Here’s the scoops from May 20th meeting on Red Hill

“The investigation is underway”, was the Navy’s go to answer at the last Fuel Tank Advisory Committee meeting—question after question. To be fair, yes their investigation is underway to determine the cause of the May 6 leak that released upwards of 1,000 gallons of fuel but they definitely were not as transparent as their rhetoric proclaimed. Instead, the Navy was evasive and vague, which just added to people’s frustration and concern.

We find it’s hypocritical for the Navy to say the leak was fully contained when the investigation is still underway and that’s why they cannot release any data.

As expected, most of the meeting focused around the May 6 leak. The Navy also provided an update on the work they completed since the last task force meeting, what they have underway, and what they will be doing in the future. 

Here is what we learned about the May 6 release: 

• The leak occurred around 6:35pm on Thursday, May 6. The Navy notified the Hawaiʻi Department of Health over the phone the next morning around 7:30am—more than 12 hours after the leak. 

• The leak happened one hour after the transfer of fuel into tank 20, the most mauka tank, from a dresser coupling in a pipeline—no fuel was released from a tank.

• Less than 1,000 gallons of fuel was released.

• It took four days for the Health Department to get access to Red Hill to conduct its own investigation, which occurred on May 10. The department will be doing another visit on May 21.

• The Navy claims that no fuel reached the environment, yet the Hawaiʻi Department of Health staff made it known that their data shows elevated levels of fuel contaminants in their soil vapor measurements following the May 6 leak. We are hunting down that data to find out more. 

There was a clear hero at yesterday’s meeting—Ernie Lau from the Honolulu Board of Water Supply. Year after year, Ernie has demonstrated his commitment to ensuring that Oʻahu’s water is safe to drink and that the Navy and the regulators are held accountable to the public. And he did it again yesterday, going above and beyond his duties to counter the Navy’s narrative and get out what information he could to share with the public. We named Ernie the Community Hero for our 50th anniversary back in 2018 and we continue to commend him for his hard work today.

There was also a clear loser—the Navy. Time and time again, the Navy stresses its commitment to transparency and doing everything in its power to protect Oʻahu’s water. But at the end of the day there is so much information they seem to be holding back, concerns they refuse to address, and discrepancies in narrative that arise between them and the regulatory agencies—that it just drills home the fact that we cannot trust the Navy and must continue to fight for the retirement of the Red Hill tanks. 

Thank you to everyone who attended the meeting and offered comments and questions. There were almost 100 people in the (zoom) room and the Navy, EPA and Health Department undoubtedly felt the pressure and community concern. For those unable to attend, the meeting was recorded and will be shared by the Health Department, probably on their Red Hill page here. 

The May 6 leak has brought the Red Hill tanks to front of everyone’s minds and several things are in the works to keep up the pressure on the Navy. Stay tuned, more to come soon!