Herald-Tribune July 12, 2008

Pepeekeo electricity plant aims to reopen
by Cameron Johnson
Tribune-Herald Staff Writer
Published: Saturday, July 12, 2008 7:24 AM HST
Neighbors worry about pollution, noise and traffic
Clean-up and renovation of Pepeekeo's former sugar plantation power plant began Monday by a company planning to make electricity by burning wood and plant material.

Hu Honua Bioenergy wants to reconfigure and reopen the 24-megawatt plant by December 2010, a move some neighbors fear will decrease air quality and increase traffic.

It will take three trucks an hour coming from the Paauilo area to fuel the Pepeekeo plant with biomass.

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"Because of the emissions, this is not just a Hamakua Coast issue -- the fallout goes to Hilo," said power plant neighbor Bobbye St. Ambrogio. "Hilo's going to be stuck between the vog and the power plant smoke."

Hu Honua made a presentation Wednesday night to members of the Pepeekeo Homeowner's Association. One woman asked them to consider the power plant's impact on generations to come.

"It's different now (in Pepeekeo)," the woman said. "It's not a compatible use. This is a quiet, wonderful little community."

Dan KenKnight, director of Hu Honua, said everyone who moved into the area should have known a power plant is located at the bottom of Sugar Mill Road.

"We're not bringing something back that was never anticipated," KenKnight said. "It stopped in 2004 and the facility has been there. It's not fair to say the community just grew up around it."

Hu Honua wants to burn nut shells, wood waste and invasive plant material as well as agricultural and landscaping waste, KenKnight said

All of which depends on whether Hu Honua can strike a deal to sell its electricity to Hawaiia Electric Light Co.

The last time smoke passed through the stack was 2004, before Hilo Coast Power Co. shut the plant down because Hawaii Electric Light Co. decided not to renew its power-purchasing contract.

In 2005, new owners Pacific Rim Energy Partners sought federal Environmental Protection Agency permits to burn biomass. That effort ended when Oahu-based Ethanol Research Hawaii purchased the plant, now co-owned by ERH and MMA Renewable Ventures, KenKnight said.

MMA Renewable Ventures, headquartered in Baltimore, is wholly owned by Municipal Mortgage and Equity LLC also of Baltimore.

Once operational, the Pepeekeo plant will power 18,000 homes and account for between 7 percent and 10 percent of the Big Island's power, said Mark Higgins, Hu Honua's vice president of finance.

By burning unusable materials from the eucalyptus timber industry and other green waste, Hu Honua claims it will save HELCO from burning 225,000 to 250,000 barrels of oil a year.

For the next 12 to 18 months specialists will inspect the equipment to see what needs to be replaced or updated, said engineer Tim Formaz.

Several Pepeekeo residents expressed concern that coal would be burned once the island's biofuel supply has been exhausted.

The goal is to burn 100 percent biomass, said Tim Lasocki, Hu Honua's vice president of bioenergy business development. Coal will be on-site in case of natural disasters. If the supply of biomass is disrupted for more than a few days, he said, the plant would burn coal.

"If we're burning coal, we're losing money," Lasocki said.

The biomass plant will put 10 to 20 times less particulate matter into the air than a coal-burning plant, KenKnight said. The goal, he said, is to burn a clean, sustainable fuel.

Hu Honua can't take advantage of federal tax credits if coal is the primary fuel, Higgins said.

The plant still has a permit, secured by Hilo Coast Power in 2004, allowing it to burn coal and fuel oil, said Nolan Hirai, supervisor of the engineering section of the Clean Air Branch of the state Department of Health.

"It's still valid," Hirai said. "If someone wanted to operate under the current permit without any changes, that would be legal."

To burn biomass, however, Hu Honua needs an amendment to the plant's EPA permit, Hirai said. That could take anywhere from "three months to a year, and sometimes longer, depending on how complete the application is."

The state will look at the air quality assessments, review the plant's operations and consider public comment, Hirai said. The emission limits will be assessed.

"It's hard to compare the different fuels (biomass and coal) until you know the combustion process and the air pollution controls you have," Hirai said.

Wednesday's meeting with Pepeekeo residents in the Kulaimano Community Center was the third Hu Honua representatives have had with residents.

"Every time we meet with them, they rework their presentation to meet our questions," St. Ambrogio said. (Hu Honua is) just using us. When they do go before HELCO, they will have carefully crafted their message and will have all the right answers. They are sucking out the information from the community."

Not all at the meeting were unhappy with Hu Honua's plan. One man asked representatives if they will be hiring past plant workers. KenKnight said the company will hire only area workers and area contractors.

Some asked what the company will do to compensate for the additional traffic and emissions. Some proposed that Hu Honua build a bike trail or a playground.

KenKnight said 50,000 tons of green waste are going into the Hilo landfill every year. Hu Honua is not looking for grasses to burn, but the "more woody stuff."

One banana farmer at the meeting had concerns with biomass being trucked to Pepeekeo because it could bring in invasive pests. Also, he was concerned with the dust that could end up in his catchment water.

One woman was concerned about the health risks of raising four children within sight of the stacks.

Burning wood represents an 80 percent decrease in the output of sulfur dioxides over coal, Lasocki said.

St. Ambrogio wondered if any Hu Honua representatives would like to live across the street from her.

"Would you build a million dollar house on the ocean right across from me and let your children breathe that air?" St. Ambrogio said.

E-mail Cameron Johnson at cjohnson@hawaiitribune--herald.com.