Demand an on-island water testing facility

At the end of July, the Sierra Club of Hawaiʻi sent a letter to the Pentagon urging the Department of Defense to invest a small percentage of the departments $2 trillion budget to create an on-island, EPA-certified water testing laboratory that can deliver test results to island and regional consumers in a timely manner.

Currently, water samples are shipped to the continental US for testing to already overwhelmed laboratories for testing. This not only creates months-long delay in results but also subjects the samples to damage and loss during the shipping process—leaving Hawaiʻi’s people at risk of being poisoned and the further contamination of our drinking water resources.

Jet fuel and forever chemicals cannot be removed from a water source. The US Navy’s negligence has led to Oʻahu’s primary drinking water resource being forever contaminated. Permanent contamination calls for timely and thorough water testing in perpetuity. 

We cannot continue to rely on laboratories thousands of miles away to know whether or not our water is safe to drink.

Take a moment now to write to President Biden and the Pentagon urging their immediate action to establish an on-island water testing facility.

Snail mail is harder for them to ignore, please write them a note on any paper you may have—addresses and sample message below. 

President Joe Biden
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W.
Washington, DC 20500

Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III
1000 Defense Pentagon
Washington, D.C. 20301-1000

Sample message (please feel free to add your own personal message too):

Aloha President Biden/Mr. Lloyd J. Austin III,

The 2021 fuel and PFAS leaks at the US Navy's Red Hill Bulk Fuel Storage Facility have contaminated Oʻahu's drinking forever. Forever contamination demands forever testing.

I urge you to invest a small percentage of the Department of Defense budget in an EPA-certified water testing laboratory in Hawaiʻi that can deliver test results to island and regional consumers in a timely manner.

[Personal note]

Sincerely, 
[Your name]