Posted June 18, 2013
Construction work on the Hu Honua power plant just north of Hilo has pretty well come to a halt — the result, apparently, of a dispute between unions representing boilermakers, on the one hand, and plumbers and pipefitters, on the other.
According to a statement released to Environment Hawai`i by the public relations firm representing the plant’s owner, Hu Honua Bioenergy, the general contractor for the facility, Hawaiian Dredging and Construction Company (HDCC), was informed of a decision in the dispute made by the Washington-based Plan for the Settlement of Jurisdictional Disputes in the Construction Industry.
Rumors had been circulating for the last couple of weeks that the construction company had pulled its workers off the site as a result of failure to be paid.
HHB is rebuilding the plant to burn biomass. Originally it was built to burn bagasse from now-closed sugar plantations. For several years after the demise of sugar, it burned coal.
Meanwhile, the failure of the Environmental Protection Agency to respond to a request for a hearing over its blessing of a permit for the plant to operate is the subject of a federal lawsuit. Under a consent agreement, the EPA is to decide that issue by August 7. In state Circuit Court, neighbors of the plant are challenging the Special Management Area permit for the plant approved by the Hawaii County Windward Planning Commission.
To read the statement from Hastings & Pleadwell, click Hu Honua.
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