To many of the people living near the Puna Geothermal Venture power plant at Pohoiki, their neighbor is more than a noisy, foul-smelling nuisance: it is a threat to their very health and welfare. But not everyone concedes that a problem exists. Consequently, one of the biggest sources of conflict relating to geothermal development in Puna is centered over the extent to which the operations of Puna Geothermal Venture are held responsible for an at times bewildering variety of ailments experienced by people in the surrounding community.
More than a Nuisance
Frequently the smell of hydrogen sulfide is likened to that of rotten eggs. But the rotten egg comparison, like the description of low concentrations of hydrogen sulfide as a nuisance, tends to trivialize the problem that PGV’s neighbors face. When the odor is coming from a rotten egg, it can be easily isolated and controlled. When the source is an out-of-control geothermal well that each hour is shooting hundreds of pounds of the stuff into the air, escaping the odor is a much more difficult matter and, indeed, is virtually impossible without evacuation from the site — an endeavor that many would say far exceeds the “nuisance” range.
Gases released from a geothermal well do not disperse into the air uniformly. Rather, they form a plume that has high concentrations of hydrogen sulfide and other chemical components of geothermal fluids in its center, and which is carried, more or less intact, by the wind into surrounding areas. Thus it is that a person living a mile downwind of the plant may be exposed to greater concentrations of hydrogen sulfide than one standing upwind of the plant at its boundary.
For the same reason, monitors that are not placed directly in the plume’s path would tend to record levels that might not be as high as readings obtained elsewhere.
Medical studies have documented long-term effects on adults and on the growth of infants resulting from exposure to hydrogen sulfide in concentrations as low as 20 parts per billion. At 70 ppb, hydrogen sulfide affects the light sensitivity of the eye. At 86 ppb, it can cause depression, dizziness and blurred vision.
Following chronic exposure to concentrations of 320 parts per billion, humans experience nausea, loss of sleep, difficulty breathing, and headaches. When hydrogen sulfide levels enter the parts-per-million range, the effects are eye irritation, fatigue, loss of appetite and insomnia.1
Noise and hydrogen sulfide are the only public-health aspects of geothermal drilling that are regulated so far. But they do not exhaust the list of health concerns associated with geothermal energy development. Contained in the geothermal fluids are other compounds and elements, many of which — heavy metals, for example, and radon gas — are known to be harmful to human health. As Condition 20 of its county permit, PGV is required to analyze the fluid from each well so that the full range of chemicals or elements to which the public may be exposed can be determined. PGV has yet to comply fully with this condition. In any case, the state Department of Health has taken the approach that the public will be protected from exposure to harmful levels of all chemicals of concern in the geothermal fluid by the same methods used to keep down levels of hydrogen sulfide.
Rules, at Last
Would that it were so easy. The very task of regulating hydrogen sulfide — determining how strict the standards should be; how they should be enforced; how compliance should be monitored; measures for abatement, and the like — has been and continues to be one a source of controversy.
The state of Hawai`i’s Department of Health was taken to court over its issuance of a permit to True/Mid-Pacific Geothermal Venture prior to the establishment of rules governing releases of hydrogen sulfide. Last March, the state Supreme Court sided with the plaintiffs in the case, Pele Defense Fund, and required the DOH to promulgate such rules, pursuant to statutory requirements. The rules were issued in late June, calling for “alerts” to be declared at 25 parts per billion hydrogen sulfide (hourly average); for a warning to be issued at 100 ppb hourly average; and an emergency level, with evacuation, to be declared when levels reach 1,000 ppb.
Proponents of geothermal development maintain that the rules are, if anything, overly strict. They compare the new rules, requiring average hourly concentrations of hydrogen sulfide not to exceed 25 parts per billion, to exposure standards set by the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration — standards allowing exposure of healthy workers to 10,000 parts per billion. This, they claim, shows just how conservative the DOH standards are. Critics discount such comparisons. It is not fair to use standards of 40-hour work-week exposure for healthy men who voluntarily accept health risks as a condition of earning their pay as a basis for establishing standards that are supposed to protect society’s most helpless (children, the elderly, and the infirm) from harmful effects of involuntary exposure to chemicals on a ’round-the-clock basis. In fact, one of the independent consultants retained by the state to analyze the effects of the June 1991 blow-out at PGV stated that if one wants to use OSHA standards as a guideline in the establishment of ambient air quality regulations, a rule of thumb in the industry is to divide the OSHA standards by 420, which, in the case of hydrogen sulfide, yields a result of 24 parts per billion. That’s just a tad under the 25 ppb standard that the state eventually adopted for hourly average emissions.
But that standard has left many nearby residents unhappy. Five parts per billion — the level at which most people are able to detect the scent of hydrogen sulfide — is acknowledged to be a nuisance; the plant could be well under its permitted level of emissions and still be the cause of constant irritation to neighbors.
In addition, “spikes” of hydrogen sulfide, with levels several times higher than the 25 ppb standard, may and do occur but, so long as the hourly average concentration falls under 25 ppb, there is no infraction.
Finally, there are individuals who are sensitive to the effects of hydrogen sulfide at levels lower than those set by state rule. People with a history of respiratory problems — and the Puna District of the Big Island contains a disproportionate number of them, according to a 1987 epidemiological survey — are thought to be more susceptible than the general population. Indeed, chronic or repeated exposure to the gas may itself bring on heightened sensitivity. The existing standards make no allowance for this.
Dismissing Complaints
Proponents and opponents of geothermal energy are divided also on the matter of the extent to which hydrogen sulfide from the PGV operation is to be held culpable for the many health problems of people in the neighboring communities.
In an effort to minimize the PGV contribution, some geothermal proponents, including Senator Daniel Inouye, have compared emissions of hydrogen sulfide from a geothermal plant (which they place at between 40 and 100 pounds a day) to the far greater volume of hydrogen sulfide (60,000 to 120,000 pounds) released daily by natural volcanic activity on the Big Island. Alternatively, they have sought to ridicule concerns over the effects of exposure by pointing out that minute quantities of hydrogen sulfide are to be found in bad breath. For these arguments, they’ve been soundly taken to task by such disinterested expert parties as Jim Morrow of the American Lung Association of Hawai`i and David Clague, scientist-in-charge at the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory.2
Another tack frequently taken is to argue that the health consequences of exposure to hydrogen sulfide are not really dire until concentrations reach levels many times that allowed by DOH rules. The residents who claim to have suffered from geothermal emissions are, proponents suggest, malingerers, hypochondriacs, or opportunistic opponents of geothermal energy in principle.
For good measure, some leading geothermal proponents resort to ad hominem attacks on the credibility or character of the people complaining. In this vein did June Curtiss, chairperson of the Hawai`i Island Geothermal Alliance, accuse the media of ignoring “what is public record about these individuals’ [geothermal opponents’] illegal substance and fire-arms arrest and conviction records, their lifestyle choices or their means of livelihood.”3
Ongoing Problems
Residents near the PGV plant tell quite another story — of chronic health problems, near-constant panic from living with the fear of blow-outs, and other troubles. The Hilo physician in charge of the Department of Health’s District Health Office, Dr. Sam Ruben, has been attentive to their concerns and has given them credibility, as has Harry Kim, administrator of the county Civil Defense Agency. At all other levels, however, their complaints have generally received little serious attention.
After the June 1991 blow-out, an extensive poll was made of people living nearby. A total of 123 health complaints were logged. Eye irritations and difficulty breathing were widely experienced. Eight people required medical attention. Nausea, depression, dizziness, and insomnia were among other ailments related to hydrogen sulfide exposure. According to the report of one consultant (Goddard & Goddard Engineering), these complaints were consistent with levels of exposure of up to 10,000 parts per billion (10 parts per million).
Supporting these complaints were meterological maps produced by Goddard & Goddard Engineering. The maps, based on recorded weather conditions at the time of the blow-out, attempt to reconstruct the path taken by the plume of geothermal gases. With a 68 percent confidence level, they indicate that peak exposures, lasting from 3 to 10 minutes, exceeded 131 parts per billion as far as 10 miles from the source. At the plume’s centerline, average concentrations of hydrogen sulfide were estimated to be 82 parts per billion. (Perhaps not surprisingly, PGV has rejected the findings of the Goddard report. It has called the Goddard findings “subjective” and “undocumented” and has said it is based on faulty premises and specious sampling techniques.)
The Aftermath
Since then, the PGV emergency response plan has been rewritten, although the final product is not to everyone’s satisfaction. Harry Kim and others say the plan is vague as to the role of county Civil Defense, the methods by which the community is to be informed of events at the plant, and ongoing lack of compliance by PGV with Condition 20 of the permit.
Starting on October 22 of this year, the plan was put to the test — and, in the eyes of many, found to be wanting. Civil Defense Administrator Kim said the plant’s monitoring procedures did not result in prompt notification of leaks of hydrogen sulfide. Residents, who had to endure almost constant leaks until well KS-8 was shut down, reported bouts of diarrhea, vomiting, burning eyes and other ailments. Peak levels of up to 140 parts per billion were recorded in nearby subdivisions. Several families evacuated voluntarily; one plant worker was hospitalized for exposure to hydrogen sulfide.
Even after the decision was made to shut down the well, hydrogen sulfide continued to leak from the well head. That did not stop until a plug of cement was poured down the well casing.
Within a week, the Lanipuna Gardens Community Association called for an accounting of events at the plant, as did the Big Island Rainforest Action Group. No response has been forthcoming from either the county or the state.
But, on November 12, officials from the state Departments of Health and Land and Natural Resources met with about 150 people from the community to discuss their concerns over PGV’s operations. Despite the efforts of state officials to present a sympathetic face, the meeting exploded in anger and was called off abruptly after two hours of confrontation.
One of the chief bones of contention between the residents and the health officials concerned, as before, the residents’ perception of failure on the part of elected and appointed officials to give weight to their statements of health problems associated with PGV operations. As Jane Hedtke of the Kapoho Community Association put it, “They tell us, ‘You simply can’t be experiencing vomiting, diarrhea, eye problems, and so on, at the levels that the plant has been releasing’ — levels less than the 25 parts per billion range, maybe as low as 14 parts per billion.”
But, Hedtke said, “we are experiencing those problems. People here are pushed to the edge. The state is asking people to accommodate a private project. It’s holding the developer’s hand, giving them every advantage.
“It’s just so frustrating.”
1 See Table 4-3, “Health Effects of Hydrogen Sulfide on Humans,” in “State of Hawai`i Geothermal Action Plan, Element III, Part II, Micrometerological Aerometric and Health Effects Analysis,” by Goddard & Goddard Engineering. This report, better known as the Goddard report, is one of several studies prepared for the state by independent consultants following the June 1991 blow-out at Puna Geothermal Venture.
2 For more on these exchanges, refer to the following items published in The Hawai`i Tribune-Herald: “Critics sniff at gas report,” on May 17, 1992; “Emissions report misused by HIGA, scientists claim,” on May 22, 1992; and “Facts clarified,” letter to the editor by James W. Morrow, director of environmental health for the American Lung Association of Hawai`i, on May 27, 1992.
3 See her article in the Viewpoint column of the West Hawai`i Tribune of May 21, 1992: “Media needs to reconsider geothermal issue coverage.” Curtiss made similar, albeit more muted charges in an Opinion column published by the Hawai`i Tribune-Herald on June 17, 1992. There, she urged the DOH to respect “the health and economic needs of all of us, not just a handful of Puna residents, some of whom are legitimately concerned, others who have clearly demonstrated their disregard for law, order, rules, or the quality of life of the rest of us in Hawai`i.”
Volume 3, Number 6 December 1992