Emergency workers in Hawaii are racing to protect a geothermal power plant near the Kilauea Volcano. Slow-moving molten rock entered the site and is just a few hundred yards from the wells. There is concern lava could trigger the release of deadly hydrogen sulfate gas, reports CBS News’ Mark Strassmann.
Lava continued its steady advance toward the Puna Geothermal Venture Plant before stalling late Monday. The facility is shut down, but the wells there still present a risk if overrun with the molten rock.
“It’s not easy to predict where it’s going to go, and when it’s going to get there,” said Tom Travis, of Hawaii Emergency Management.
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Flammable liquids have already been removed and the wells have been filled with cold water, but won’t be plugged until today. A worst-case scenario could be catastrophic.
“There’s a steam release, many chemicals, but primarily hydrogen sulfate, a very deadly gas,” Travis said.
Steam plumes rise as lava enters the Pacific Ocean, after flowing to the water from a Kilauea volcano fissure, on Hawaii’s Big Island on May 21 near Pahoa, Hawaii. Officials are concerned that ‘laze’, a dangerous product produced when hot lava hits cool ocean water, will affect residents. Laze, a word combination of lava and haze, contains hydrochloric acid steam along with volcanic glass particles.
Meanwhile lava continued to burst from the area’s active fissures Monday. Not one but two flows of lava now pour into the Pacific Ocean. Their three-mile journey over land left behind lava mounds that in some cases tower 20 feet high and shut down highways.
Hundreds of evacuees have been forced from their homes for nearly three weeks. Families support each other in a makeshift relief center, offering hot meals and donated clothes. Heath Dalton’s house burned down last week. He’s frustrated officials made him leave days earlier, before he could remove any of his family’s belongings.
“They wouldn’t let anybody in. And now there’s probably 130 acres covered in lava. There’s downed power poles, cracks in the road, fissures coming everywhere. Now they’re letting people in,” Dalton said.
Along with all the molten rock, fissures also pump out toxic gases including sulfur dioxide. Shifting winds are a worry and sightseeing residents have been urged to stay away.
I realize that this article comes from the useless mainstream media, but did it not occur to this so-called “journalist” to find out exactly WHY hydrogen sulfate gas will be emitted if lava overruns the power plant? I saw tankers of flammable materials being removed about a week ago (the story on a major network station ALSO didn’t say why those materials were at the facility – one might presume they have something to do with the geothermal power conversion??). But one simple question would likely result in a very simple answer that could then be conveyed to readers. And the mainstream media still doesn’t get why they are in mass decline.
Hydrogen sulfate is a dissociated ion in solution of sulfuric acid. I think he means hydrogen sulfide.
But hydrogen sulfide gas is being emitted from the volcano now. That is a very common volcanic gas. Why exactly would it get worse when lava fills up the power plant?
Might have something to do with the solvents, or heat transfer fluids, on site used in the plant. H2S is common but very deadly. Natural Gas plants that strip sulfur, have major safety systems in place in the event of a leak, since death can occur in 20 to 30 seconds after inhalation.
Media is a bunch of illiterate incompetent idiots, demonstrated so well by this article. hydrogen sufate does not exist; what exists and what they probably mean is hydrogen sulfide (H2S) which is a toxic gas, and sulfuric acid (H2SO4) which can release hydrosulfate ion (HSO4-) in water, which is no gas. Heat transfer fluid in that plant is pentane, which has been removed. So it is not clear why there will be H2S emissions, and only thing that is clear is that journalists are idiots. I am a chemist.
Journalism is dead.
Yep you can stick a fork in it. And no one knows the English language any more. Typos/misspellings/run-on sentences galore.
I wonder how much pollution is this volcano generating? I would bet it’s more than all the auto emissions for a couple of years.
I generally prefer immense displays of sudden power but this Kilauea eruption is pretty fucking awesome! It’s an unrelenting grind. The most refreshing thing about it is there aren’t a million inept bureaucrats running around trying to figure out ways to stop it. All they can do is let it come and deal with the aftermath. I’d love to go see it in person.
I can still dig up Mt St. Helens ash in my yard.
The volcanoes were there first; suck it up.