Power station poses hazard

HONOLULU: A broad lava flow cascaded towards a Hawaii geothermal power station on Saturday, posing a new hazard as molten rock from the erupting Kilauea volcano bulldozed relentlessly through homes and backyards.

Since Hawaii’s Kilauea volcano began a once-in-a-century-scale eruption May 3, authorities have shut down the plant, removed flammable liquid and deactivated wells that tap into steam and gas deep in the earth’s core.

Magma has drained from Kilauea’s summit lava lake and flowed around 40km east underground, bursting out of about two dozen giant cracks or fissures near the plant.

Hawaii governor David Ige has said the wells are stable. But lava has never engulfed a geothermal plant anywhere in the world and the potential threat is untested, according to the head of the state’s emergency management agency.

Residents fear an explosive emission of deadly hydrogen sulfide and other gases should wells be ruptured.

“I don’t have any estimate on how long it will take to get there,” said US Geological Survey geologist Wendy Stovall on a conference call, on the flow moving towards PGV at about 15m per hour.

Residents have complained of health hazards from emissions from the plant since it went online in 1989 and PGV has been the target of lawsuits challenging its location on the flank of one of the world’s most active volcanoes.

In just the past 24 hours there were between 250 and 270 earthquakes at Kilauea’s summit, with four explosions on Saturday sending ash to altitudes as high as 3600m to 4500m, said Stovall and National Weather Service meteorologist John Bravender. US Marine Corp and National Guard helicopters are on standby.