Litigation Station: Red Hill Update
By Anna Chua & Marti Townsend | 2. 5 minutes
State Task force meets on Red Hill October 28th;
Scroll down to take action now!
We are greasing our gears to prepare for everything that is about to take place this month. Here is a quick rundown:
On October 20th, parties of the contested case will be submitting their exceptions (i.e. objections to the recommendation).
On October 28th, the Red Hill Task Force Advisory Committee will reconvene. Mark your calendars! We will send out an official invite with talking points that you can use to voice your concerns and the critical need to protect our water.
The twice-annual Red Hill task force meeting was convened to study the effects of the January 2014 fuel tank leak at the facility. It has become a critical avenue for holding the Navy accountable for its inaction and negligence. During the last meeting earlier this year, we learned the Navy was not honest about the 1,000-gallon leak in May seeping into the soil around the tanks. And there are at least two other major fuel releases from 2020 and 2021 that seem connected to Red Hill. The public deserves answers and this forum is one place to get them. RSVP now to show up and demand protection of our water! Meeting details will be shared through email once they are posted.
We all have a role to play in preventing the U.S. Navy from contaminating O’ahu’s drinking supply.
Help us keep up the pressure!
Take these 2 quick and effective actions:
Tell our congressional delegation to direct the Navy to retire the tanks
Submit a letter to the editor of the Star-Advertiser
And in case you missed it:
The Hearing Officer’s recommendation is out. Here are some key takeaways:
The Navy’s performance of inspections and repairs to the Red Hill tanks is “sorely deficient;”
The “risk of potential pollution of the Red Hill potable aquifer is real,” and past releases of petroleum, oils and lubricants have reached the basal aquifer;
Oʻahu’s drinking water could be impacted by Red Hill leaks in the future.
So what exactly is the recommendation?
The Hearing Officer recommends that the Director of the Health Department grant the Navy a 5-year permit to operate the Red Hill facility with conditions. The Hearing Officer recommends that the Director of the Health Department grant the Navy a 5-year permit to operate the Red Hill facility. But he also recommending that those underground storage tanks that have not been inspected in more than two decades “be drained and removed from active use” by 2025. That means that 8 of the 18 tanks will likely be shut down in a little over three years.
While this is one step closer to shutdown, we know that genuine water security is when all of the leaky, 80-year-old tanks are shut down. That is why we need to continue putting our congressional delegation in the hot seat – remember, they have a lot of say in the resources that are funneled into military funding and operations.
Case in point: Representative Ed Case recently proposed an amendment to the Defense Appropriations Bill to require stricter inspection and safety standards for the Red Hill fuel tanks and supporting infrastructure. But there is a caveat. The amendment acknowledges that the Red Hill pipelines need to be fixed, but it exempts parts of the facility that are the most concerning and have shown evidence of extensive corrosion – the tanks themselves.
Stay tuned for more!