Puna lawmakers offer plans to ease impact of lava flow

PAHOA, Hawaii » As the most recent lava flow from the Kilauea Volcano showed no advancement on Wednesday, two Hawaii island legislators were preparing to propose several bills that they hope will reduce the ill effects of the so-called June 27 lava flow.

Sen. Russell Ruderman and Rep. Joy San Buenaventura, both Democrats representing Puna, will introduce bills to fund feasibility studies for alternative access routes in and out of lower Puna, one of which would be for a harbor.

Ruderman said Wednesday that he also will propose a feasibility study for an airstrip.

"We need a way of getting people and goods in and out of the area if the highway is cut off," he said.

Ruderman also plans to introduce a bill that would propose funds for a bookmobile, and another that will request emergency funds for the Puna Community Medical Center, which relocated because of the encroaching lava.

He also will seek emergency appropriations for two area charter schools whose funding, he said, could be in jeopardy because students have had to relocate.

"For a regular public school, they get money regardless of how many students they have" he said, "whereas charter schools only get money on a per-people formula. In the case of two charter schools impacted by the lava flow, they’ve been losing enrollment so their funding is going down … "

Meanwhile, San Buenaventura said the Hawaii Property Insurance Association should lift its moratorium in Puna. The state Legislature created the association to insure properties that have difficulty getting coverage; the agency has since stopped approving new policies because of the lava flow.

She hopes to introduce a bill to put an end to the moratorium, while another bill would require insurance companies to continue to cover individuals in the area. She’s also looking into solutions to the housing crisis caused by the lava flow, one of which may include providing state land for displaced individuals.

"There’s possibly a huge potential homeless problem if we can’t get that addressed," she said.

Meanwhile, a breakout of lava along the north side of the flow continued to be active but had not advanced since Tuesday. The leading edge of that breakout remained 0.4 mile from the area of Highway 130 mauka of the Pahoa police and fire stations. Two other breakouts, 1 to 1.5 miles upslope of the flow front, were sluggish and showing little signs of advancement, Hawaii County Civil Defense said.

The lava started two brush fires Wednesday, both mauka of Highway 130 and to the south of the Ainaloa subdivision, Civil Defense said. As of 4 p.m., the fires were contained within fire breaks.