Red Hill Update: Hawaiʻi Residents Keep Doing All We Can With What We Have to Defend Oʻahu and Secure Our Future
by Wayne Tanaka | Reading time: 9.5 minutes
Readers may recall that March brought yet another alarming revelation regarding additional, unreported spills of PFAS “forever chemicals” from the U.S. Navy Red Hill Bulk Fuel Storage Facility in Kapūkakī, including 1,500 gallons of fire fighting foam concentrate in December 2019.
The Navy recognized the extreme toxicity of PFAS in 2020, when they began testing for PFOA and PFOS - two types of PFAS contained in fire fighting foam - in their drinking water system.
Yet the Navy did not disclose the 2019 spill, or a subsequent 2020 spill of 5,000 gallons of fire fighting foam (which they denied had occurred to Department of Health inspectors at the time), until the intense scrutiny that followed the 2022 November spill of PFAS-containing fire fighting foam concentrate.
The gravity of this latest revelation was further underscored by an EPA announcement that it now intends to establish the legal limits for PFOA and PFOS in water at four parts per trillion each - equivalent to a single drop in five Olympic-sized swimming pools. These limits - based in part on the inability of current technology to detect PFAS at lower concentrations - highlight just how incredibly toxic these nearly indestructible “forever chemicals” really are.
How badly has the wai and ʻāina below and surrounding Kapūkakī already been irrevocably contaminated by the Navy’s negligence? Are we witnessing the slow poisoning of nearby communities and future generations with chemicals that can cause cancer, reproductive harms, lowered immune system function, and other serious illnesses in the years, decades, and centuries ahead? Where else in Hawaiʻi has PFAS-containing fire fighting foam been deployed without full disclosure by the Department of Defense?
While we may not be able to reverse the harm that has been inflicted on our islands, we can and must do what it takes, to stand united in defense of our islands from any further harm.
Fortunately, March also saw a number of continued community actions to keep the pressure on the Navy, the Department of Defense, and the federal government to address the existential threats posed by the Red Hill facility, before the unthinkable happens.
Featured Artists For Our Aquifer: J. Ragga Muzik feat. Big Every Time Launches “Bad Situation” Music Video, PunkyAloha Shares Artwork
Early March saw the release of the official music video for “Bad Situation,” by J. Ragga Muzik and featuring Big Every Time. Check out the video, showcasing water protectors in the Shut Down Red Hill campaign, on Youtube here and follow these amazing local hip hop artists on Instagram at @jraggamuzik and @bet_bigeverytime.
Artist Shar TuiʻAsoa, a.k.a. @punkyaloha on Instagram, also shared a piece she made with Jun Jo, @junxjo in honor of World Water Day, “Protect Our Wai, ola i ka wai.” Mahalo nui e Shar for this powerful reminder that “when our ʻāina hurts, we hurt” too.
Mahalo nui also to Liz Conlon for designing and offering for free download their “E Ola I ka Wai” illustration on their Instagram account. You can view and download the illustration from their Linktree account here.
Community Launch of the Walk for Water to Shut Down Red Hill
On March 19, the hui of kūpuna organizing with Hawaiʻi Workers Center director Sergio Alcubilla held an official launch of the Community Walk for Water to Shut Down Red Hill. The launch, covered by local news outlets and endorsed by the Honolulu Star-Advertiser included a presentation of a certificate of recognition by the Hawaiʻi State Senate, noting the importance of the campaign to #ShutDownRedHill.
Sign up to take part in the April 23, 2023 Community Walk for Water at www.redhillwalkforwater.com, and read more about the Walk at our blog post here.
House Recognizes Importance of the Red Hill Campaign
On Thursday, March 23, the Hawaiʻi House of Representatives also recognized the Board of Water Supply, the Oʻahu Water Protectors, and the Sierra Club of Hawaiʻi with their own certificate of recognition for our work to protect Hawaiʻiʻs water resources for future generations.
With this certificate, the entire Hawaiʻi legislature has now reaffirmed their support for the #ShutDownRedHill Campaign, and the need for us all to do everything in our power to get the Red Hill Facility defueled and shut down for the sake of our islands, our home, and the future of our children and the generations that follow.
Mahalo nui to the Community Walk for Water hui and to Representative Daniel Holt for their leadership in bringing our legislators together, to make such powerful statements in defense of our precious wai!
“Better Tomorrow” Speaker Series Brings Flint Water Protector Dr. Mona Hanna-Attisha to Hawaiʻi
Also on March 23, the University of Hawaiʻi’s “Better Tomorrow” speaker series featured Dr. Mona Hanna-Attisha, one of TIME magazine’s 100 most influential people in the world, to discuss her experiences exposing lead contamination in the Flint, Michigan drinking water system. Her talk highlighted the common threads of governmental denials, negligence, and the systemic biases that led to the crisis in Michigan as well as the Red Hill water crisis on O‘ahu.
Stay tuned for a video of her talk on the Better Tomorrow Youtube Channel. In the meantime, you can also hear her discuss the parallels between the crises in Flint, Oʻahu, and too many other communities on Hawai‘i News Now and Hawai‘i Public Radio.
Mālama ʻOhana Community Health Fair, Kiaʻi Expungement Event Features Oʻahu Water Protectors
Sierra Club of Hawaiʻi and Hawaiʻi Alliance for Progressive Action community organizer Rebekah Garrison stayed busy throughout the month, not only facilitating and organizing with the Oʻahu Water Protectors and the Shut Down Red Hill Coalition, but also engaging community members at various community events around the Shut Down Red Hill campaign.
This included tabling at the Mālama ʻOhana Community Health Fair at DreamHouse ʻEwa Beach Public Charter School and at Lāhui Foundation’s Kiaʻi Arrest Expungement Clinic at the Kahuku Community Center, as well as at various other community events on O’ahuʻs west side.
Mahalo nui to Beckah and to all event organizers for providing these much-needed opportunities to grow the movement to #ShutDownRedHill.
DJ ʻOno Hosts “Wai Matters” Talk Story with Marti Townsend and Hawaiʻi Youth Climate Coalition Executive Director Dyson Chee
In his ongoing series of “Real Talk” talk story sessions featuring water protectors in the Shut Down Red Hill Campaign, KTUH DJ ʻOno invited former Sierra Club of Hawaiʻi Director and the original Red Hill champion, Marti Townsend, along with Hawaiʻi Youth Climate Coalition director Dyson Chee, to update his audience on the Red Hill water crisis and upcoming opportunities for the community to stand up to defend our water and the future of our island home.
Marti and Dyson filled listeners in on the harms that have already been inflicted on our ʻāina and wai by the release of jet fuel and PFAS from the Red Hill Facility; the role of kānaka maoli, women, kūpuna, and youth in this fight for our collective future; and why anyone and everyone who has a stake in our islands needs to keep raising our voices and doing whatever we can to keep the pressure on the military and government decision makers, and prevent the backtracking and foot dragging that took place after the 2014 fuel spill.
Tune in to more “Real Talk” sessions focused on a variety of issues affecting our ʻāina, our health, and our future on Tuesdays at 3 p.m., streaming at ktuh.org or on the radio at 90.1 FM, 89.9 FM Windward Oʻahu, and 91.1 Oʻahu North Shore.
Water Protectors Provide Relief for Waiawa Gulch Residents
Finally, on April 2, Oʻahu Water Protector’s Dani Espiritu, Faith Action’s Susan Gorman-Chang, and Sierra Club and HAPA organizer Rebekah Garrison hosted a free water distribution event for residents who may have had their drinking water contaminated by PFAS releases at the Army National Guard Waiawa Gulch Baseyard.
Despite confirmed PFAS levels at hundreds of times the safe limits in regional groundwater, residents in the area may have to wait up to two more months before water test results are returned from the U.S. continent, to know whether the contamination plume has reached their drinking water wells. Until then, federal purchasing regulations prohibit the Army National Guard from providing them with bottled water, leaving residents in limbo. Fortunately, Army National Guard members - at the urging of community water protectors - agreed to voluntarily purchase water out of their own pockets, and coordinated with Susan and others to provide water to area residents in the interim.
Upcoming Events
Mark your calendars for these upcoming opportunities to engage in the #ShutDownRedHill Campaign (and be sure to spread the word to your families, friends, and networks):
April 8: Bring your keiki and join @Noelchu and other mākua for the second Community Walk for Water to Shut Down Red Hill “pre-walk” this coming Saturday, April 8, at 4 p.m., at the canoe hale at Magic Island. Bring water, walking shoes, strollers, and sun protection, and connect with other parents and families hoping to secure a future free of contaminated water for their children, grandchildren, and the generations to follow.
April 14: Join the Friends Committee on National Legislation Hawaiʻi Advocacy for a candlelight vigil for Red Hill at the Hawaiʻi State Capitol, 415 S. Beretania St. on April 14 at 6:30 p.m.
April 22: Bishop Museum will hold its annual Science and Sustainability Festival from 9 a.m.- 3 p.m. on the museum’s Great Lawn,** with a keynote panel on the Red Hill water crisis featuring Ernie Lau from the Board of Water Supply, Dani Espiritu from the O’ahu Water Protectors, and the Sierra Club of Hawai‘i’s longtime Red Hill attorney David Kimo Frankel. Sierra Club of Hawaiʻi will also be partnering with Wisdom Circles Oceania and aloha ‘āina members of Hui Aloha ʻĀina Honolulu and Oʻahu Water Protectors to host keiki art activities and “We Are Water Protectors” storytime book readings at our booth at this family-focused festival.
April 23: The Community Walk For Water will take place at the Ala Moana Regional Park! Visit www.redhillwalkforwater.com or read this month’s blog article to learn more about this exciting event.
April 24: The Environmental Justice Club at UH Mānoa will be hosting an Earth Day Event at UH Mānoa on April 24 from 1-5 p.m. Come by for a chance to also meet Sierra Club Oʻahu Group volunteers who will be tabling at the event. For more details and updates, be sure to follow the Environmental Justice Club on Instagram, @environmentaljusticeatuh.
Join the Fight!
There will almost certainly be new developments and new opportunities to join the Shut Down Red Hill Campaign taking place in April.
Please be sure to sign up for Red Hill action alerts to learn about more opportunities to join in the Red Hill campaign, consider making a donation to help the Sierra Club of Hawai‘i keep up our years-long fight to #ShutDownRedHill, and be sure to reach out to your friends, family, and networks to do the same. E ola i ka wai!