To: Hawaii County Council, Hawaii Department of Health, Public Utilities Commission, Office of Hawaiian Affairs, and U.S. Geological Survey

For over 55 years, the Puna Geothermal Venture (PGV) in Puna, Hawaii, has inflicted profound harm on our community’s health, environment, and Native Hawaiian culture. Operating on the sacred lands of Pele, the volcano goddess, and Kaneikawaiola, the deity of life-giving waters, PGV’s industrial drilling desecrates our cultural heritage and threatens our well-being with toxic emissions and seismic risks. The 2024 Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS) for PGV’s Repower Project (approved January 22, 2024) was accepted despite documented flaws, ignoring evidence of health impacts from toxins like hydrogen sulfide, arsenic, and mercury, seismic dangers, and cultural violations, as challenged in the ongoing 2024 injunction.

The $428,000 USGS groundwater study (approved March 2024) is a step forward but critically limited, focusing only on water quality and neglecting air pollution, health effects, and cultural desecration. Past studies (2015, 2020) failed to test downslope wells or coastal springs, and no comprehensive health or cultural assessments have addressed the community’s suffering—respiratory issues, neurological symptoms, and spiritual trauma—over decades. Incidents like the 1991 KS-8 well blowout, 2013 EPA violations ($76,500 fine for hydrogen sulfide releases), 2014 Tropical Storm Iselle release (39 pounds of H2S), and 2018 Kilauea eruption risks (lava-covered wells, quenching-related explosions) underscore PGV’s dangers. The 2013 Adler Report called for health studies, yet none have been conducted, and the 2024 injunction, led by Sara Steiner and supported by Palikapu Dedman, highlights the FEIS’s failure to consult Native Hawaiian practitioners or address Pele’s desecration.

We, the undersigned, demand immediate, comprehensive studies to expose PGV’s full impact and protect Puna’s people, land, and culture. We call for:

Comprehensive Health Studies: Fund independent, peer-reviewed research to investigate respiratory, neurological, and cancer risks from PGV’s emissions of hydrogen sulfide, arsenic, mercury, and other toxins, as raised in the 2024 injunction and unaddressed for 55 years.

Expanded Environmental Monitoring: Broaden the USGS study to include air quality, downslope private wells, coastal springs, and near-ocean environments, testing for all contaminants linked to PGV’s operations, including those from the 1991 and 2014 incidents.

Seismic Risk Assessment: Study PGV’s contribution to induced seismicity in the Kilauea East Rift Zone, particularly after the 2018 eruption’s well-quenching risks, to ensure public safety, as noted in the injunction.

Cultural Impact Evaluation: Conduct an ethnographic study with Native Hawaiian practitioners to document the desecration of Pele’s sacred lands and Kaneikawaiola’s waters, including restricted access to cultural sites, disruption of hula and oli, and intergenerational trauma, as testified by Dedman in the 2024 lawsuit.

Moratorium on PGV Operations: Suspend all PGV activities, including the 2024 Power Purchase Agreement (expanding to 46 MW by 2027), until these studies confirm safety and address health and cultural harms.

PGV’s operations violate our cultural heritage and threaten our health, as evidenced by the fraudulent FEIS, ignored community testimonies (e.g., Robert Petricci’s comments), and 55 years of unaddressed suffering. We stand with #AoLePGV, the Pele Defense Fund, and leaders like Emily Naeole to demand accountability. A cultural study will validate the spiritual harm to Pele’s lands, while health studies will expose the toxic legacy of PGV, supporting our call to shut it down.

Sign now to demand these studies and stop PGV’s harm. Join us at the August 26, 2025, Pāhoa Neighborhood Facility meeting to amplify our voices. Together, we can protect Puna’s health, environment, and sacred heritage!

Contact: wearepuna@gmail.com

Support: #AoLePGV on X and TikTok, www.change.org/pgv petitionaole