from parents at the border >>> STORY ON PAGE A5
Showing
no signs
of slowing
Estimates show lava erupting
at higher rate than previous
two eruptions in Kapoho area
ABRUPT
REVERSAL
President ends his policy
of separating children
Energy lab solar desalination project awarded nearly $2M
Index
Big Isle History B4
Classified B6
Comics B5
Commentary A6
Issue No. 172
20 Pages in
2 Sections
Today’s
weather
Page A2
Community A8
Crossword B4
Cryptoquote B4
Dear Abby B4
Horoscope B4
Island Beat A10
Letters A6
Nation A5
Obituaries A2
Sports B1
State A4
Surf Report A2
Thursday, June 21, 2018
Internet
Visit us on the Web at:
www.hawaiitribune-herald.com
KILAUEA ERUPTION
Governor signs abandoned vehicle bill
By MICHAEL BRESTOVANSKY
Hawaii Tribune-Herald
In an effort to improve
Hawaii’s public roads, Gov.
David Ige signed a bill
Wednesday that requires
counties to remove abandoned
vehicles within 10
days of their abandonment.
House Bill 2442 went
into effect immediately
after Ige signed it.
The final version of the bill
not only requires counties to take
possession of abandoned vehicles
within 10 business days of
abandonment, but
also repeals a statute
that required
counties to dispose
of vehicles
through public
auctions. While
public auctions
are allowed as options to dispose
of confiscated vehicles, no
county is required to host one.
Counties also are required
to give notice about the status
and location of abandoned
vehicles to their owners. The
vehicles will be disposed of if
owners do not recover them
within 10 business days.
While the bill states that
counties should address vehicles
within 10 business days of
abandonment, Rep. Chris Todd,
D-Hilo, who co-introduced LAURA RUMINSKI/West Hawaii Today
Abandoned vehicles are seen on the side of Mamalahoa
Highway in South Kona in this June 2016 file photo.
By CAMERON MICULKA
West Hawaii Today
KAILUA-KONA — Nearly
$2 million will be coming to
the Natural Energy Laboratory
of Hawaii Authority as part of
a U.S. Department of Energy
program funding efforts to
improve desalination technologies
using solar power.
The Hawaii SunShot Desal
Project, located at NELHA’s
Hawaii Ocean Science and
Technology Park in Kailua-
Kona, will be one of 14
programs throughout the
country to get money from
the federal agency’s Solar
Energy Technologies Office.
NELHA Executive
Director Gregory Barbour
said the Hawaii project will
be the world’s largest forward
osmosis, solar thermal
desalination plant.
The Hawaii SunShot Desal
Project is focused on advancing
the viability of solar-powered
forward osmosis by
reducing the water’s unit cost
40 percent less than current
state-of-the art technology.
The project will include
commissioning an existing
2-megawatt solar thermal
array at the HOST Park
and connecting it to a
130,000-gallons-per-day forward
osmosis system, delivering
the desalinated water
to Cyanotech, a commercial
customer at the HOST Park,
See ABANDONED Page A7
See PROJECT Page A9
By TOM CALLIS
Hawaii Tribune-Herald
The 7-week-old eruption
on Kilauea’s lower
East Rift Zone has reached
a new milestone.
Steve Brantley, Hawaiian
Volcano Observatory deputy
scientist-in-charge, said
during a community meeting
Tuesday evening in Pahoa
that preliminary estimates
show it has produced about
145 million cubic meters of
lava — more than the last
two eruptions in the area.
“It’s a very difficult number
to come up with,” he said.
“But it gives you a ballpark
that this current eruption is
erupting lava at a higher rate
than both of those eruptions.
“At this point, it doesn’t
look like it’s slowing
down whatsoever.”
Brantley said the 1960
eruption that destroyed the
village of Kapoho erupted 122
million cubic meters of lava
over 37 days, while the 1955
eruption produced 81 million
cubic meters over 88 days.
The ongoing eruption
started May 3 and is
approaching its 50th day.
It has
destroyed 577
homes, by official
estimates.
The Federal
Emergency
Management
Agency
opened a Disaster Recovery
Center last week at the
Keaau High School.
Janet Snyder, spokeswoman
for the Mayor’s Office,
said Wednesday morning
that more than 1,000 people
have registered with
FEMA. Despite rumors to
the contrary, she said residents
don’t need a letter
from the county to register
with FEMA for assistance.
The Disaster Recovery
Center is open from 8 a.m.-
8 p.m. seven days a week.
HOLLYN JOHNSON/Tribune-Herald
A view from Luana Street shows fissure 8 fountaining Tuesday in Leilani Estates.
BRANTLEY
See LAVA Page A9
TODD
/www.hawaiitribune-herald.com