Defense bill directs military to offer alternatives to Red Hill

Honolulu Star-Advertiser | December 16, 2021

The latest iteration of Congress’ annual defense bill includes a provision that directs the military to conduct an assessment of alternatives to its Red Hill Bulk Fuel Storage Facility, including consideration of locations outside of Hawaii.

The U.S. Senate on Wednesday passed the 2022 National Defense Authorization Act, sending the $768 billion bill to President Joe Biden for his signature. The U.S. House passed the legislation last week. It includes several provisions focused on Hawaii and the wider Pacific, calling for reforms while also funding some $465.5 million for military construction projects here.

The provision calling on the military to size up alternatives to fuel storage at Red Hill — which was built during World War II to serve the Pacific Fleet — was introduced late in the drafting process and comes amid growing calls in Hawaii for the Navy to shut down the fuel farm after contamination of the Navy’s water system, which serves about 93,000 people.

Hawaii’s congressional delegation has called for an Inspector General review of the facility, and on Dec. 6, Gov. David Ige issued an emergency order calling on the Navy to de-fuel Red Hill’s tanks until it can prove safe operation. The Navy has said it will fight that order. The NDAA requires the military to come up with at least three alternatives outside of Hawaii.

The amendment builds off the request for independent Inspector General review by “requiring an independent American Petroleum Institute certified inspector to examine the facility,” Hawaii U.S. Rep. Ed Case’s office said in a news release.

Further, it said: “If Gov. Ige allows Red Hill to continue under any conditions, the bill would require the piping system to ultimately be submitted to strengthened and more frequent inspection and repair requirements.”

The Red Hill water crisis has prompted many military and local families to express deep reservations about some decisions military leaders have made in Hawaii. It comes amid declining trust nationwide, according to a fall survey by Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation and Institute. It found that the number of Americans who said they have a lot of confidence and trust in the military has dropped from 70% to 45% in the past three years.

Another bill provision requires the Pentagon to give Congress a briefing on the military’s approach to coordination with state and local government entities in Hawaii — and to propose options for improving community engagement and accessibility to the military in the islands. Additionally, it calls for a congressional briefing on military efforts to renew land leases and easements across the state.

Among the construction projects funded by the bill is the continued development of the Homeland Defense Radar-Hawaii to the tune of $75 million. Expected to cost at least $1.9 billion by the time it’s finished, the project has proved divisive. The latest funding comes after repeated attempts by the Pentagon to defund the project, with defense officials citing difficulty finding a suitable site and an interest in exploring alternative missile sensor systems.

The Pentagon initially awarded Lockheed Martin a contract to develop the radar in 2018 — after the false-alert missile scare in Hawaii, which occurred amid heightened tensions between the U.S. and North Korea. Originally slated to be built on Oahu, the project faced pushback from North Shore communities, prompting a pivot to Kauai as a potential site for the radar.

Hawaii’s U.S. Sen. Mazie Hirono has fought to keep the project funded as the Pentagon — under both Presidents Biden and Donald Trump — moved to defund it.

Hirono, who heads the Senate Armed Service’s Committee’s Seapower Subcommittee, has also pushed for the Navy to provide Congress with an update of its Shipyard Infrastructure Optimization Plan.

The Navy maintains four public shipyards, including Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard — Hawaii’s top industrial employer. The Navy has been struggling with maintenance backlogs as workers at aging shipyard facilities are tasked with meeting the demands of a force that conducts operations around the globe at a near-constant pace.

“There is broad recognition at the Department of Defense that we need to modernize our Armed Forces, improve our infrastructure, bolster our alliances and partnerships, and invest in the Indo-Pacific region to face the challenges posed by our near-peer competitors,” Hirono said in a news release issued Wednesday. “Hawaii plays a central role in advancing our country’s interests in the Indo-Pacific region.”

The bill also funds $171.9 million in construction and upgrades for Marine Corps Base Hawaii, which is currently the center of a massive reorganization of the Marine Corps as a whole as it aims to focus more on island and coastal fighting.

Marines in Hawaii will be the first to receive new warships the service plans to use, and have begun training with new missile systems designed to strike enemy ships from island positions. As part of a repositioning of forces around the Pacific, about 2,700 Marines are also expected to come to Hawaii from Okinawa by 2030.

Case pushed for a provision requiring that the Defense Intelligence Agency include in its annual report on China’s military power an analysis of China’s activities in the Pacific Islands region. In particular, analysts have closely watched Chinese engagement in the island nation of Kiribati.

Last year Kiribati joined Beijing’s Belt and Road Initiative, a series of Chinese backed infrastructure plans around the world to extend its global influence.

Among projects China is exploring in Kiribati are a proposed modernization of a former U.S. military landing strip from WWII, which some analysts and opposition lawmakers in Kiribati have warned could allow Chinese warplanes to operate on Hawaii’s doorstep. But Kiribati’s current government insists the project is purely for civil aviation purposes.

Also among the Case-­authored provisions is one requiring that the Pentagon submit a report to Congress detailing what the U.S. needs to do to deepen— or maintain — security partnerships with Indo-Pacific countries.

The bill includes $2.1 billion for the Pacific Deterrence Initiative, a special fund that focused on countering Chinese moves in the Pacific.

China has sought to expand its influence through both military and economic means. But while Beijing has strengthened its position in some places, its strategies have backfired elsewhere.

For instance, the Chinese Navy’s aggressive efforts to assert control over disputed territories in the South China Sea included harassment of Filipino fishermen, forcing them out of traditional fishing areas that Beijing claims is its historic territory and sparking a backlash across the Philippines.

The backlash prompted the Philippines’ President Rodrigo Duterte this year to renew a security pact with the U.S. that he had long threatened to cancel after years of efforts to strengthen ties between Beijing and Manila.