Community Voices: Board Of Water Supply Won’t Compromise Safety For Oahu Customers

TL;DR - The Honolulu Board of Water Supply would like to thank Civil Beat columnist Danny De Gracia for his efforts to continue the conversation regarding the ongoing drinking water crisis caused by the contamination of Oahu’s irreplaceable sole-source aquifer from the U.S. Navy’s operations at Red Hill. We cannot let this issue disappear; so long as millions of gallons of fuel remain directly over our aquifer, the very drinking water upon which the people of Oahu rely will be in peril.

Unfortunately, Mr. De Gracia’s opinion on the BWS’ response to the Red Hill emergency (“Don’t Stick Oahu Residents With The Bill For Red Hill”) simply misses the mark. It is not clear how Mr. De Gracia arrived at the idea the BWS is not pressing the Navy to take responsibility for the humanitarian and environmental emergency and disaster it caused.

For years, the BWS has been warning of the danger that the Red Hill facility poses to our drinking water and has written over 140 letters urging the Navy to take decisive action to address the Red Hill problem. Tragically, these pleas went largely unheeded until the Navy’s fuel releases impacted the drinking water of thousands of service members and their families.

April 10, 2022: Board Of Water Supply Won’t Compromise Safety For Oahu Customers, Honolulu Civil Beat