Rear Adm. John Wade faces no lack of urgent duties as he assumes his new post as commander of a joint task force in charge of defueling and permanently closing the Navy’s Red Hill fuel facility, but his primary responsibility is clear: to oversee the safe and speedy emptying of the underground tanks.
The Department of Defense created the Joint Task Force Red Hill this year for the express purpose of getting this job done, and public outrage remains high over a disastrous spill of jet fuel from Red Hill’s piping system that contaminated a nearby water supply, sickened hundreds and forced evacuations of military housing in late 2021.
Hawaii’s U.S. Sen. Brian Schatz is positioned in Washington to maintain pressure from the top ranks downward. His response to Wade’s appointment? It’s time to start moving, and shutting down the facility cannot be delayed.
“Our water was poisoned. Of course they need to assess, prepare, and drain the tanks in a way that is safe and doesn’t cause more contamination, but anything resembling a delay, intentional or not, is totally unacceptable,” said Schatz.
It’s also important that the Joint Task Force develop an open, functional working relationship with Hawaii’s state and local leaders, to avoid the lag and potential mistakes that making decisions in a bubble, without immediate local input, can cause. Schatz said as much in his statement, suggesting the task force “begin to work on-site with state, local, and community leaders to safely and quickly defuel Red Hill,” while noting that the DOD is “perfectly capable” of meeting a tight timeframe given the emergency situation.
Given the Navy’s poor record of adequate repair, maintenance and communication with Hawaii, Red Hill’s host community, one of the most reassuring steps Wade could take would be to fully include the state’s Department of Health and Board of Water Supply at the table in evaluation and decision-making, to avoid any implication that information is still being withheld or that the Navy continues to act only in its self- interest.
This week, families who were affected by water contamination, most of them residents of military housing at the time, brought their message to Washington, D.C. They protested in the capital and marched to the Environmental Protection Agency’s headquarters, carrying signs that said, “Do your job.”
That message applies up and down the chain of command for all charged with protecting Hawaii’s water supply, and Wade is now chief among them.
