Time to begin discussing Puna lava viewing site

[ironyak]

MarkD - County is said to be considering a lava viewing plan suggested by Puna resident Jason Twillman.
http://www.bigislandvideonews.com/2018/0...to-decide/

I think you missed a major part of this article - County does not appear to really be considering any of these options.

On July 16, Mayor Harry Kim said it could be a matter of days before they opened up a public lava viewing station. He suggested that they have up to 6 places they were considering. 11 days later and Diane Ley from the Department of Research and Development for the County of Hawai’i is saying we are not even close.

I, like several others, have submitted a proposal for a viewing station that would not only generate income for those of us who have lost everything, but it would also honor locals in their grieving process by allowing them viewing access. As local businesses in Pahoa claim 50-80% decreases in business, these proposals would bring in hundreds, if not thousands, of tourists to our town every day. [...]

It’s becoming clear that this isn’t about safety. It’s about control. Control of power and money.

When following up with Diane, she stated that County was reviewing our proposal this week. Only to follow up the next day saying, “as the County’s proposed lava viewing program remains in the discussion stage and no final decisions have been made, it is best that I not share specifics as parameters may change.” What this tells me is that they are not considering our proposal. In fact, since proposing our plan Civil Defense has restricted access to our neighborhood and no longer allows us to bring in guest vehicles. They did so without posting any public updates. [...]

Yesterday we found out that Jack’s Tour Company is going out of business after 50 years of operation. How many more businesses must diminish or die before we are allowed to invite tourism back into our economy?

more at link

[PaulW]

I hope you're joking about the Ferris wheel! Any lava viewing site would have to be something that can be dismantled and moved easily.
I was thinking of a raised wooden platform with steps near the "lava river" - similar to the one they had in NYC at Ground Zero.
Probably the easiest for the County would be to licence a number of tour operators and just have people waive rights to everything before going in to the Zone.

[MarkD]

iron yak: "I think you missed a major part of this article - County does not appear to really be considering any of these options."

Of course you might be right on the second part of your statement. Re the first part -- all I did is post this story.

I think my headline. "County is said to be considering....." is fair. The County has been informed of the plan.

But I appreciate how the text in the story conflicts with the headline they used (and I used), as you point out. I could have written "Locals slam lack of progress on lava viewing," but I wanted to highlight the proposal.

Jason Twillman--his hippie-type appearance notwithstanding--does a good job on his presentation. He is informed and persuasive.

Jason's sentiments are a heck of a lot better than a lot of the gross exaggerations and B.S. we've been seeing from lava-viewing critics, including some officials, for 2 months now.

- - - -

ETA: At 3:41 Jason shows the structure that would apparently be used to view the river. It is not clear how much (if any) of the river or Fissure 8 can be seen from here. Little doubt that at night the place will be spectacular (if night viewing is allowed) because of how lava illuminates the night.

But day time?

IMO viewers out to be able to walk some distance out on the channel to approach the river, say to within 50 yards, if the wind is good. I do not find the claim that the lava river can spill over at any channel wall location at any time with little warning plausible.

A visual review of the entire lava river channel shows several areas where hardened lava is significantly higher than the river level. This is where the route ought to be built, allowing safe river viewing from the adjacent channel wall.

This clip, again, shows a good lava viewing site. It is much further back than 50 yards, but has the benefit of elevation. Go to 1:35. I believe these were authorized viewers.

http://www.bigislandvideonews.com/2018/0...pillovers/

Apparently officials considered this site and rejected it, probably for logistical rather than for safety reasons. Elevation is critical. Don't have elevation, then the site has to be closer to the river.

[kalakoa]

On July 16, Mayor Harry Kim said it could be a matter of days before they opened up a public lava viewing station.

Kim didn't say how many days. Could be hundreds.

[taropatch]

quote:

---

Originally posted by PaulW

I hope you're joking about the Ferris wheel! Any lava viewing site would have to be something that can be dismantled and moved easily.
I was thinking of a raised wooden platform with steps near the "lava river" - similar to the one they had in NYC at Ground Zero.
Probably the easiest for the County would be to licence a number of tour operators and just have people waive rights to everything before going in to the Zone.

---

For those who don't/can't do the steps, a temporary elevator system similar to what the construction guys use? I know we want it to be free but heck I'd be willing to pay 10-20 bucks to see fissure 8 spewing. Wonder what the "safe viewing distance" would be as this would be different from the lava hitting the seawater?

[punaticbychoice]

Chunkster @ 07:03:11 07/27/2018-
I would write almost the same post that you just did.
However as far as County employees are concerned, in the last few months,
I and some others I've heard of have been treated with discourtesy, even contempt
by some younger "local" County employees.
Given that attitude,and the destructive actions of politicians like Kai Kahale and
Donovan Dela Cruz, the pandering to OHA and DHHL (see: TMT for example) and other
considerations and experiences particularly over the last couple of years, it is likely time to
leave after two decades. One can no longer laugh off the situation.

[ironyak]

WBUR (Boston) interviewed Mayor Kim regarding the eruption and potential lava viewing. (No sites apparently meet the safety criteria for handling thousands of people at a time)

http://www.wbur.org/hereandnow/2018/07/3...fe-viewing

[HereOnThePrimalEdge]

No sites apparently meet the safety criteria

I don't know if this has been suggested before, but doesn't the County benefit by the lava flow being perceived as a dangerous emergency situation? One that requires Federal dollars to manage an ongoing disaster? Wouldn't opening a County lava viewing area in effect say, if the danger has lessened enough that busloads of tourists can be transported to the edge of the molten flow, then maybe it's become normalized enough into routine County operating procedure, and perhaps Federal intervention (and dollars) can be phased out.

Of course, it's the County and State that benefit from an ongoing emergency response scenario, not restaurants in Pahoa, or Jack's Tours, or any other number of private businesses trying to stay afloat without visitor dollars that might be spent if visitors could look at lava.

“Generalized intelligence and mental alertness are the most powerful enemies of dictatorship and at the same time the basic conditions of effective democracy.” - Aldous Huxley

[kalakoa]

doesn't the County benefit by the lava flow being perceived as a dangerous emergency situation? One that requires Federal dollars

Yes, and these are mostly paid for standing around. Why take unnecessary risk?

it's the County and State that benefit from an ongoing emergency response scenario, not restaurants in Pahoa

Not exactly -- Kaleo's is packed with USGS researchers spending their per-diem.

[HereOnThePrimalEdge]

Kaleo's is packed with USGS researchers

When I was in college I lived above bar called "The Office." It was packed, with businessmen who could honestly say when they came home late, "sorry, I was at the office."

Maybe if this eruption goes on long enough, one of us should open a new restaurant in Pahoa named "The Flow" or "Field Operations."

“Generalized intelligence and mental alertness are the most powerful enemies of dictatorship and at the same time the basic conditions of effective democracy.” - Aldous Huxley