By Norm Dixon
The Sierra Club Legal Defense Fund, on behalf of a coalition of 12 environmental, cultural, neighbourhood and business groups, has filed a lawsuit against the state of Hawaii.
The suit challenges the state's pursuit of the Hawaii Geothermal Project — an immense four-phase plan to build a complex of 20 geothermal power plants on the slopes of Kilauea Volcano.
The US$4 billion project, the largest ever undertaken in Hawaii, is to provide 500 megawatts of energy for use on Oahu, Maui, and the big island (Hawaii) by an inter-island cable system. The project threatens the important Wao Kele O Puna Rainforest and the health and safety of people living near the development.
The coalition argues that the activities of this federal-state-private combine are in violation of the Hawaii Environmental Policy Act (HEPA).
Although over $17 million in state funds has been appropriated for the project in the past 15 years, no state environmental impact statement has been completed. Modelled on federal law, HEPA requires that an EIS be done at the earliest possible opportunity, before project momentum becomes too great.
"The state defendants' enthusiasm for the Hawaii Geothermal Project has outrun both their good sense and one of Hawaii's fundamental environmental laws", said Skip Spaulding, attorney for the Sierra Club.
In June a federal court ruled that the potential environmental, social, and economic effects of the project warrant an EIS. The ruling stated the US federal government was in violation of the National Environmental Policy Act by participating in the first three phases of the project without the completion of an adequate federal EIS. All US agencies are now prohibited from assisting in the project.
"This new lawsuit is the decisive stroke in our campaign to protect the Wao Kele O Puna Rainforest", said Meg Ruby of Greenpeace USA. "The state's pursuit of geothermal has been a Rambo-like approach to a complex energy problem."
"The planning and engineering of this development are happening in secret, behind closed doors. State law provides for an open public forum to examine projects affecting our health and environment before substantial commitments are made. We are taking action to force the government to follow its own laws", said Carl Freedman of the Blue Ocean Preservation Society.
Support for the project was further eroded by a dangerous blow-out at a drilling site close to the township of Pahoa in June. Experts who investigated the accident found that the drill broke through a geothermal reservoir at about 100 metres below the surface — half the depth the drilling company had expected.
The experts' report accused the drilling company of not reading the warning signs, lacking expertise and not using proper equipment. The report also criticised state and county authorities for failing to enforce regulations.
Hawaii County ordered the work to be halted, but the company did not follow the direction. The blown-out well has been leaking noxious hydrogen sulphide and other gases since.
In April protesters succeeded in stopping another geothermal site within the rainforest proceeding. A blockade was established to prevent the bulldozing of more pristine forest and the drilling of new wells.