Red Hill action escalates as we approach the one year mark
by Wayne Tanaka | Reading time: 14 minutes
The tide of public outrage and action over the Red Hill crisis continued to rise throughout the summer of 2022, while Navy leaders’ actions unsurprisingly failed to meet their supposed commitments to transparency and accountability, time and again. Read this month’s recap of recent developments below, and learn about upcoming opportunities to raise your voice in defense of our water and our home!
Artists and Influencers Spreading the Word, Supporting the Cause!
With the transformative collaboration between the O’ahu Water Protectors, The Red Nation, and Slow Factory still fresh on our minds and on our social media feeds, local influencers, artists, and businesses have continued to spread the word and support the campaign to #ShutDownRedHill and save our water.
A special mahalo nui to tattoo artist Kai Smart, who created the newest Sierra Club mauka-to-makai sticker design allowing water protectors to display their commitment to defending our most precious resource (get yours here!). Kai has also been letting her customers know about the need to not let up in the push to save our water, and our island, from catastrophic contamination, and has even dedicated proceeds from flash tattoo sales to support the Sierra Club of Hawai’i’s Red Hill campaign.
A very special thank you also to Danya Weber of the online store Laulima, which she created to protect Hawaiʻi’s native biodiversity through awareness raising and merchandise sales directly supporting local conservation efforts. Laulima’s beautiful new ʻoʻopu nākea pin, featuring our native amphidromous - and freshwater dependent - goby species was designed specifically to further the Sierra Club of Hawaiʻi’s Red Hill campaign efforts, and allows water protectors to both demonstrate their support and contribute to the cause.
Also - spotted in Līhuʻe, Kauaʻi: A #ShutDownRedHill mural by local artist Bree Blake on Kress street (en route to the famous Hamura Saimin) sends a clear message to Kauaʻi residents and visitors that the Red Hill Bulk Fuel Storage Facility is a threat not just to Oʻahu, but all of Hawaiʻi. Read more about the Kauaʻi community’s contributions below!
Mahalo nui to these and the many other artists, influencers, and businesses who have contributed their talents and skills to saving our most precious resource from the U.S. Navy’s decrepit Red Hill Facility. If you are an artist, influencer, or business and would like to us to highlight your work to protect our water, please e-mail us at hawaii.chapter@sierraclub.org.
University of Hawaiʻi Red Hill Task Force Testing Protocol Indicates Ongoing Water Contamination
In early August, the University of Hawaiʻi Red Hill Task Force unveiled a dashboard showcasing water testing data compiled from months’ worth of samples taken from the Navy’s water system. The Task Force employed and refined a rapid-assessment fluorescence screening protocol previously used in other fuel spill crises, such as the Deepwater Horizon incident. Not surprisingly, months after the Navy declared its water safe to drink, the UH data indicated that JP-5 jet fuel may continue to persist in the Navy’s water system. These results are notably consistent with Navy water system consumers’ continued reports of intermittent sheens and odors in their tap water, as well as ongoing symptoms consistent with petroleum exposure.
Much credit should be given to the wide array of experts, professors, graduate students, and volunteers of the UH Red Hill Task Force, who have endeavored tirelessly for nearly a year to develop a timely, objective way to inform concerned Navy water system users of potential residual fuel contamination in their water lines, notwithstanding the U.S. Navy’s dubious assurances.
Kauaʻi ‘Ohana, Keiki Stand Up for Water
In late August, news broke of Vice President of the United States Kamala Harris’ surprise visit to Kaua‘i, presenting a prime opportunity to send a message to the top leaders of the United States government. Local families wasted no time in organizing and standing in solidarity and with #kapualoha to remind her, and her colleagues in Washington, D.C., that the Red Hill water crisis is a truly existential emergency, and that we cannot afford to wait years for this threat to our very way of life to be removed.
Island families and residents were joined by O’ahu Water Protectors, as well as representatives of the Hawai‘i Youth Climate Coalition and Sierra Club of Hawai‘i members from O‘ahu and Kaua‘i. Banners and signs made by local ‘ohana and the HYCC’s 70-foot-long signature scroll (now with additional signatures by Kaua’i youth) were displayed outside of VPOTUS Harris’ vacation rental in Kalihiwai, and letters and gifts of aloha were presented to her through her secret service staff. Two courageous Kauaʻi youth - who had helped with the signwaving effort - later encountered VPOTUS Harris in Hanalei, and her responses to their brave questions confirmed that our message was indeed heard, loud and clear.
Special mahalo to Will Sato of the Hawaiʻi Youth Climate Coalition for helping to photograph and document this inspiring community action!
CNN’s Kamau Bell Features Red Hill, Militarization, and Tourism
If VPOTUS Harris tuned into CNN during her stay, she might have also seen the Red Hill crisis featured on the season finale of CNN’s United Shades of America, thanks to Hawai’i Peace and Justice Board Member (and O‘ahu Water Protector) Professor Kyle Kajihiro (sporting a Shut Down Red Hill t-shirt on national television!). A special mahalo to program host Kamau Bell, who followed up the episode with an Instagram live discussion with Hawaiʻi residents, and clarified for his followers on Twitter that Red Hill is definitely #NotPauYet.
Affected Families File First Federal Suit Against U.S. Navy
One week later, families whose lives were upended by the Navy’s contamination of its water system filed the first federal lawsuit against the Navy for its actions and inactions leading to the poisoning of thousands of Oʻahu residents. On August 31st, a complaint filed in the U.S. District Court for the State of Hawaiʻi by Just Well Law, PLLC and the Hosoda Law Group on behalf of the civilian members of four affected families (likely to soon be joined by hundreds more) alleged negligence, nuisance, medical negligence, failure to treat, delayed care, and infliction of emotional distress by the government. The Sierra Club of Hawaiʻi salutes these families and those joining them, for standing up for their rights and joining in the effort to hold the U.S. Navy accountable.
More Neighborhood Boards Demand Accountability and Action
Thanks to the diligent efforts of members of the Oʻahu Water Protectors, Faith Action for Community Equity, Hawaiʻi Peace and Justice, and affected families, the Makiki, ʻAiea and North Shore Neighborhood Boards all passed resolutions in August and September recognizing the need for urgent action and continued engagement to defuel and shut down the Red Hill Facility. Over a dozen neighborhood boards on Oʻahu have now passed resolutions recognizing the existential threat to Oʻahu’s water supply, and even more have expressed an interest and desire to join the growing chorus of concern.
Oʻahu Water Protectors Travel to Washington, D.C. and New York City
In September, Oʻahu Water Protectors including Nani Peterson, Kainoa Azama, Keoni DiFranco, Mikey Inouye, Col. Ann Wright (U.S. Army-ret.), and Jamie Williams joined affected Red Hill family members and internationally recognized advocates Steven Donziger and Mike Prysner of Empire Files to take part in the Scientists, Activists, and Families for Cancer-Free Environments (SAFE) EPA Protest in Washington, D.C. They rallied with area allies including members of the American University Hawaiʻi Club, former Hawaiʻi Youth Climate Coalition Director Kawika Pegram, and many others to highlight the Red Hill water crisis and make clear that neither people nor water can be treated as expendable.
Water protectors also met with members of Hawaiʻi’s Congressional delegation and other members of Congress, and Keoni extended his East Coast trip to organize another rally at Washington Square in New York City before returning home.
Water Commission Ponders Options While Water Protectors Demand Support, Decisive Action
Back home, on September 20, the Hawai’i State Water Commission staff put forward a proposed two-month timeline to modify conditions on the Navyʻs water use permits, after nine months of discussion including repeated admissions of ongoing water use violations by Navy representatives. When questioned by Commission members on the lengthy timeline for actual action, staff cited a desire to exercise an abundance of legal caution, to avoid due process challenges from the Navy.
In response, the Sierra Club of Hawaiʻi, Hawaiʻi Peace and Justice, members of the Oʻahu Water Protectors and the Shut Down Red Hill Coalition, and other community members presented over one hour of oral testimony urging the Water Commission to take much more expedient and much bolder action, to hold the Navy accountable for its admitted permit violations, and impose stronger conditions that could motivate the Navy to take the emergency actions we desperately need.
Unfortunately, it is not clear whether the Commission’s staff or legal counsel will heed the community’s calls, as they solicit additional public comments on the proposed permit condition modifications. Please stay tuned and sign up for Red Hill action alerts to raise your voice and urge the Commission to uphold its public trust responsibilities, and exercise its regulatory authorities to defend our water, our islands, and our dignity.
University of Hawaiʻi Students Take to the Streets and Airwaves
Fresh back to school for the Fall semester, University of Hawaiʻi students joined by members of Hawaiʻi Peace and Justice, Oʻahu Water Protectors, Shimanchu Water Protectors, and the Sierra Club of Hawaiʻi staged weekly Friday #ShutDownRedHill signwaving events throughout September, at the corner of University Avenue and Dole Street. A constant cacophony of car horns signaled commuters’ appreciation of the weekly display of activism.
(A special mahalo also to the Shimanchu Water Protectors for organizing a follow-up signwaving at the Department of Health, as well as their weekly Wednesday signwaving with Ka’ohewai at the U.S. Navy’s Pacific Base Command Headquarters.)
On-campus organizations, including the Associated Students of the University of Hawaiʻi, are also now planning additional events and actions to educate the student body and galvanize further activism to defend our home and our future from disaster.
Red Hill was also featured on the University’s radio station, KTUH, thanks to University of Hawai’i student and KTUH program director DJ ʻOno. DJ ‘Ono, who hosts community voices discussing pressing social and environmental issues on his weekly Tuesday radio program, broadcast his discussion with Sierra Club of Hawai‘i director Wayne Tanaka regarding the Red Hill situation as well as the other environmental challenges we face here in Hawaiʻi.
Tune in to DJ ʻOnoʻs radio program every Tuesday from 7 p.m. - 10 p.m. to hear from future featured guests, including students and community leaders working on the #ShutDownRedHill campaign (set your dial to 90.1 FM Honolulu, 91.1 on Oʻahu’s North Shore, or tune in online at KTUH.org).
Water Protectors Demand Civilian and Kānaka Maoli Inclusion in the Red Hill Task Force as the Secretary of Defense Visits Hawaiʻi
With the long-awaited appointment of the commander of the Department of Defense’s Red Hill Task Force, O‘ahu Water Protectors have now called for civilian and kānaka maoli inclusion on the Task Force supposedly dedicated solely to defueling the Red Hill Facility. As Oʻahu Water Protector Keoni DeFranco urged, the kamaʻāina of Hawaiʻi do not have another home to relocate to, should our water be contaminated, and as fellow Protector Dani Espiritu noted, the poisoning of ʻāina, wai, and communities would jeopardize if not destroy every cultural practice tied to these resources and places.
This demand was amplified during the Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin’s late September visit to Hawaiʻi, along with calls for him to meet with the community and affected families personally.
Accordingly, the Oʻahu Water Protectors have put forward a list of specific names of those who should be considered for inclusion on the Task Force, to ensure that community concerns and demands for true urgency are reflected in its work, including: U.S. Rep. Kaiali‘i Kahele; Melanie Lau, M.D.; Wayne Tanaka, J.D.; Col. Ann Wright, U.S. Army (retired); and Kamana Beamer, Ph.D.
Mahalo to all who embarked on this historic trip, as well as Shut Down Red Hill Mutual Aid members, Oʻahu Water Protector Healani Sonoda-Pale of Ka Lāhui Hawaiʻi, and all who helped contribute to their work.
More Disappointment, Failures from the U.S. Navy
Unfortunately, but not surprisingly, throughout the summer U.S. Navy leaders have continued to disappoint the people and ʻāina of Oʻahu and Hawaiʻi.
Even as cancer-causing chemicals found in jet fuel have now been detected in Board of Water Supply monitoring wells east of Kapūkakī - demonstrating that we still have no idea where and how both existing and potential future contamination plumes will flow - Navy officials have continued to hide from meaningful engagement with the public, to hear our concerns and provide meaningful answers, and actions.
Perhaps they have no answers about the lack of any meaningful analysis of additional ways to expedite the removal of fuel from Kapūkakī, when their latest defueling plan still contemplates an unacceptably long, two-year timeline before the Red Hill Facilities’ remaining 105 million gallons on fuel are safely away from our island’s water supply.
Perhaps they realized they would have to face difficult questions about their requests for additional public trust water - after having overpumped their Waiawa shaft by over one million gallons per day, on average, for the last year, and having dumped over one billion gallons of filtered fresh water into Hālawa stream - with still no plan to put this precious water to a beneficial use.
Perhaps they were afraid of the recent public release of two scathing Environmental Protection Agency investigation reports on their drinking water system, listing a number of federal and state safe drinking water regulations that have not been complied with, in some cases for years - demonstrating the systemic nature of the Navy’s failure to prevent and mitigate the harms inflicted on affected families by the Red Hill fuel spill, and its shockingly callous disregard of the incredible importance of drinking water safety as a general matter.
Perhaps they were also afraid of the even more recent public release of additional EPA investigation reports detailing a separate list of violations at the Red Hill Facility itself, including inadequate and unimplemented spill response plans, failures to operate its piping system consistent with good engineering practices, and the existence of two unreported, unpermitted underground storage tanks with no records demonstrating adequate safety practices for these tanks.
Or perhaps they had a sense that the Department of Health was about to drop a bombshell $8.7 million dollar notice of violation for nearly one thousand Clean Water Act violations associated with the Pearl Harbor Wastewater Facility - a facility that had just been subject to a 2021 enforcement settlement agreement with the EPA - belying their tired claims of caring for the environment, or complying with the law.
In any case, Navy leaders need to understand that now is not the time to hide from the public view, or to deny us the good faith, transparency, accountability, and action that we should not have to ask for, much less demand.
Fortunately, the coming weeks will continue to provide opportunities to help make these “leaders” understand that continuing to hide from the people of Hawai‘i will do them no favors.
Join the Fight!
Please be sure to sign up for Red Hill action alerts to learn about more opportunities to join in the Red Hill campaign, and consider making a donation to help the Sierra Club of Hawai‘i keep up our years-long fight to #ShutDownRedHill. In the meantime, mark you calendars for the following events:
October 7, 1-3 p.m. HST: For the Love of Water - Join this rockstar virtual panel featuring human rights attorney and activist Steven Donziger, Amazon Watch Associate Director Paul Paz y Miño, Water Protectors Legal Collective Natali Segovia, and Sierra Club of Hawai‘i Executive Director Wayne Tanaka, along with moderator Nizhóní Begay, describing what corporations and the military will do to fill their desire for oil - and what people will do for the love of water. Register here.
October 7, 5-7 p.m. HST: No Country For Eight-Spot Butterflies - Hear from human rights and international law attorney Julian Aguon and Dr. Noelani Goodyear-Kaʻōpua, discussing Julian’s latest book describing resistance, resilience, and collective power in the age of climate disaster - including the threat being posed by the U.S. military on Guåhan’s own sole-source drinking water aquifer. RSVP here.
October 8, 2 p.m. HST: Red Hill Lie-Aversary: Commemorating One Year of Implausible Deniability - Stay tuned for more information on this upcoming event marking the anniversary of the first whistleblower revelation revealing how Navy officials failed to disclose critical information about an active leak - soiling the graves and threatening to tarnish the legacy of its own fallen sailors in Puʻuloa (Pearl Harbor). Sign up for Red Hill action alerts to get updates on this event. Petitions signed by hundreds of community members will also be presented to demand transparency and action by the Navy to clean up its mess, take care of impacted families, and engage with the public.
October 15, 4 p.m. HST: Living a Nightmare: Current Impacts of Navy Jet Fuel Poisoning Oʻahu Water - Listen in on this Faith Action webinar panel featuring O’ahu Water Protectors and Affected Wahine Water Warriors, discussing their experiences and what we can do to end this nightmare. Register here.
Also: Stay tuned for responses from candidates for Governor, Lieutenant Governor, and Hawaiʻi’s U.S. House and Senate seats on a Shut Down Red Hill Coalition Candidate Questionnaire, endorsed by numerous organizations that have come together to #ShutDownRedHill.