and Agricultural Asset Manager Randy Y. Teruya, also informs ag lot lessees that “when and if the flow crosses Highway 130, the availability of water and electric service will be highly affected in the Pahoa Agricultural Park.”
The information provided in the letter was incorrect, said Hawaii County Civil Defense Administrator Darryl Oliveira in a Thursday afternoon interview.
“We did have farmers come to us at the last meeting … I explained to them we’re talking about, like Highway 130, opening it up.”
The county has been in discussions with the state over the possibility of tearing away a portion of Highway 130 once the lava reaches it to provide an unimpeded channel through which the lava can continue on its path. Such a move, it is hoped, will prevent the lava from pooling at the base of the raised highway and giving it a chance to spread out, therefore putting it in a position to create further damage to a wider area as it continues downhill.
But, Oliveira has been very clear in multiple public meetings that the county is not at this time planning any attempts at diverting the flow.
Many area residents have questioned why the county hasn’t considered digging trenches or putting up barriers to divert the flow from populated areas, and each time Oliveira has stated that there simply isn’t anywhere safe for the lava to be diverted. There are populated areas and structures within reach of the lava no matter which direction it is turned. Instead, the theory has been to allow the lava to continue unimpeded on its natural, and so far relatively narrow, path toward the ocean.
Additionally, Oliveira stated that the county intends to maintain water service to the area, and Hawaii Electric Light Co. has pledged on numerous occasions its intention to maintain electric service throughout the lava threat.
Early Thursday evening, Ken Kakesako, deputy to the chairman of the DOA, explained that the information contained in the letter was the result of a miscommunication and would be corrected in letters to be drafted today.
“It (the letter) was not consistent with what the county has been saying. We are very much aware of that and we apologize for the miscommunication,” he said. “… Civil Defense is running the emergency response, and they’ve been doing a great job. We want to make sure we are in line with all that they are doing, and we don’t want to hamper their efforts. We will be sending out a correction.”
However, it was unclear for much of Thursday whether the DOA agreed that the letter was misleading.
Earlier in the day, Janelle Saneishi, a spokeswoman for the DOA, said that the department continued to stand by the information provided in the letter, stating that it was the information that was provided by Hawaii County’s office of Corporation Counsel.
“We’re probably going to confirm with the county again, and if there needs to be clarification, we’ll send something out,” she said. “The staff says that was the information that was relayed to them, and I’m not sure if that was a misunderstanding.”
Corporation Counsel Molly Stebbins said Thursday that the letter had indeed been misleading, and her office already had been in contact with the DOA to clarify its wording.
“The language they were using was maybe not the most accurate description of what is being considered,” she said. “… It is not a diversion or attempt to control. It’s the removal of a manmade impediment.”
Farmer Ken Kudo has leased one of the Pahoa Agriculture Park lots for 20 years, where he grows potted palm trees to export their fronds. He said he found the letter in an envelope attached to his gate about four or five days ago.
When he read the letter, he worried that the county had secretly been planning to divert the lava while saying publicly it did not intend to do so. His fears were compounded when he called the mayor’s office and so far had not received a response days later, he said.
“The thing is, that I had always been thinking, let’s keep it (the lava) away from Kahakai, but when I read (the letter) I said, ‘Oh no, What’s happening here? I wonder if the county is actually doing that?’”
Email Colin M. Stewart at cstewart@hawaiitribune-herald.com.
