Navy apologizes after official says Red Hill contamination isn’t a crisis

Dec 26

TL;DR - The Navy is apologizing for downplaying the seriousness of Oahu’s tainted water crisis.

Deputy Assistant Navy Secretary James Balocki drew heat for saying the tainted water issue at Red Hill was not a crisis.

He made the comments during a contested case hearing over the state’s order to cease operations and drain fuel from the Red Hill storage tanks.

“I would describe a crisis as a compelling threat to human life,” Balocki said.

“I’ve been in combat so I know what crisis looks like. (The contaminated water is ...) an urgent and compelling situation. Not a crisis.”

Navy says it’s making progress in huge effort to flush fuel from water system