A review of last week’s response to an emergency release of steam by Puna Geothermal Venture has revealed some areas where improvements can be made, Hawaii County Civil Defense Director Darryl Oliveira said Friday.
"We did identify some areas we will be reviewing," particularly in the response plan, he said.
In the notification process, PGV was asked to call 911 in the future to get to dispatch rather than use the Fire Department’s business line.
"We told them at least that way it allows for responders to start mobilizing," Oliveira said.
He said fire dispatch got the word at 4:05 or 4:06 p.m.
Civil Defense convened a meeting Friday to review the response to the emergency release of 125,000 pounds of steam March 12 at the PGV geothermal power plant when it tripped offline due to faults on two Hawaii Electric Light Co. transmission lines.
More than 20,000 HELCO customers lost power across the island.
Puna residents heard a loud rushing sound like a jet plane, saw the large steam plume and detected a rotten-egg smell.
The Hawaii County Fire Department was first notified when it received a 911 call from a community resident who smelled the odor of hydrogen sulfide, and at about the same time got a call from PGV, said Battalion Chief Gerald Kosaki.
A radio, email and text message notification was used to inform residents, as well as police and fire units driving through the area and addressing residents, Oliveira has said.
Puna Pono Alliance is holding a community meeting at 4 p.m. today at the Akebono Theater in Pahoa to discuss what it says is the lack of information on the release, which has caused alarm.
Oliveira said last week that Civil Defense is looking into a siren with a specific warning tone for chemical release around the 3.5-mile radius of PGV’s plant, like one at Campbell Industrial Park on Oahu.
Hydrogen sulfide levels detected were well below safety standards, officials said.
Mike Kaleikini, spokesman for PGV, said the company has an abatement system in place to respond to a steam release.
Sodium hydroxide, commonly known as caustic soda, is used to abate the hydrogen sulfide that is released with the steam, he said.
"If we did not have the system in place to cope with the high steam pressure, we could experience piping failures or other leaks," Kaleikini said.
HELCO continues to search for a cause of the power failure and is going pole by pole, clearing a heavily wooded area.
