A Hawaiʻi Geothermal Litigation List ( some of the main ones from1986–2026) via ecourtkokua public data
- wearepuna
- 2 minutes ago
- 6 min read
1. Active & Pending Citizen Actions that need Lahui Support in person at upcoming court dates (TBA) :
Sara Steiner v. County of Hawaiʻi Planning Department, Zendo Kern (in his capacity of county Planning Director who accepted fraudulent EIS), and Puna Geothermal Venture (aka PGV , which is Ormat: Israeli owned geothermal in Hawaii )
Forum: Hawaiʻi Intermediate Court of Appeals (ICA)
Status: HIGHLY ACTIVE / PENDING APPEAL !
The Issue: A direct challenge to the fast-tracked acceptance of PGV’s Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS) for the "Repower Project" expansion. The 157-page injunction public documents detail documented evidence of decades of emissions misreporting, operational data discrepancies, and unaddressed community health metrics. Advocates argue the appellate process is being systemically slowed down while expansion permits are actively expedited.
"The Puna community's fight for their environment, particularly the Hawaii geothermal injunction, appears deliberately delayed while efforts are made to rapidly advance geothermal expansion across the islands. This includes the introduction of 16 geothermal-related bills in the recent legislative session. As a participant in this injunction, along with a dozen other concerned community members and two volcano scientists who studied Kilauea and the 2018 eruption, I truly question when our constitutional rights will be recognized." - Jasmine Steiner, KahuPuna Aloha Activism
The Hawaiʻi Geothermal Rulemaking Petition Lawsuit
Forum: Environmental Court (Hilo, Hawaiʻi)
Status: ACTIVE / AWAITING WRITTEN DECISION since the April 15th first hearing.
The Issue: A formal suit demanding a comprehensive overhaul of the state's outdated geothermal regulatory framework. Following an intensive evidentiary hearing on April 15, 2026, the case is currently pending a final written ruling from the Environmental Court judge regarding mandated modern enforcement standards.
This Rulemaking lawsuit is crucial as it affects all future geothermal projects in Hawaii. It aims to safeguard our future generations and requires full support from the LaHui. In the rest of the "United States of America," there are very strict rules and environmental regulations for geothermal energy, but Hawaii has never implemented such rules or regulations. Puna Geothermal operates without monitoring or regulation, located in close proximity to our homes on one of the world's most active volcanoes (such proximity is not permitted in the continental USA, where they are located far from residential areas!).
2. Historical Environmental & Permit Challenges
Puna Pono Alliance v. Puna Geothermal Venture, County of Hawaiʻi, and DLNR (2024 / CAAP-19-0000872)
Forum: Hawaiʻi Intermediate Court of Appeals
The Issue: A major preemption battle over Hawaiʻi County Code § 14-114, which attempted to legally restrict geothermal drilling to daytime hours if within a one-mile radius of any residence. The court ultimately held that comprehensive State regulatory authority preempted local county ordinances.
Pele Defense Fund v. Puna Geothermal Venture (1994 / 881 P.2d 1210)
Forum: Hawaiʻi Supreme Court
The Issue: A foundational administrative appeal challenging the Department of Health’s (DOH) issuance of "Authority to Construct" permits for a 14-well field and power facility. The ruling established definitive legal precedents for community standing and the necessity of contested case hearings regarding heavy industrial air permits.
Mederios v. Hawaiʻi County Planning Commission (1989 / 8 Haw. App. 385)
Forum: Hawaiʻi Intermediate Court of Appeals
The Issue: An early procedural challenge arguing that the Planning Commission violated basic constitutional due process by issuing geothermal resource permits without allowing adjacent Puna residents a formal contested case forum.
3. Sealed Health Claims, Toxic Torts & Nuisance Lawsuits:
The Consolidated Puna Toxic Tort Litigation (Early to Mid-1990s)
Forum: Third Circuit Court (Hilo)
Status: SETTLED / FINANCIALLY PAID OFF / PERMANENTLY SEALED.
The Issue: Mass-tort litigation triggered by the catastrophic June 12–14, 1991 blowout of well KS-8 (which uncontainably vented toxic gases, including hydrogen sulfide (H_2S), into the lower Puna atmosphere for over 31 hours), followed by a secondary blowout in 1992. Hundreds of nearby residents filed suit for acute respiratory distress, chronic neurological symptoms, and immediate property devaluation.
Outcome: To avoid public trial exposure, operators moved the cases into private mediation. The final settlement agreements featured strict corporate nondisclosure parameters, private medical monitoring funds, and permanently sealed financial payouts to plaintiffs, keeping the explicit terms off public eCourt Kokua dockets.
Legator, et al. v. Puna Geothermal Venture & True Geothermal Drilling (1990s)
Forum: Third Circuit Court / U.S. District Court for the District of Hawaiʻi
Status: RESOLVED VIA CONFIDENTIAL SETTLEMENT.
The Issue: Direct civil actions utilizing community health tracking data compiled by toxicologist Dr. Marvin Legator. The suits alleged a systemic pattern of chronic, low-level chemical exposure that resulted in neurobehavioral impairment for families downwind of the rift zone grid.
#AOLE !!!!!!! this all is STILL HAPPENING IN 2026!!!!! we are actively being erased and concealed with NO LAWYERS being brave enough in this entire world to help the Puna people!!! what gives? when will Puna Lives Matter?????
4. Cultural Rights & Traditional Native Practices
Pele Defense Fund v. Paty (1992 / 73 Haw. 578)
Forum: Hawaiʻi Supreme Court
The Issue: Landmark constitutional challenge against the state’s exchange of Wao Kele o Puna Natural Area Reserve public "ceded" lands for private acreage to facilitate industrial energy development. The Supreme Court ruled that Native Hawaiian traditional, customary, and gathering rights remain protected on these lands even after property exchange, severely altering the trajectory of unrestricted drilling within culturally sacred forests.
Dedman v. Board of Land and Natural Resources (1987 / 69 Haw. 255)
Forum: Hawaiʻi Supreme Court
The Issue: Religious freedom challenge led by Pele practitioners arguing that industrial geothermal exploitation of Kīlauea’s East Rift Zone directly desecrated the deity Pele and violated the Free Exercise Clause. The court ruled at the time that state interests in energy independence legally outweighed the perceived burden on traditional practices.
5. Federal Whistleblower & Commercial Actions
United States ex rel. Calilung & Kell v. Ormat Technologies Inc., et al. (2013–2018)
Forum: U.S. District Court for the District of Hawaiʻi
Status: RESOLVED VIA FEDERAL SETTLEMENT.
The Issue: A massive federal "Qui Tam" whistleblower lawsuit filed under the False Claims Act by two former employees. The suit alleged Ormat defrauded the U.S. Treasury by filing false applications for $136 million in federal clean-energy stimulus grants (Section 1603 program) for "expansions" at the Puna Geothermal facility that were actually pre-existing infrastructure. Ormat settled with the federal government for a multi-million dollar payout without admitting liability.
Huena Power Inc. v. Hawaiʻi Electric Light Co. (HELCO) (2015–2016)
Forum: Hawaiʻi Public Utilities Commission (PUC)
The Issue: An administrative commercial challenge brought by a local renewable energy entity alleging that HELCO's 50-megawatt geothermal request for proposals (RFP) was structured to intentionally favor incumbent corporate operators and freeze out indigenous, community-backed developers.
I feel hopeful in the fact that we have the ability as humanity to do our due diligence of researching these things when they are going to be coming into our yards, and the fact that there are SO MANY lived experiences from the only geothermal community in Hawaii over the past 5 decades that the people can see what the truth is , plain as day. It is not Pono.
Here in Puna we had Ashley Kierkawitch, the district 4 rep, launder 428,000 dollars for a made for media "water quality study" that she never once intended to carry out (she is a ORMAT placed pawn, acme from ormats lawyer firm Hastings and Pleadewell before she was placed in their district in Hawaii) . It would have proven exactly what the poisoned community of Puna in geothermal radius has been saying for so long : that they NEED HELP. Now her two terms are up and she smugly mocks the people she lied to and stole from who need clean futures for their babys. Where did the money go ??? we will never know or see it apparently until we do UIPA requests...
When will Puna Lives Matter?
they lists of past community litigations speak for itself. It is time we clean house in Puna. This is why I am now a masters student in criminal justice, I plan to open a free legal platform for all in Puna who have been concealed, threatened and gaslit when it comes to their sufferings at the hands of Israeli ormat in their yards for so long. Justice IS coming. CRIMINAL JUSTICE. mark my words.
End the lies
End the sell outs
End the mockery
End the desecration
end the crimes against humanity in Puna Hawaii
END PUNA GEOTHERMAL VENTURE
Jasmine Steiner
KahuPuna
Aloha Activism
LERZ Puna News Weekly (on FB)
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