PAHOA, Hawaii – A recent Puna Geothermal Ventures community meeting in Pahoa included some of the usual back and forth between industry watchdog group Puna Pono Alliance and PGV officials, but ended with a handshake and a word of thanks.

The Thursday meeting was a chance for area residents to come out and talk to representatives of the geothermal energy producer operating in Pohoiki.

Puna Pono president Robert Petricci pressed the company on several health and safety matters, like the need for better air-quality monitoring equipment.

After the – at times, heated – exchange, Petricci admitted that overall, there seems to be a fewer incidents at the power plant, which he said is moving in the right direction. The meeting even ended with a handshake and a word of thanks.

The video above features about 20 minutes of discussion from the December 8 meeting.

We will have more on this meeting, including a presentation from the Department of Land and Natural Resources on an upcoming project to plug and abandon two geothermal scientific wells in the area of Pahoa, as well as comments from Mayor Harry Kim on whether or not he intends to fund a geothermal health study for the area surrounding the PGV plant.