Red Hill CRI in Limbo? EPA, Navy, and DLA Reject Community Demands Before Ceasing Communication
By Madison Owens, Red Hill Organizer, Rosalie Luo, Volunteer, and Wayne Tanaka, Chapter Director
Reading time: 6.75 minutes
A new Defense Health Agency study comparing records of selected health symptoms found much higher rates of certain conditions among those impacted by the 2021 Red Hill fuel spill, compared to a control group of unaffected military residents. Meanwhile, in a particularly disappointing response, the EPA, Navy, and DLA formally rejected the calls of 57 community organizations to not strip the Red Hill Community Representation Initiative of its ability to raise questions and concerns of the larger community, before ceasing all communication in January. Read on for more details and updates in the Red Hill saga in this month’s Mālama.
Community Representation Initiative Updates
Red Hill Rejection Letter to the Hawaiʻi Community: This month, Sierra Club of Hawaiʻi executive director Wayne Chung Tanaka issued the following statement regarding the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s, Navy’s, and Defense Logistics Agency’s rejection of the written demands from 57 community organizations to reverse the agencies’ “muzzling” of the Red Hill Community Representation Initiative, and to enforce the 2023 Red Hill Administrative Consent Order adopted in response to the Red Hill water crisis:
The EPA, Navy, and Defense Logistics Agency (DLA) have chosen to ignore the concerns and demands of 57 community organizations, and are standing by their decision to allow the Navy and DLA to dictate what the Red Hill Community Representation Initiative (CRI) is allowed to talk about or ask them – among other concerning amendments to the 2023 Red Hill Administrative Consent Order (ACO).
For the majority of 2024, the Navy and DLA refused to comply with their legal commitments under the ACO to meet with the CRI at least twice a quarter - leaving unanswered hundreds of questions the CRI diligently gathered from the public.
However, rather than hold them accountable, the EPA instead worked with the Navy and DLA to amend the ACO’s terms, giving the Navy and DLA the power to veto CRI discussion items and ignore questions they, in their sole judgement, deemed “outside the scope” of the ACO.
Navy and DLA attendance requirements were also reduced to just one CRI meeting every three months, where the public would have only 30 minutes to directly address government officials, who would also be under no obligation to respond in any way.
Notably, neither the CRI nor the community were meaningfully consulted on any of these significant changes to the ACO’s community engagement provisions.
Accordingly, dozens of community groups last month urged the federal agencies to undo these ACO amendments, and consult with the public for any future changes. The agencies have now summarily denied these requests without meaningfully addressing any of the community groupsʻ specified concerns. To say that this is extremely discouraging would be an understatement.
Perhaps what is most outrageous is the EPA’s decision to sign on to a rejection letter that attempts to blame the recent ACO changes on the CRI’s refusal to participate in mediation over “ground rules,” and to justify the changes as a means to “improve community engagement.”
The EPA is well aware that the CRI made it abundantly clear that they would only mediate if mediation discussions occurred with full public transparency. The CRI also made clear that granting the Navy unilateral power to dictate agenda items was a non-starter. For the EPA to tell the community that the CRI “declined to mediate” when the EPA could have easily accommodated the CRI’s reasonable requests for transparency, to justify adopting the very ACO amendment they outright objected to, is disingenuous at best - and at worst, attempted bad faith gaslighting of the Hawaiʻi community.
And to suggest that giving the public just 30 minutes every three months to speak to a nonresponsive panel of military leaders, who can also refuse to engage on any matter they find inconvenient, would “improve community engagement” is laughably absurd.
Families, including children, continue to suffer from health conditions arising from the Navy’s poisoning of their tap water. Our island will be grappling with the effects of the Navy’s contamination of our precious drinking water aquifer for decades to come. This water and health crisis occurred because the Navy ignored years of legitimate concerns by the community, and because the EPA failed to adequately question, much less regulate, the Navy’s reckless operation of the Red Hill Facility throughout that time.
The EPA needs to own up to its culpability in the lead up to the November 2021 Red Hill fuel spills, and uphold its responsibility to finally do right by the community and environment it is mission-bound to protect - not join with the Navy in ignoring and gaslighting the very people whose island and people it has poisoned.
To help restore the CRI’s voice, please sign this petition and share it with your friends and networks!
Federal Agencies Go Dark: In a latest development, federal communication embargoes appear to have resulted in the EPA, Navy, and DLA ceasing all communication with the CRI, despite their prior commitment to facilitate and attend a February CRI meeting. Hawaiʻi Public Radio’s Catherine Cruz provides additional updates and reflections from former Sierra Club of Hawaiʻi Director and CRI Chair Marti Townsend here.
Upcoming CRI Meeting: The CRI’s 18th meeting is scheduled for February 27th from 5-8:00pm at the ‘Ōlelo Community Media Center. The hybrid meeting invites community participation both in person and via Zoom. Stay updated by following the CRI’s Instagram or website for details.
CRI Announcement: The CRI is now soliciting nominations to fill a vacancy on the CRI. The vacancy is for an at-large seat representing O‘ahu residents. Please click here to apply and visit the CRI’s website for more information. The deadline for applications is February 26, 2025.
DHA Health Report
A Defense Health Agency (DHA) study, released to the public on January 14, sought to shed more light on the health impacts of the 2021 Red Hill fuel spill. This report compared selected health outcomes between two groups: the “Red Hill Cohort” (individuals exposed to jet fuel-contaminated water at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam) and a “Comparison Cohort” of DoD-affiliated individuals living elsewhere on Oʻahu (i.e., near Schofield Barracks or the Marine Corps Base Hawaiʻi), who were considered the "non-exposed" population, as their drinking water was not sourced from the JBPHH system. The Red Hill Cohort included 44,373 individuals whose medical records were in the Department of Defense’s system; the Comparison Cohort comprised 59,499 individuals.
Key findings indicated that individuals in the Red Hill Cohort had a higher likelihood of developing migraines (1.38 times more likely) and eosinophilic esophagitis (EoE) (2.54 times more likely) compared to the non-exposed Comparison Cohort. No significant differences were observed for hematuria, irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), peripheral neuropathy, or Raynaud’s syndrome. The report highlights that while trends in migraines increased for both cohorts after the fuel release, the exposed group consistently showed higher monthly cases. While the report itself cannot establish what may have caused the increased health impacts to the Red Hill cohort, did not look at all possible health outcomes, and may not have accounted for changes in access to healthcare, the statistically significant differences may shed more light on the consequences of exposure to jet fuel, simple green, de-icing agent, and other chemicals released into the Red Hill water shaft and Pearl Harbor drinking water system.
Red Hill Bills
Red Hill bills - covering topics including remediation standards for jet fuel released into the environment, and a proposed WAI Policy Coordinator to track and oversee cleanup efforts - are on the move at the Hawaiʻi State Legislature. See our CapitolWatch updates article in this month’s Mālama for more details, and be sure to sign up for action alerts at hawaiicapitolwatch.org.
Red Hill Registry
A Red Hill Registry to track the long-term effects of the Red Hill fuel spill(s) is now accepting pre-enrollment applications for anyone impacted by the Red Hill water crisis, including directly affected servicemembers and civilians, and the larger community. This pre-enrollment process is part of the Registry’s approach to “provide[] an opportunity for the impacted community to connect with the Red Hill Registry and be part of a community-centered approach to guide the development of the Registry to better serve the needs of impacted individuals.” Eligible applicants must be 18 years of age or older, although information concerning family members and others less than 18 can be provided by pre-enrolled adults. For more information, see redhillregistry.org.