Consent Decree Testimony Needed by Monday, February 6
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and Navy are asking for public comments on a consent decree regarding the defueling and closure of the Red Hill Facility, and the operation of the Pearl Harbor drinking water system. Please help send a clear message to the EPA and Navy that this document is simply unacceptable!
The consent decree was negotiated by EPA and DOD officials without any consultation with the Honolulu Board of Water Supply, or the community whose lives, home, children, and future generations remain in existential jeopardy every day that fuel remains in the decrepit Red Hill Bulk Fuel Storage Facility and its actively corroding underground storage tanks.
As a result, the decree buys into a defueling timeline that the DOH, BWS, and public have rejected as far too slow; fails to provide for any meaningful protections or deadlines to keep the Navy from dragging its feet; and could even supersede the DOH's emergency order that calls for the defueling and closure of the Red Hill Facility.
All of us who love and call Hawaiʻi home; who care about these islands and the well-being of our children and future generations; and who refuse to let the Navy and the EPA cut a deal that keeps our island, our lives, and our future in jeopardy for over a year and a half must submit written comments by Monday, February 6 emphasizing how unacceptable this consent decree is. You can read the consent decree here.
Suggested Talking Points for Comments on the EPA/Navy Consent Decree:
1) EPA must NOT agree to anything that could hamstring or even override the Department of Health's emergency order to defuel and close the Red Hill Facility. It does not matter if EPA officials "hope" there will be no conflict between the EPA, DOH and/or Navy, or that they will "try" to resolve any conflicts that may arise. The DOH emergency order must take precedence over any possible conflict with the consent decree, including and especially DOH requirements that could defuel and close the Red Hill Facility much more quickly than the Navy’s current defueling plan.
2) EPA MUST require the Navy to move *faster* and NOT buy into their two-year defueling plan timeline. The 2015 Administrative Order on Consent between the EPA and Navy is a prime example of how the Navy has used "consent" decrees or orders as a tool to drag their feet at best; at worst, the Navy simply fails to follow through on their commitments, with no consequence. Any consent decree must include clear and enforceable deadlines (with meaningful penalties) for faster action, and require the Navy to consult with experts who can identify additional, safer ways to defuel and close the Red Hill Facility much more quickly. NOTE: Deadlines may be the only way the community will be able to evaluate whether defueling delays are due to Navy foot-dragging, or bona fide, extenuating circumstances that could justify keeping our water and island in daily jeopardy.
3) EPA MUST require the Navy to warn its water system users about its safe drinking water violations. The EPA identified a litany of failures on the part of the Navy to operate its water system safely, some of which are addressed in the consent decree. In addition, hundreds of people have continued to report sheens or odors with their tapwater, and hundreds more have reported ongoing health issues months after their water was declared “safe.” Moreover, water quality data indicates there may be PFAS levels in the Navy’s water system at hundreds of times the EPA's health advisory guidelines. The Navy must be required to meaningfully inform the child development centers, schools, businesses, and residents about the fact that their drinking water system has not been and continues to be in non-compliance with federal and state safe drinking water laws.
4) EPA MUST prohibit the use of "forever chemicals" in the Red Hill Facility's fire suppression system. We cannot tolerate the risk of "forever chemicals" - just a small amount of which could permanently contaminate trillions of gallons of water - being released just 100 feet above our sole source aquifer. With PFAS-free fire fighting foams readily available, there is no excuse to continue risking the permanent and irreversible contamination of our ʻāina and wai with chemicals that could result in cancer and other serious health impacts, for generations into the future.
5) EPA MUST require the Navy to fund an independent, certified lab on Oʻahu that can provide water testing results in a timely manner. It is unacceptable that we must still wait for weeks for lab results from the continent, to know whether the water near our wells and in the Navy’s drinking water system may be poisoned by jet fuel, PFAS, or other contaminants from the Red Hill Facility.
6) EPA MUST require the Navy to engage more meaningfully with the community. The public must be able to assess the Navy's actions and hold its leaders accountable for the mess we are in. Navy leaders need to hold monthly if not weekly meetings, to hear and respond to the questions and concerns of the community who may be one earthquake, one human error, or one age-related structural failure away from total destruction.