Pahoa Saturday Informational Fair Report c/o Ann Rickard UPDATE REGARDING UTILITY PROVIDERS This informational fair today was actually extremely informative, and was attended by hundreds of people. Many representatives from many different groups and agencies were there. I primarily focused my energies on talking to the various utility providers: WATER: I was able to speak directly with the Department of Water Supply (DWS) supervisor. He informed me that in the event the lava flow crosses Highway 130 on the Hilo side of their Pahoa well site, that they are making plans to independently power the well site via generators and keep water distribution flowing to our side of the service area (Nanawale, Kapoho, Beaches/Shores, etc.). They arent committing to that at this point, but thats what they are hoping to be able to do. When the flow crosses the highway, they will have to isolate the Hilo- and Lower Puna (Kapoho) sides of their system in order to protect damage to those service areas. After these areas have been isolated, however, DWS is hoping to be able to get people reconnected with water service. HELCO: Representatives of HELCO seem a little more non-committal about what they will do, simply because it is still too uncertain exactly where the flow will cross the highway, how wide the flow will be at that point, etc. They are working on a variety of contingency plans. I asked about whether or not Geothermal (PGV) could operate independently in Lower Puna even if their main transmission lines to Hilo were cut off. To my surprise, they indicated that they are working on exactly that. HELCO cannot promise they can do that, but it sounds someone hopeful. There is an electrical substation near the plant location that could possibly be rigged to operate independently for our part of the island. Again, no promises, but they are supposedly working on that. USGS: I wasnt able to speak directly to a Civil Defense representative, but USGS informed me that the County is talking about cutting Hwy 130 just before the lava overruns it in an attempt to channel the flow and direct it across the highway right-of-way -- thus keeping the lava from backing up and spreading out on the mauka side of the highway. Makes a lot of sense. The narrower the flow across the highway, the less disruptive it will be to the utility providers, and the easier it will hopefully be to reconnect utilities and reconstruct the road after the flow quits moving. CELL SERVICE: AT&T Cellular was not represented at the fair, but Verizon was. Later today I spoke with AT&Ts director of engineering on Oahu. He apologized for their not being present at the fair, and said theyd try and make sure they attended future gatherings. Anyway, our AT&T cell tower is located near the geothermal plant. It is powered by HELCO and served by Hawaiian Telcom, but also has a microwave backbone -- meaning that they can operate off the grid with generator power. According to this director of engineering, they have generators on the way, and expect to be independently operable in the event of an outage. Their microwave service doesnt have the same bandwidth capacity as their normal fiber optic connection via Hawaiian Telcom, but it will still provide both cell and data service. The more customers on the line, the more overtaxed the system will be, so people will be encouraged to economize their cell usage by texting first, calling second, and using data only when you really need to. So, all things considered, what I learned today doesnt sound as doom-and-gloomy as I thought it might. If these utility providers can indeed do what they say they are attempting to do, we may get lucky and our disruptions may be only temporary. Obviously, information will get more detailed as we get closer to the day that Pele meets the highway. Lets hope and pray that the main Pahoa Village area is spared. Ann Rickard
Posted on: Sun, 14 Sep 2014 01:42:39 +0000
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