Red Hill Roundup: Updates and Actions to Protect our Water
By Rebekah Garrison, Organizer | Reading Time: 8 minutes
Much has transpired in the past two months in the campaign to #ShutDownRedHill. For those wanting to catch up, we've compiled some highlights and updates in this month's Red Hill Roundup.
Hawaiʻi water protectors hold their breath, vigils as defueling commences
We almost can't believe it. On October 16, the Joint Task Force Red Hill (JTF-RH) finally began “gravity draining” the Red Hill Bulk Fuel Storage Facility. As of this writing, over 70 million gallons of fuel have been emptied from the Facility - almost half of the 104 million gallons that have remained above our aquifer since November of 2021. To track the defueling progress of the 104 million gallons of fuel that has remained at Kapūkakī since November of 2021, we recommend the community visit this website https://www.pacom.mil/JTF-Red-Hill/Joint-Task-Force-Red-Hill/. Folks can also download the “JTF - Red Hill” app to mobile devices.
To mark this historic undertaking, the folks at InterVarsity Hawaiʻi and Wellspring Covenant Church held “Pule no ka Wai” gatherings for several Mondays preceding the commencement of defueling. Intended to create a safe space to uplift Kapūkakī, these prayerful gatherings dovetailed into collective action on Sunday, October 15th, as community members and churches gathered in pule, held vigils, and convoyed to the Facility the day before defueling commenced.
Spearheaded by Shut Down Red Hill Coalition members, water drinkers convoyed from Trinity Methodist Church in Pearl City and St. Stephens Episcopal Church in Wahiawā to the front of the gates to the Red Hill Facility, where another collective vigil took place.
The following day, various Shut Down Red Hill Coalition members also joined forces with the Shimanchu Wai protectors and affected family members at the koʻa in front of Headquarters Command U.S Pacific Fleet for a sign waving event.
That same weekend, on October 14th, the JTF-RH and their invited stakeholders also held their own ceremony to mark this historic occasion. In the blistering heat and imposing shadows of the “Empire State” tanker–the tanker now receiving fuel from Red Hill–a blessing was held at Puʻuloa. Blessings were given for those who had died during the hasty construction of the facility, 80 years ago. No mention, however, was made of the thousands poisoned by the facility, who continue to struggle with the consequences of the Navy's actions.
Hoping for the best - and preparing for the worst
While we pray for the best in the coming months, we invite the community to remain vigilant as the JTF-RH continues with the defueling process. In the event that the Department of Defense, again, fails to keep us safe, the Sierra Club of Hawaiʻi has created a “Red Hill Defueling Toolkit” that you can access at this website: https://sierraclubhawaii.org/defueling-toolkit.
We suggest families review the “How to Prepare Your ‘Ohana and Home for Defueling” section where we provide more information about what people can do to ensure that their water remains safe, including water testing kits, links to monitoring data, and other important tips on how to prepare for what the Navy calls “unscheduled fuel movements” aka: spills caused by leaks or human error.
Community Representation Initiative begins its work, raises ongoing contamination concerns
On Wednesday, October 4th, the Community Representation Initiative (CRI) - a ten-member body established under the modified EPA-Navy consent order - held their first meeting with the JTF-RH and EPA at the State Capitol Auditorium. In the months ahead, their job will be to track defueling actions and many other issues associated with the Red Hill facility.
Most recently, the CRI has been made aware of numerous water-related complaints by those on the Navy's water lines - the same water lines that poisoned thousands, and that have continually raised concerns about their purported safety (or lack thereof). In response, CRI member and Oʻahu Water Protector Healani Sonoda Pale enlisted Ka Lāhui Mutual Aid to provide free water to those whose tap water may have been compromised. The CRI is also working on identifying the cause of this latest uptick in contamination issues, and in the meantime has advised anyone on the Navy's water system to be extra vigilant to avoid potential exposure to contaminated tapwater, and to report any concerns to the Department of Health or to the Navy at (808) 449-1979, or (808) 448-3262/2557/2570/2583.
In the meantime, to read more on the CRI's activities, the public is encouraged to review CRI Secretary Susan Gorman-Chang's notes shared with us here: Copy of CRI EPA Navy Meeting 4_Oct_2023.docx. Thank you, Susan!
Oʻahu neighborhood boards unite to protect water
Beginning in 2017 and under the leadership of Marti Townsend–then director of the Sierra Club of Hawaʻi–Sierra Club staff began to undertake an ambitious goal of passing the first-ever island-wide resolution in the history of Oʻahu’s neighborhood boards, to call for the shutdown of the Red Hill facility. Undergoing various iterations as the Red Hill saga evolved and then exploded, what is now called the SDRHC Resolution for Kapūkakī has been adopted by 31 of 33 neighborhood boards! We can thank wahine leaders like Healani Sonoda-Pale, Melodie Aduja, Susan Gorman-Chang, Diane Choy, and Lynell Damate and many others in the Shut Down Red Hill Coalition for helping to accomplish this amazing feat.
You can help this effort cross the finish line by testifying in support of this resolution during the “Resident’s Concerns & Community Announcements” portion of the two remaining neighborhood boards that have yet to pass it (especially if you live in these districts): Wahiawā-Whitmore Village and Waiʻanae Coast. Please see below for the next Wahiawā-Whitmore Village and Waiʻanae Coast neighborhood board meetings:
Wahiawā-Whitmore Village Neighborhood Board Meeting Information:
The next Wahiawā-Whitmore Village Neighborhood Board Meeting will be a hybrid meeting on Monday, November 20, 2023, 7:00pm:
Whitmore Recreation Center’s Multipurpose Room
1259 Whitmore Avenue and via Webex
Please review the November agenda for the Webex link here:
Waiʻanae Coast Neighborhood Board Meeting Information:
The next Waiʻanae Coast Neighborhood Board Meeting will be a hybrid meeting on
Tuesday, January 2, 2024, 6:30pm:
Waianae District Park Multi-Purpose Room
85-601 Farrington Hwy, Waianae, HI 96792 and via WebEx
Please review the November agenda for the Webex link here:
Red Hill far from pau
While the beginning of defueling an 80-year-old menace to our island's once-pure aquifer is certainly historic - and nerve wracking - we must remember that this is just the first step in a long, long road to recovery. Even after the majority of fuel is drained from the Red Hill tanks, there is much more work to be done to heal the harms caused by the U.S. Navy to our ʻāina and wai. This includes but is not limited to:
Draining the estimated 64,000 gallons of residual fuel that will remain in the Red Hill tanks after the current defueling process is complete;
Cleaning the inner tank walls and removing the “sludge” at the bottom of the tanks;
Removing all hazardous materials and equipment from the Red Hill facility;
Remediating the land and water under and surrounding the facility;
Removing the fueling pipelines to prevent the facility from being reactivated;
Compensating victims for the acute and potentially life-long health impacts of exposure to contaminated water;
Ensuring the safety of those on the Navy's water lines, who may still be at risk of jet fuel poisoning;
Installing new monitoring wells, sentinel wells, and developing new water sources to replace wells no longer usable due to groundwater contamination;
Establishing a local water testing lab that can serve communities in Hawaiʻi and throughout the Pacific region struggling with water contamination issues caused by the U.S. Department of Defense;
Getting the Department of Defense to pay for or compensate Hawaiʻi taxpayers for the costs of developing new water sources, and establishing a local water testing lab; and
Getting the Department of Defense to stop contaminating lands and waters throughout the Pacific from its negligence and clear disregard for ʻāina and people it is supposed to protect.
As is clearly evident - we are years if not decades from seeing these critical steps completed. As we also know, it will take continued pressure from the community - for multiple generations - to hold the Department of Defense accountable for what it has done here on Oʻahu as well as across Hawaiʻi and throughout the Pacific. Mahalo nui to all who have stood up and taken part in this campaign, and to all who will continue to fight for the ʻāina and wai that has always sustained us.
Ola i ka Wai!
With love,
Becka