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| The Puna Geothermal Venture plant in Pohoiki in lower Puna. (Photo courtesy of PGV) |
Bill 292, which was introduced by Council Chairman Dominic Yagong, would limit drilling conducted within a mile of any residence to between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m.
The measure, which is designed to reduce noise impacts, was approved on its first reading on Oct. 3 and will be the subject of a public hearing Friday in Pahoa. A final vote is scheduled to be taken next month.
Those critical of the bill since that first vote include two state agencies, two Big Island chambers of commerce and the world’s largest oilfield services company.
According to the geothermal consulting company GeothermEx, restricting drilling to 12 hours each day would mean it would take three times as long to drill a well. That’s because for safety reasons, the drilling crews would have to spend up to several hours to pull the drill bit out of the hole at the end of drilling and then again to reinsert it before operations could resume, an Oct. 12 memo to the state said.
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