$630,000 spent on lava-viewing program
Associated Press
KALAPANA, Hawai'i — The costs of viewing Kilauea Volcano's lava flow pour into the ocean are adding up.
Federal, state and county governments have spent an estimated $630,000 for the lava-viewing program since March.
The money has been used for security, toilets, staff, overtime, meals, supplies and construction of a two-mile access road.
Hawaii County Civil Defense Agency Administrator Quince Mento says about 400 cars and 1,000 people per day are visiting the viewing site.
That's a decline from mid-April, when about 2,000 people a day visited the lava's ocean entry point. The first day the site opened, between 8,000 and 10,000 people watched the lava.
Mento says lava continues to flow steadily into the ocean.
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Information from: Hawaii Tribune-Herald, www.hilohawaiitribune.com
