Red Hill action at every level
By Anna Chua | Reading time: 5 minutes
As there should be, there is a lot of action happening around the Red Hill fuel tanks at almost every level of government. This is the level of attention that these aging tanks have deserved for years. Here’s a quick rundown of what’s happened in the last couple weeks and what’s expected to come:
State Emergency Order
Remember when the Hawaiʻi Department of Health stood by its emergency order that the Navy must defuel its tanks at Red Hill on January 3? The Navy now has 30 days to appeal the Department of Health’s decision in circuit court, although even if the Navy appeals, the department’s emergency order remains in effect.
We are holding the line until February 2, which, under the emergency order, is the Navy’s deadline to develop a work plan and implementation schedule for the defueling of the Red Hill Facility. Thirty days after the completion of any “corrective actions” under the work plan, the Navy is required to remove the 100+ million gallons of fuel being stored in Kapūkakī.
We can only hope that Navy officials are finally seeing the light and holding themselves accountable for their actions. But we will not stand idly by: we are paying close attention to Navy officials’ public statements and actions to ensure that the Red Hill fuel tanks are defueled immediately and the facility shut down permanently.
Congress’s House Armed Services Committee Hearing
The Readiness Subcommittee of the House Armed Services Committee held a congressional hearing on Red Hill on January 11, where Navy officials told members that the military will comply with the Health Department’s emergency order to drain its Red Hill fuel facility. We are cautiously optimistic that the Navy “is complying” with the state’s emergency order – one that the Secretary of Defense Carlos del Toro stated he viewed as a “request” rather than an order. You can watch the hearing here.
Rear Admiral Converse confirmed that the Navy “is complying” with the emergency order, but does not know if the Navy will legally challenge the order. Adm. Converse also could not explain why the Health Department ordered the defueling of the Red Hill Facility or confirm the specific quantity of fuel and water spilled on November 20. In response to questions by Congressman Kahele, Navy officials confirmed that they have begun the contracting process for a plan to defuel the Red Hill Facility.
Amidst the back and forth, we noted a few important takeaways. Congressman Garamendi says he expects Red Hill to be addressed in next year’s National Defense Authorization Act. Additionally, there will be a classified meeting in the coming weeks to do a high-level assessment and discuss the relocation of fuel from the Red Hill fuel tanks.
State Water Commission Meeting
In related news, the Commission on Water Resource Management – the primary entity tasked with upholding the public trust in water and protecting our precious water resources – held its meeting focused on Red Hill on January 7. The meeting included a briefing by the Health Department and the Navy,a discussion on the Navy's groundwater use permits for their wells and hours of powerful community testimony.
The Health Department re-affirmed its emergency order and explained how it plans to restore drinking water from the Navy’s Red Hill Shaft in collaboration with the Navy, Army, and Environmental Protection Agency as part of the establishment of the Interagency Drinking Water System Team’s (IDWST) plans. Notably, Commissioner Kagawa-Viviani highlighted the “huge erosion in public trust in the Navy,” and questioned the Health Department on how communities will be notified of post-cleanup water sampling data and if their water is safe to drink. The Department responded by stating that the IDWST sampling plan requires the Navy to test only 10% of the houses in the affected zone, and 5-10% of additional homes will be tested as part of the long-term monitoring program.
The Navy officials’ presentation did not provide information on how or if their remediation efforts were effective, or what the long-term impacts of this contamination crisis has on Oʻahu’s sole source aquifer. When explaining the recovery and remediation process, a Navy official nonchalantly uses the analogy of “deploying pillows and blankets” to break down their clean-up efforts. They also revealed their plans of discharging Granular Activated Charcoal (GAC)-filtered water into Hālawa stream, but gave no indication that the remediation process is working, instead stating that “hopefully” flushing methods will be done by the time residents come back in. Commissioner Buck highlighted that the Navy may be in violation of its permit at this time due to its interference with other legal uses of water (re: the Board of Water Supply’s Hālawa shaft and two other drinking water wells had to be shut down as a precautionary measure).
The Commission ended the meeting by expressing its support for the Health Departmentʻs emergency order requiring the Navy to defuel its Red Hill fuel storage facility. The Commission also voted to create a permitted interaction group (PIG) to investigate the crisis and make recommendations as to what actions the commission can and should take to protect Oʻahu’s aquifer.
Honolulu City Council Bill 48 Hearing
At the City Council level, Bill 48 passed through the Committee on Transportation, Sustainability, and Health yesterday but the bill was amended in ways that appear to undermine its intent, work is underway to fix the problems. There are three more council and one more committee hearing(s) to go, don’t forget to follow us on social media to stay plugged in!
Phew! There is a lot to digest. Take a deep breath. As Ernie Lau of the Board of Water Supply recently reminded us, this is a marathon, not a sprint.
We also want to extend a big mahalo to Menehune Water Company, Kūʻike Kamakea-ʻŌhelo, Brett Jones, Kapilina residents Aedyn-Rhys King, Mandie Ruiz, Xavier Bonilla and other affected residents, and members of ShutDownRedHill Mutual Aid and the Oʻahu Water Protectors for their donations and efforts organizing supplies for families impacted by the Red Hill water crisis.
Donate critical infant care supplies to impacted families
The March of Dimes is looking for donations for families who have had to get rid of supplies critical for the care for their infant children due to fuel contamination. If you would like to help with relief efforts, March of Dimes is seeking donations of bottles, bottle brushes, baby baths, pacifiers, preemie bottles, teething toys, toothbrushes, utensils, bottle nipples, and breast pumps. To donate please contact Courtney at CCaranguian@marchofdimes.org.