Clean up and get out: Water Protectors "evict" Navy command, gear up for escalated actions to #ShutDownRedHill
by Wayne Tanaka | Reading time: 12 minutes
November 20, 2021: a worker at the Red Hill Bulk Fuel Storage Facility drove a motorized cart into a “fire suppression system drain line,” hemorrhaging nearly 20,000 gallons of JP-5 jet fuel over a 34-hour period - and contaminating our aquifer and poisoning the Navy’s drinking water system.
Among many other deficiencies, Navy investigations of the incident found a “culture of complacency,” a “lack of critical thinking,” and a pattern of wishful thinking by Navy leaders that not only led to the ensuing crisis, but exacerbated the harms inflicted on thousands of Navy water system users - both civilian and military families - as they were repeatedly reassured that there was “no immediate indication” their fuel-laden water was unsafe to drink.
One year later, the Navy still refuses to acknowledge the continued daily threat to our aquifer as an emergency; continues to gaslight, rather than meaningfully help, those still suffering from the consequences of Navy leaders’ actions and inactions; and has wholly rejected calls for the meaningful community oversight needed to protect us from any further harm.
Accordingly, water protectors and affected families have continued the campaign to #ShutDownRedHill, with new and escalated actions taking place throughout the month of November.
Fuel Tank Advisory Committee: Navy flops as water protectors overcome challenges, refuse to back down
On November 9, the Fuel Tank Advisory Committee held its second and last meeting of the year, again at the state capitol auditorium. Despite committee staff having had over six months to plan, meeting details were not released until the week prior - leaving little time for the average Hawaiʻi resident to make arrangements to attend a single, all-day event held in the middle of the work week.
Nonetheless, water protectors and impacted individuals showed up in force, refusing to give up on this opportunity to speak directly with elected officials, regulators, and Navy representatives regarding the greatest and most urgent threat to our island and to our very way of life. Refreshments, food, and keiki activities to support public participation and engagement were provided by the Sierra Club of Hawai‘i, O’ahu Water Protectors, Faith Action, the Hawaiʻi Alliance for Progressive Action, Native Hawaiian Legal Corporation, Surfrider Oʻahu, Our Revolution Hawaiʻi, Purple Maiʻa, and 350 Hawaiʻi as well as dedicated members of the community; Senator Jarrett Keohokālole, Representative Sonny Ganaden, and their respective staff also helped provide much-needed space and on-site support for attendees to gather, nourish and recharge themselves, and compare notes.
Unfortunately, committee planners (again) failed to anticipate the sheer amount of community concern that continues to exist around the Red Hill crisis, resulting in public testimony being once again cut off due to the daily closure of the capitol. It remains to be seen whether a supplemental meeting to take public testimony will be held, as planners have yet to follow up on their commitment to “consider” the possibility.
Nonetheless, thanks to the nearly 200 online participants and dozens of in-person testifiers, the following was made clear for committee and public records:
Navy and Department of Defense leadership have continued to let civilian and military families hang out to dry, continue to act surprised and “saddened” by health impacts that have been repeatedly raised (and documented) for nearly a year, and still have no policies for fiscal or medical support for all impacted families;
Plans for remediation of the environment continue to rely primarily on “natural attenuation,” which Navy representatives admitted - after being called out by a mycoremediation expert - is just a fancy phrase for doing nothing;
Navy leaders have walked back on their commitment to “transparent dialogue,” sticking to carefully worded talking points and even refusing to acknowledge the ongoing crisis as an “emergency”;
No civilian oversight will be allowed in the development and implementation of defueling plans, despite Joint Task Force Red Hill Commander John Wade’s earlier promise to “consider” this necessary mechanism for transparency and accountability; and, most concerningly,
The Joint Task Force Red Hill Commander, upon whose judgement the security of our island’s water supply and future depends, has no engineering expertise, and has little to no familiarity with the deteriorated condition of the fuel tanks still holding over 100 million gallons of fuel just 100 feet above our sole source aquifer.
Details about these takeaways can be found in this recent StarAdvertiser guest column, and presentation materials, videos, and written testimonies from the committee meeting can be seen here (also, be sure to check out Faith Action’s Facebook page for clips from the public testimony portion of the meeting).
Faith Action panel on “Red Hill: Timeline and Impacts” feat. Oʻahu Water Protector Dani Espiritu, Sierra Club Director Wayne Tanaka
On November 13, Faith Action for Community Equity held the second panel in its webinar series focusing on the Red Hill crisis. O‘ahu Water Protector Dani Espiritu and Sierra Club of Hawaiʻi Executive Director Wayne Tanaka discussed the historical and cultural context along with the timeline of events leading up to our current situation, as well as the personal, cultural, environmental, and global impacts and implications of the Navyʻs negligence and malfeasance. Be sure to check out the panel here, as well as Faith Action’s earlier panel featuring directly affected residents and kia’i wai Keoni DiFranco, “Living a Nightmare: Current Impacts of Navy Jet Fuel Poisoning Oʻahu’s Water.”
Artists step up in support
Our creative community has also continued to dedicate their talents to supporting the Red Hill campaign, from musicians like Lion Fiyah (read on below) and ʻIkaʻakamai and Kuʻulei Music (with their duo piece “Drain the Tanks”), to cartoonists (more updates coming soon), to graphic designer and visual artist Justin Takaha White - who most recently dedicated his Shaka Tactics clothing brand to raise proceeds for the Sierra Club’s efforts around Red Hill.
Mahalo nui Justin and to all artists and creative minds for contributing your talents and skills in support of our precious wai!
2022 Behavioral Health and Wellness Convention panel
On November 18, the 2022 Behavioral Health and Wellness Convention featured a Red Hill panel, “Kapūkakī - Red Hill: Navigating Current Crises, Mitigating Future Harms” with Dr. Lana Kaʻopua, Ph.D., DCSW, LSW; Kelsey “Kiki” Mills, MSW and community organizer; Lacey Quintero, MSW candidate and affected resident and mother; and Sierra Club of Hawaiʻi Director Wayne Tanaka, JD.
Panelists reflected on the impacts of the Red Hill crisis on the “social determinants of health”; how the Navy-led public health and social work responses (or lack thereof) contributed to and exacerbated the harms inflicted on familiesʻ and individualsʻ mental, emotional, spiritual, and physical health and well-being; and what practitioners in public health, social work, and psychology need to think about in developing best practices for future water contamination crises - which will be all but inevitable, unless we confront and reverse the Western policies and systems that treat water and communities as expendable.
Mahalo nui to the National Association of Social Workers Hawaiʻi Chapter, the Hawaiʻi Psychological Association, and the Hawaiian Islands Association for Marriage and Family Therapy for providing this opportunity to present to convention attendees, and to Dr. Richard Rothschiller for his support, guidance, and encouragement in putting this panel together!
November 20 anniversary weekend
November 18 also kicked off a weekend of actions organized by the Oʻahu Water Protectors, Sierra Club of Hawaiʻi, Shut Down Red Hill Mutual Aid, Ka Lāhui Hawaiʻi, Faith Action, Lāhui Foundation, Surfrider Oʻahu, Hawaiʻi People’s Fund, Queen’s Court, Hawaiʻi Youth Climate Coalition, Hui o Heʻe Nalu, Hawaiʻi Alliance for Progressive Action, Hawaiʻi Peace and Justice, KAHEA: The Hawaiian-Environmental Alliance, the Oʻahu Intertribal Council, and Shimanchu Wai Protectors, and joined by numerous other groups and individuals.
On Friday, November 18, the final University of Hawaiʻi signwaving of the year took place at the corner of University Avenue and Dole Street, where water protectors held signs, collected water donations for affected families, printed shirts, and enjoyed speeches as well as music by local grammy-nominated musician Lion Fiyah.
On Saturday, November 19, Shut Down Red Hill Mutual Aid distributed multiple pallets of donated water to affected residents at Kapilina Beach Homes. This was the latest in a series of water distribution events, or “distros,” to provide the affected community with additional support as Navy water system users have continued to experience health effects consistent with petroleum exposure, and reports of sheens and odors in Navy system tapwater (along with fluorescence spectroscopy data from the University of Hawaiʻi’s Red Hill Task Force) have left many unwilling to roll the dice with their and their familiesʻ health. Such support has already been well-reciprocated; remarkably, despite all they have been through, so many of the individuals directly impacted by the Navy’s actions and inactions have now taken it upon themselves to advocate not just for their own families and others similarly impacted, but for the protection of our island and our aquifer as well.
Finally, on Sunday, November 20 - the anniversary of the Big Spill - dozens of Oʻahu residents led by Kānaka Maoli water protectors served an “eviction notice” to U.S. Navy Command, citing the following grounds for “eviction”:
Navy officials’ lying under oath in legal proceedings concerning the Red Hill Facility;
The prioritization of military and hypothetical war time objectives over the safety and security of ʻāina and people;
The desecration of sites sacred to Kānaka Maoli; and
The poisoning of wai and ʻāina, stolen from the Hawaiian Kingdom with the assistance of the U.S. Navy.
Before the notice was delivered in a tense exchange - involving armed military police and gate guards afraid to touch a cardboard sign - water protectors first stopped by the Navy Exchange. There, they handed out free ice pops and informational brochures regarding ongoing contamination data and resources available to help those who may suspect contamination-related issues with their health or their tap water. The large majority of businesses and patrons appeared grateful for the information, as families lined up for an ice-cold treat.
With this weekend of events, water protectors made clear that they stand ready and willing to escalate their actions, unless the Navy concedes to their clearly articulated and reasonable demands for meaningful help to all affected families, regular meetings with the general public, civilian oversight of defueling efforts, and the commitment of all available resources to the Red Hill crisis as required by this existential emergency.
Navy stands up a private “information sharing forum,” submits incomplete decommissioning plan
On its part, the Navy started the month of November by submitting a decommissioning plan for the Red Hill Bulk Fuel Storage Facility - a plan that, like its current defueling plan, is both incomplete and blithely unaware of the extremely fragile state of the facility’s 80-year-old fuel tanks.
Despite the active corrosion that has eroded the tanks’ incredibly thin steel liners to a third of their original width in some places, the continual rainwater intrusion that may be further degrading the tanks’ concrete foundation (which cannot be repaired), the inherent vulnerability of the tanks and their connected valves and pipes to earthquakes, and myriad other well-documented vulnerabilities, the decommissioning plan contemplates some day reusing the facility for non-fuel purposes. Conveniently, such wishful thinking justifies the plan’s “preferred alternative” of leaving the tanks in place - the cheapest and easiest option for “decommissioning.”
Alarmingly, the decommissioning plan does indicate that even after defueling, it may take years of work to remove the significant amounts of oil sludge, cleaning chemicals, and other hazardous waste - in addition to the existing environmental contamination - that would still remain just a 100 feet above our groundwater aquifer. The work to truly safeguard our aquifer will therefore continue long after “defueling” is deemed complete.
On November 16, the Navy also announced the composition of a “Defueling Information Sharing Forum” with “community leaders” to include elected officials, current and former directors of various organizations and government agencies, and Navy “experts.” Notably, apart from Board of Water Supply chief engineer Ernie Lau, the group’s community members lack any apparent engineering expertise relevant to the defueling of the Red Hill Facility, and the forum includes none of the grassroots community advocates, experts, or affected residents that have actively worked on the #ShutDownRedHill campaign.
The point of this “information sharing forum” is unclear. Navy leaders speaking only in private to its own group of hand-picked, mostly uninvolved (with a handful of exceptions), non-experts seems like an unlikely approach to building trust or demonstrating a commitment to “transparent dialogue” or “meaningful relationships” with the larger community (however, far less effective public relations strategies have been employed throughout this ordeal). It remains to be seen whether forum members will truly represent the needs and interests of the community in thoroughly understanding the situation, asking informed and critical questions, transmitting relevant information to (and from) the general public, and pressing Navy leaders to provide the transparency, accountability, and emergency action that our lives, our island, and our future generations desperately need.
Our island - and our children’s future - need your help!
While much has been accomplished this year - including a successful defense of the Department of Healthʻs shutdown order, a historic shutdown announcement from the Pentagon, and a growing campaign that has cut through the Navy’s continual lies, and kept it on its toes - 2022 will leave us with much to be done.
It will take all of us to take on the entrenched bureaucracy that is the U.S. Department of Defense, and hold it and its leaders accountable to our island and to communities everywhere that have been threatened by our military’s systemic disregard for the environment, for people, and for life itself.
Please join us as we do our part for our ʻāina, our communities, and our future generations. Take a moment to sign up for Red Hill email alerts, follow @sierraclubhi and @oahuwaterprotectors on Instagram for more upcoming actions and events, and please support the Sierra Club of Hawaiʻi so that we can sustain and grow the fight to protect our water, our home, and our planet. Mahalo nui!