Hot Tempers in Hawaii

By MICHAEL D. LEMONICK

It sounds like anenvironmentalist's dream. On the Big Island of Hawaii, the state government and several energy companies hope to replace by 2007 much of Hawaii's imported foreign oil with a supply of clean, natural and endlessly renewable power. They plan to do this by tapping the geothermal power contained in the molten rock that lies underground in the volcano-studded land.

However, environmentalists are anything but happy. Local conservation groups, along with such national organizations as the Rainforest Action Network, the Sierra Club and the Natural Resources Defense Council, call the geothermal project unsafe and unnecessary. Moreover, they argue, the drilling rigs, power plants, transmission lines and roads in the plan will harm or destroy tracts of the precious Wao Kele O Puna rain forest. Even native Hawaiian religious groups oppose the scheme, claiming that it will rob the volcano-dwelling goddess Pele of body heat.

The fight over geothermal energy has become one of the most divisive issues in Hawaii's history, pitting scientist against scientist and triggering demonstrations bigger than anything the state has seen since the Vietnam War. Last week trials began for 119 protesters hauled off in handcuffs in March for trying to block the gates at the test drilling site in the Wao Kele O Puna forest. Smaller-scale protests have been taking place sporadically since then.

The pro-geothermal camp has powerful arguments on its side. Hawaii currently depends on foreign oil to generate 87% of its electricity. Burning petroleum causes air pollution, and bringing it in by tanker makes oil spills an ever present danger. As an alternative energy source, geothermal generation is a proven technology. It supplies about 5% of California's electricity and provides power in two other states and about 20 foreign countries as well. Advocates admit that tapping the earth's heat in this fashion will also bring up noxious hydrogen sulfide and sulfur-dioxide gases, but they argue that the Kilauea volcano, just a few miles away, spews out far more of the very same gases.

The plan's proponents point out that only 3.2 of the forest's 10,930 hectares (eight of 27,000 acres) have been bulldozed so far, in preparation for installing a 25-MW, 12-well plant (only one well has been drilled). Even the most grandiose plan, which would generate 500 MW of electricity, would require only 142 hectares (350 acres). And while that would necessarily destroy some native plants and animals, at least one team of scientists from the University of Hawaii has concluded that Wao Kele O Puna has long since ceased to be pristine. Invaded by pigs, cats, mongooses and exotic plants brought to Hawaii in waves of immigration over hundreds of years, the forest is considered inferior to adjacent areas as an undisturbed natural biological laboratory.

Besides, advocates say, although Hawaii is the fourth smallest state, it ranks seventh in state-owned forest land, with 364,370 hectares (900,000 acres). Another 109,320 hectares (270,000 acres) are wildlife refuges, and 11,740 hectares (29,000 acres) are solely or jointly managed by the Nature Conservancy. "To suggest that the state of Hawaii is a villain for recklessly demolishing its rain forests is insulting and unfair," said Senator Daniel Inouye in June, while asking Congress to appropriate $15 million for Hawaiian geothermal research.

Those opposed to the development contend that the state is being, if not villainous, at least reckless. For one thing, they argue, putting power plants close to an active volcano is foolhardy. Another objection is that using the total area of cleared forest land to measure environmental damage is misleading. The roads that connect cleared areas are also destructive, since they provide avenues along which species from one area can invade another (plant seeds, for example, can stick to vehicle tires). Wao Kele O Puna may not be the most pristine forest in Hawaii, but just 10% of the state's original lowland rain forest remains intact. The forest is still home to animals, such as the Hawaiian hawk and the happy-face spider, which are found only in the islands, as well as to unique medicinal plants. Says Henry Auwae, a practitioner of herbal medicine who traveled to Washington last year to share his knowledge with the Smithsonian Institution: "Wao Kele produces these plants with a quality and potency I have found nowhere else."

Environmentalists also worry about how the electricity would get from the plant to Honolulu consumers, some 320 km (200 miles) away on the island of Oahu. Part of the plan calls for an undersea cable 222 km (138 miles) long, traversing the 1,920-meter-deep (6,300 ft.) Alenuihaha Channel. That would be the longest and deepest undersea electrical transmission line in the world. No one knows whether such a cable could operate reliably, nor whether its construction might harm the Cape Kinau nature reserve on Maui.

Finally, while they share the pro-geothermal group's abhorrence of burning oil to produce electricity, those opposed to the project believe that other technologies, including wind and solar power, should be given higher priority than geothermal. And by far the best way to reduce oil use, they say, is through conservation.

State officials respond that such measures are useful, but not sufficient, and that geothermal energy deserves a fair trial. Environmentalists can take heart, though, from the fact that a final master plan for the project and an environmental impact statement are not due until early 1992 -- leaving plenty of time for more protests.

With reporting by Jim Borg/Puna