HELCO plant opposed at permit hearing
By Hugh Clark
Advertiser Big Island Bureau
KEA'AU, Hawai'i — Environmentalists and Hawaii Electric Light Co. squared off last night on a "clean air" permit the utility is seeking through the state Health Department for one of its largest production sites.
About 30 people attended the hearing where HELCO was attacked by the Sierra Club for not "joining the 21st century."
Jeff Mikulina, state director of the Sierra Club said: "At the expense of public health, HELCO wants to to fix the permit not the equipment."
Health is not at issue, replied Warren Lee, president of the islandwide utility. He said the two side-by-side plants "meet all of the clean air standards by a wide margin."
One plant is a 32-year-old steam unit that generates more than 15 megawatts of power. The other is a 20-megawatt combustion unit that HELCO built in 1992.
The Sierra Club's focus is on the older unit. Despite Lee's assertions of no pollution levels, Mikulina charged that the power plant "doesn't meet modern pollution control standards."
The Sierra Club listed 13 concerns about the plant. One was the alleged effect on the new $30 million Kamehameha Schools' East Hawai'i campus, about three miles up slope of the plants.
Lee said he doubted the campus would be affected in any way.
The 35 1/2 megawatts of power that the Kea'au units provide represents about one-seventh of the islandwide needs.
HELCO is also deadlocked with opponents in Kona over the $110 million expansion of its Keahole plant. That could become the island's largest single generation factory. HELCO has spent $81 million on that project but remains legally blocked from completing it, despite obtaining a clean air permit last year. A dozen lawsuits have been filed against the 56-megawatt addition since 1994.
Another issue is that the Kea'au plant fire burns used vehicular oil and spent cooking oil.
That's an insignificant part of the fuel source — only about 2 percent — according to Lee, who said his company is trying to help the automotive and restaurant industry avoid the cost of shipping the used oils to the Mainland.
Mikulina blamed the low turnout last night on the opening of the Merrie Monarch Festival in Hilo.
