Work on cutting a “pioneer road” over the large lava channel was completed on December 14, the Hawaiʻi Tribune-Herald reported.
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| Lava covers part of the Puna Geothermal Venture site (U.S Air National Guard Photo by Tech. Sgt. Andrew Jackson) |
The lower East Rift Zone eruption of Kīlauea began on May 3, 2018 and forced Puna Geothermal to shut down. For several dramatic weeks, lava threatened to inundate the power plant, and officials scrambled to prevent a potential catastrophic interaction between the volcanic activity and the resource wells at the industrial facility. PGV has been offline ever since.