Red Hill Updates: Navy Attends CRI Meeting After One Year of Pressure, FTAC & Red Hill Shaft DEA Updates
By Madison Owens, Red Hill Organizer, Wayne Tanaka, Chapter Director, and Rosalie Luo, Volunteer | Reading time: 2.75 minutes
This month's Red Hill updates includes the Community Representation Initiative long overdue meeting with the Navy Closure Task Force–Red Hill, the Fuel Tank Advisory Committee meeting and updates on the Red Hill Shaft Draft Environmental Assessment process. While some progress has been made, key questions about the protection of our wai and future generations remain unanswered.
Fuel Tank Advisory Committee Meeting — April 9, 2025
The Fuel Tank Advisory Committee (FTAC) meeting was held on Wednesday, April 9, 2025, from 1-5pm at Neal S. Blaisdell Center. Representatives from the Navy Closure Task Force–Red Hill (NCTF-RH), Department of Health (DOH), Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and the University of Hawai‘i School of Ocean and Earth Science and Technology (SOEST) provided Red Hill updates to the community and FTAC board members.
While all FTAC board members attended the meeting in-person, the NCTF–RH provided their updates remotely via Zoom. Some of their updates, presentation slides available here, included a timeline for removing 10 miles of pipeline: pipeline cleaning starting in spring 2025, with pipeline removal expected by fall 2025. When FTAC board members asked if there would be a permanent water treatment facility for the Navy’s ʻAiea-Hālawa shaft, which it plans to re-open to serve the Navy’s drinking water system, NCTF-RH officials were unable to provide a definitive answer. Additionally, when asked where the wastewater produced from tank cleaning (via pressure washing the tanks) was being disposed of, it was revealed that the wastewater will be transported to a wastewater treatment facility on the west side of O‘ahu. This raised immediate concerns, particularly given the already overburdened and predominantly Native Hawaiian community in that region, which continues to shoulder the compounded environmental and health burdens of serving the entire island’s waste needs. Sending these tainted waters – the result of military contamination and an ongoing legacy of occupation – to this same community perpetuates a cycle of environmental injustice that is both preventable and unacceptable.
Don Thomas (SOEST), presented on the Red Hill Dye Tracer Study, funded by the Office of Naval Research, presentation slides are linked here. Although fewer conclusions have emerged than hoped, fieldwork will continue until October 2025, with a final report expected months later. FTAC board members emphasized the need for the study to continue beyond 2025 in order to fully achieve its goal of clarifying groundwater flow patterns and validating regional hydrological models.
Capt. James Sullivan (Commander Navy Region Hawai‘i) presented on the status of other underground military fuel tanks across Hawaiʻi - presentation slides linked here. The Kipapa and Waikakalaua tanks located in Mililani are permanently out of use. However, when FTAC members asked what investigations had been conducted to assess potential environmental releases prior to the Waikakalaua closure, Sullivan and Kathleen Ho (DOH) were unable to provide a definitive answer. Located in Pu’uloa, the Kūāhua tanks are temporarily out of use, pending decommission. Located on Kauaʻi, the Pacific Missile Range Facility (PMRF) Fuel Farm continues to remain active. Despite plans to replace it with aboveground tanks by 2038, FTAC members questioned why the transition to safer storage is being delayed for another 13 years. Sullivan was unable to explain why the transition timeline is so prolonged.
In closing, FTAC members Dr. Melanie Lau, Ashley Nishihara, and Joyce Lin of the Board of Water Supply, courageously spoke up and voted in favor of increasing FTAC meetings to a quarterly schedule. We mahalo their steadfast commitment to ensuring greater public participation and oversight throughout this generations-long process of remediation, restoration, and protection of our islands natural resources.
Community Representation Initiative Meeting — April 24, 2025
In response to Navy officials’ refusal to respond directly to questions at previous CRI and FTAC meetings, youth organizers used a “Test Your Transparency” poster board to track their responsiveness in real time. Blue water drops signify questions answered directly, black oil drops indicate questions that were not answered, and brown drops reflected questions that may be answered in the future. Photo: Wayne Tanaka
On Thursday, April 24, 2025, the Community Representation Initiative (CRI) held its 19th meeting, joined by representatives from the Navy Closure Task Force–Red Hill (NCTF-RH), the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and the Hawaiʻi Department of Health (DOH). This was the first meeting the NCTF–RH attended in a year, despite the 2023 Administrative Consent Order (ACO) having previously required them to attend two meetings per quarter. However, the CRI remained committed to engage in discussion in pursuit of truth, transparency and a genuine commitment to protecting these islands and the future generations to come.
To watch the meeting, please click here, or continue reading for a summary of key answers and takeaways:
The Navy believes that the Red Hill drinking water shaft has no detectable contamination - suggesting that the 3 billion-plus gallons of water that have been “pumped and dumped” from the Red Hill shaft into Hālawa stream has failed to “contain the plume” of jet fuel in our sole source aquifer.
The Navy is working on a pilot study to evaluate the effectiveness of a water treatment system to return the ‘Aiea Hālawa shaft to operation, with the conditional approval of the Department of Health. The target date for the restarting of the ‘Aiea Hālawa shaft is June 2025
The Red Hill drinking water shaft is also being proposed to be reconnected to the Navy’s water lines after the installation of a granulated activated carbon (GAC) filter. Navy officials are reviewing comments submitted on a draft environmental assessment for this action, and will determine whether a full environmental impact statement should be conducted based on potential significant impacts.
NCTF representatives committed to notifying residents if and when the drinking water shafts are reopened via letters, and through the NCTF Red Hill website and app.
The planned GAC filter for Red Hill has a 50 year life cycle, but there is no bond or other funding mechanism to ensure proper maintenance throughout this time. There is also no clear schedule for maintenance activities including the changing out of used filter material.
The Navy cannot disclose how much water it uses, although it pumps around 15 million gallons per day from its Waiawa shaft to serve its drinking water system, and may be looking at wastewater reuse as part of its upgrades to the notoriously dilapidated Pearl Harbor wastewater treatment facility (which recently received a nearly $9M fine for just under 1,000 Clean Water Act violations).
The Navy believes the Red Hill fuel tanks will not be at risk of collapsing for centuries, despite the spalling and cracking that has been seen in the concrete at the facility.
A Navy team is still examining whether and how PFAS remains in the soil where over 1,000 gallons of PFAS-based AFFF concentrate was released in November 2022.
A comprehensive drinking water report from the EPA, assessing the extended drinking water plan, split sampling results, etc. is anticipated to be released in the summer of 2025.
The exchange of information and more importantly, open discussion between CRI members and Navy officials demonstrated the importance of Navy attendance at CRI meetings. Nonetheless, the limited time for discussion as well as for public comment has left a number of questions unanswered, including the availability of funding for maintenance of water treatment facilities over the long-term, the disposition of spent GAC carbon, environmental remediation strategies being explored (if any), the reliability of monitoring data in light of historical failures to identify contamination detections in a timely manner, and the steps taken to address the mystery sheens and health symptoms that have been reported in association with exposure to Navy tap water.
NCTF-RH ʻAiea-Hālawa Reactivation Webinar – April 29, 2025
At an NCTF-RH webinar, Commander Ben Dunn provided additional information on the reactivation of the ʻAiea-Hālawa shaft, which is planned for late June of this year in coordination with DOH’s approval. The Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam drinking water system encompasses three wells all operated by the Navy: ʻAiea-Hālawa and Red Hill (both inactive), and the Waiawa shaft (active). Both the ʻAiea-Hālawa and Red Hill wells will remain disconnected from the base’s system until the DOH approves their reactivation. DOH’s conditional approval (available here) of the ʻAiea-Hālawa reactivation includes a number of requirements, including treating all water using GAC and ion-exchange technologies, notifying DOH of any conditions that risk contamination to the shaft, and testing the efficiency of PFAS removal. They are also analyzing volatile organic compounds (VOC), hydrocarbons (PAH and petroleum), and metals in their 30-day pilot study. During the Q&A, members of the public asked the Navy to post sampling results from the pilot study, which they confirmed they will do through the Safe Waters website. Samples will be analyzed at EPA-certified labs on the continent. The DOH is overseeing the disposal process of any hazardous materials of concern. In addition, the public requested increased sampling on the user end of distribution once this additional source is added, which the DOH can require. While EPA will be informed about drinking water compliance, primary oversight will be with DOH.
Upcoming Events:
Commission on Water Resource Management (CWRM) meeting
Monday, May 20, 2025 at 9:00 AM
DLNR Board Room (Hybrid)
Hybrid Meeting: Live Stream Via Youtube
Navy Public Open House
Wednesday, May 21, 2025
Hokulani Community Center (298 Main Street, Honolulu, HI)
Community Representation Initiative Meeting
Details about CRI’s May meeting will be shared on Instagram (@RedHillCRI23) – follow for updates.