A new threat for the new year
by Wayne Tanaka, Chapter Director | Reading time: 14 minutes
A New Threat for the New Year: Red Hill “Forever Chemicals” Up the Ante, and the Urgency, in the Red Hill Crisis
“I do want to say this. Our number one collective kuleana is to guard with all our might our clean drinking water. If you have no water, you cannot build new homes, apartments, you cannot solve the homelessness problem. In fact, you cannot even flush your toilet without water. Your sewer system’s not gonna work. Our trees and our grass and our parks and our homes will die. This island will basically become uninhabitable. . . .
Simply put, we cannot live without clean water. The simple fact is you cannot put fuel or other contaminants over our water source.”
– Honolulu City Council Chair Tommy Waters, Chair’s Inauguration Speech, January 3, 2023
At the end of November, Oʻahu’s Red Hill crisis took on a whole new dimension of urgency and horror, as 1,300 gallons of fire-fighting foam concentrate were released from the facility’s fire suppression system – due to a still-unknown cause, over an unknown amount of time.
A Forever Nightmare
Containing extremely toxic, cancer-causing PFAS, or “forever chemicals,” the foam concentrate not only spread across the facility’s concrete floor, but also poured out of the facility’s Adit 6, into the surrounding environment.
The Navy’s refusal to release its video recordings of the spill stymied both the public’s and regulators’ ability to assess and ensure proper remedial action, to minimize the potential harm inflicted upon our island and communities. Photos and reports of the Navy’s attempts to contain the toxic chemicals did confirm, however, that the Navy simply had no idea of how to deal with this devastating event: the laying of tarps on the soil outside the facility could not have prevented the ensuing downpours of rain from driving the contamination deeper into the soil, and both Board of Water Supply and PFAS experts panned the Navy’s manual excavation efforts as grossly insufficient.
In a flabbergasting move likened to a literal cover-up, the Navy then backfilled and paved over the contaminated areas, before even receiving the soil testing results needed to indicate how much contamination may have remained in the environment. Perhaps too conveniently, this inexplicable action now prevents any additional soil sampling from being conducted by objective third parties.
Shockingly, this was not the first release of forever chemicals from the facility, as subsequent investigative reporting by Civil Beat revealed a prior release of 5,000 gallons of fire fighting foam that had not been disclosed to regulators.
As a result, the Navy’s PFAS “forever chemicals” may now pose a threat to our island and our communities for centuries into the future, as it migrates throughout the environment and percolates through soil and porous volcanic rock, towards our once-pure sole source aquifer.
BWS, Community Demand: No More Harm
News of this devastating development led the Honolulu Board of Water Supply’s Chief Engineer Ernie Lau to break down during a press conference, and tearfully demand that no more harm be inflicted upon Oʻahu’s ‘āina and aquifer. Moved by his emotion and his resolve, water protectors across Hawaiʻi quickly heeded his call,with a series of events and actions to educate the community about the new, deadly stakes in this crisis – and to hold the Navy’s feet ever closer to the fire.
Sierra Club of Hawaiʻi, Sierra Club National Issue Call to Action
Immediately after the PFAS spill, the Sierra Club of Hawaiʻi partnered with Sierra Club National to put out emergency calls to action, both locally and across the continent, demanding that lawmakers in Congress use all powers at their disposal to obtain the interdepartmental expertise and resources needed to address the dire emergency at hand.
As a result, to date, over 5,000 emails have since been sent to members of Congress.
However, while Hawaiʻi’s delegation did eventually succeed in securing another $1 billion for the Red Hill crisisin late December, it remains to be seen whether they can also procure the timely, critical intervention necessary to mitigate the potentially devastating harms of the latest PFAS spill – and prevent further contamination of our environment and our communities.
Hawaiʻi residents can still sign and share the Hawaiʻi Chapter’s call to action here; residents of other jurisdictions can also sign and share the National Sierra Club’s action here (a QR code to help spread the word about these calls to action can also be downloaded here).
Shimanchu Wai Protectors, Water Protectors and Ernie Lau Take to the Streets
On Friday, December 2, the Shimanchu Wai Protectors – whose ancestral homeland of Okinawa has also been contaminated by military PFAS poisoning – led a signwaving protest at the Department of Health. They were joined by the O‘ahu Water Protectors, the Sierra Club of Hawai‘i, and numerous other groups and individuals involved in the Shut Down Red Hill campaign – and for the first time, Board of Water Supply Chief Engineer Ernie Lau himself. Declaring the PFAS spill “the last straw,” Lau also announced that he would be leading a protest march to Navy Facilities Engineering Systems Command the following week (read more about the “Walk for Wai” below).
BWS Emergency Town Hall Meeting
On the following Tuesday, December 6, members of the Shut Down Red Hill Coalition including the Sierra Club of Hawaiʻi hosted an emergency town hall briefing with Board of Water Supply engineer Erwin Kawata. Kawatashared his knowledge regarding PFAS and the latest release of fire-fighting foam concentrate, and answered numerous community questions regarding the Red Hill crisis – including his perspective on what must be done to prevent an imminent, existential disaster for Oʻahu and Hawaiʻi. The town hall can be seen on the Sierra Club of Hawai‘i’s Youtube page here; community members are urged to watch and share this critically important presentation.
PFAS Experts Weigh In
Two days later, the Oʻahu Water Protectors hosted a panel of nationally recognized PFAS experts, including PFAS investigative journalist Pat Elder, Sierra Club National’s Senior Toxics Advisor Sonya Lunder and Director of Science Policy for Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility Dr. Kyla Bennett. The panel highlighted the incredibly toxic, and alarmingly pervasive, nature of PFAS, discussed the latest PFAS spill at Red Hill and reviewed the current regulatory landscape for PFAS nationally and in Hawai‘i.
Community members are also strongly encouraged to review and share the panel discussion on the Sierra Club of Hawai‘i’s Youtube page here.
Walk for Wai Brings Over a Thousand Water Protectors to the Navy’s Doorstep
After witnessing Ernie Lau’s demand, Malia Marquez of the Puʻuhonua o Wailupe knew that a mass mobilization action was needed, to show the Navy that the community had the Board of Water Supply’s back. She immediately galvanized her fellow Puʻuhonua o Wailupe board members, who subsequently partnered with organizers from the Oʻahu Water Protectors, along with Hawaiʻi People’s Fund, the Hawai‘i Youth Climate Coalition, Queen’s Court, KAHEA, Hui o Heʻe Nalu, Mauna Medics, the Lāhui Foundation and the Sierra Club of Hawai‘i, to coordinate a “Walk for Wai” leading from Keʻehi Lagoon Beach Park to the Honolulu headquarters of NAVFAC.
Eventually garnering the support of over 65 organizations, along with the Honolulu Police Department, the Office of Hawaiian Affairs, and the Board of Water Supply, the Walk for Wai saw upwards of 1,500 water protectors – including water protectors from Guåhan and Okinawa – march to the Navy’s doorstep, chanting, singing, and demanding support for the Board of Water Supply.
Read more about the Walk for Wai in the Office of Hawaiian Affairs’ Ka Wai Ola newspaper article, “Protect What You Love,” and in the Popular Resistance coverage of the event. Videos of the march can also be seen on the Sierra Club of Hawaiʻi’s Instagram post as well as on the Oʻahu Water Protectors’ latest clip featuring Ernie Lau – who helped lead much of the march, a hae Hawaiʻi (Hawaiian flag) in hand.
Windward Oʻahu Protectors Hold a “Wave for Wai”
On the same day as the Walk for Wai, water protectors in Windward Oʻahu held a “Wave for Wai,” signwaving outside the ʻAikahi gates to the Marine Corps Base Hawaiʻi. Notably, this Department of Defense installation has a long history of inflicting environmental harms to the lands and waters of Mōkapu – and to this day, continues to use tremendous amounts of potable water from the Board of Water Supply system to irrigate its golf course, inhibiting efforts to restore Heʻeia stream and the watershed, estuaries and associated agricultural and cultural practices that rely on it.
Dr. Cornel West, Local Community Leaders Hold Piʻo Summit on Wai Sovereignty
On December 15, the inaugural 2022 Piʻo Summit on Wai Sovereignty and Justice convened community leaders, advocates and thinkers to speak on aloha ʻāina and water justice – and featured a keynote presentation by none other than the internationally reknowned philosopher, political activist, actor and public intellectual Dr. Cornel West.
Sponsored by the Truth, Racial Healing & Transformation Campus Center at the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa, the Hawaiʻinuiākea School of Hawaiian Knowledge, UH’s Native Hawaiian Student Services, the Council for Native Hawaiian Advancement, Kanaeokana, the Hawaiʻi Alliance for Progressive Action and the Sierra Club of Hawaiʻi, the Summit included a panel on Red Hill, featuring attorney and Native Hawaiian advocate Camille Kalama, the Board of Water Supply’s Ernie Lau and the Sierra Club of Hawaiʻi’s Wayne Tanaka, and was moderated by water law expert and Dean of the Ka Huli Ao Center for Excellence in Native Hawaiian Law Kapuaʻala Sproat.
These “Wai and Red Hill” panelists spoke about the history and cultural significance of Kapūkakī and the surrounding region, including efforts to revive and perpetuate Kānaka Maoli cultural and agricultural practices, knowledge and values; the background behind and latest developments in the Red Hill crisis; and the community response to the latest spill of forever chemicals. Watch the Summit panels here, and listen to Director Wayne Tanaka’s assessment of the community response to the Red Hill crisis in this excerpt.
Of course, the highlight of the Summit was the keynote presentation, featuring a discussion between Summit organizer Dr. Kamana Beamer and Dr. West. Dr. West, who nearly one year prior had signed the Progressive International statement for the closure of the Red Hill Facility, expounded on the global harms inflicted by intrinsically intertwined Western imperialism, white supremacy, predatory capitalism and the military industrial complex; the importance of standing up for the oppressed and most vulnerable in society; and the role of integrity, honesty, decency and courage in the fight for justice, and for the revolutionary change that humanity, and our planet, desperately need. A recording of the keynote can be seen at the Hawaiian History 101 Youtube page.
Keiki Create Art, Take on “Contamination Monster”
On December 17, Hawaiʻi keiki and their parents took part in a Keiki Arts March, organized by artist-advocates Laurel Nakanishi, Noel Shaw and Meleanna Meyer, with support from Honolulu Printmakers and the Sierra Club of Hawaiʻi.
Young water protectors learned about Oʻahu’s water and why we must protect it; colored mother-designedpostcards and wrote messages to Commander in Chief Joe Biden, Pentagon Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and Governor-elect Josh Green; created wearable water creatures and rainclouds; and marched alongside a giant puhi to confront a 15-foot-tall Contamination Monster at the Hawaiʻi State Capitol, defeating the toxic behemoth with chants of “Ola i ka Wai.”
School of Rock Climbing Camp Keiki Learn about Kapūkakī
The following week, Oʻahu Bouldering made time during their 2022 School of Rock Winter Camp to let Sierra Club of Hawaiʻi staff Tanya Dreizin provide a presentation to camp participants regarding the water crisis at Kapūkakī. Many in the climbing community have applied the teamwork, creativity and problem solving skills inherent in their sport to contribute to various Shut Down Red Hill efforts; thanks to camp organizers, they may soon be joined by a new cohort of up-and-coming keiki climbers, who have so much at stake in the resolution of Oʻahu’s water crisis.
Spotlight Hawaiʻi Features Sierra Club of Hawaiʻi and Earthjustice Interview on Red Hill
Finally, to end the year, on December 30, Earthjustice attorney David Henkin and Sierra Club of Hawaiʻi Director Wayne Tanaka reprised their appearance on the international Telly award-winning Spotlight Hawaiʻi, with hosts Yunji de Nies and Ryan Kalei Tsuji. Henkin and Tanaka discussed the latest PFAS spill, the multigenerational implications of having these “forever chemicals” released into the environment, the Navy’s ongoing lack of transparency and urgency, and the widespread environmental and human health impacts resulting from military contamination in communities across the Pacific as well as the continental United States.
Watch the end-of-the-year interview on the Star-Advertiser website here.
Da Hui Kicks Off the New Year with an Ola i ka Wai Backdoor Shootout Opening Ceremony
To kick off 2023 – as well as their Backdoor Shootout surf competition – on January 2, Da Hui o Heʻe Nalu hosted an Ola i ka Wai opening ceremony at ʻEhukai Beach Park on Oʻahu’s North Shore. The ceremony included speeches on the central importance of protecting ʻāina and wai as a collective kuleana by beloved community leaders from across the Pae ‘Āina, including Kaleikoa Kaeo, Healani Sonoda-Pale and Lanakila Mangauil. Pule, hula and protocol were also conducted by Oʻahu Water Protectors Makaio Villanueva and Nani Peterson, along with Kapulei Flores, Kaiolohia Espere and other attendees of the opening ʻaha.
Members of Walk for Wai co-organizers Puʻuhonua o Wailupe also participated in the event, and Oʻahu Water Protectors along with Sierra Club of Hawaiʻi hosted a booth alongside Lāhui Foundation to share informational materials and collect petition signatures from the hundreds of people in attendance.
To follow the Backdoor Shootout and to learn more about Da Hui, be sure to follow the organization’s Instagram page @huioheenalunorthshore.
Upcoming Red Hill Actions and Events
It is clear that more and more people across Hawai‘i and beyond are taking greater action to protect our precious wai, and to get the Navy to heed Ernie Lau’s demands. However, it is also clear that the Navy and Department of Defense still do not feel the deep sense of urgency needed to prevent any more harm from befalling our aquifer, or the life-giving waters of other communities throughout the Pacific. Fortunately, there will be several opportunities to continue holding the Navy’s feet to the fire in the coming weeks:
First, on Thursday, January 12, from 5:00 to 6:30 p.m., the Environmental Protection Agency and the Hawaiʻi Department of Health will host a webinar to “discuss findings and recommendations from two health surveys conducted in 2022 and introduce upcoming public health assessment activities to evaluate data and information on chemical releases from Red Hill since 2005.” Learn more about what these agencies have – and have not – done to understand and address the harms inflicted by the Red Hill Facility on our island and our residents over the last two decades, by registering for the webinar here.
Second, on Tuesday, January 17, Queen’s Court will once again host an all-day ‘Onipa‘a Peace March and educational event, with a procession beginning at 8:30 a.m. from the Maunaʻala Royal Mausoleum to ʻIolani Palace, followed by speeches and entertainment to commemorate the 130th anniversary of the Illegal Overthrow of the Hawaiian Kingdom. The theme for this year’s event will be “Wai,” with a special focus on the Red Hill Water Crisis.
Join in the march or the subsequent events to learn more about the history of our islands, and its connection to our water crisis; connect with other water protectors; and demonstrate to the Navy and government officials that we will not stand idly by while our island remains under existential threat.
For more information or to register your school or organization as an official participant, visit Ka Lāhui Hawaiʻi’s web page here.
Third, on January 18 and 19, the Environmental Protection Agency and Department of Defense will hold an in-person “town hall” and an “open house” to provide information and take public comments on their recently issued consent decree, concerning the defueling and closure of the Red Hill Facility, as well as the Navy’s failure to operate its drinking water system in compliance with federal and state safe drinking water regulations.
Troublingly, the consent decree between the Environmental Protection Agency and the Department of Defense was negotiated in secret and without consultation with those who were directly harmed, or who remain most at risk, by the Navy’s reckless disregard of our island and the safety of current and future generations of Hawai‘i residents.
As a result, the consent decree’s provisions allow the Navy to effectively control its own timelines for action, duplicate or potentially conflict with provisions of the current Department of Health emergency order and could in many ways simply enable the Navy to continue business as usual as our aquifer and our future remain under daily, existential threat.
Mark your calendars for the January 18th Town Hall at 5:00 p.m., and the January 19th Open House from 3 p.m. – 8 p.m., both at the O‘ahu Veterans Center, 1298 Kukila Street, Honolulu, Hawai‘i 96818. Even though these meetings are taking place in the middle of the workweek, and are being organized by the two federal departments most complicit in creating this crisis, we cannot let the Navy or EPA attempt paint Oʻahu’s residents as complacent or accepting of their wholly unacceptable consent decree, or of their dismissive attitude toward the existential nature of the Red Hill threat we have been facing for far, far too long. If you are interested in being a part of a team to coordinate around these events, please e-mail us at hawaii.chapter@sierraclub.org. Be sure to also sign up for Red Hill action alerts for talking points and updated information regarding the consent decree and these important opportunities for public engagement.
Finally, on January 23 at 2:00 p.m., the Board of Water Supply will hold its next board meeting. In the Board’sprior public meeting, Department of Health and Environmental Protection Agency representatives presented conflicting and confusing information, and then refused to engage with the public who had waited hours to ask questions, and testify – instead logging off of their Zoom accounts notwithstanding the protests and pleas of the Board directors themselves.
Mark your calendars for January 23 as another potential opportunity to engage with the Department of Health and Environmental Protection Agency – or at the very least, to encourage the Board of Water Supply to continue demanding meaningful public engagement from these regulatory agencies.
What Kind of Ancestors Will We Be?
As we enter into a new year, and face yet another new nightmare, the need for sustained and increased pressure on the Navy and our government officials is greater now than ever before. Please be sure to sign up for Red Hill action alerts, take part in upcoming actions, support the Sierra Club of Hawaiʻi’s work and encourage your friends and networks to do the same. The fate of our island, our communities and generations yet unborn may depend on what we decide to do today – let us do what it takes to protect what we love, and be the best ancestors that we can.