Now would be a good time to stake out, for the public, the motto and mission of the new Navy Closure Task Force-Red Hill. NCTF-RH has just taken over responsibility for the military’s troubled underground tank facility from the earlier defueling task force; it is charged with permanent shutdown of the massive facility, and with long-term environmental remediation in coordination with state and federal stakeholders in order to protect public health and the environment.

NCTF-RH’s motto — “Safe. Deliberate. Engaged. Committed.” — is closely linked to its mission, as outlined on its website:

>> Safe: We will conduct a safe and expeditious closure.

>> Deliberate: A comprehensive plan that factors in all stakeholder concerns.

>> Engaged: Proactive transparency and listening to our community.

>> Commitment: A Navy core value; it is in our DNA.

Very unfortunately, though, the fledgling NCTF-RH is already stumbling on the “proactive transparency” part, evidenced by missteps last month. This, amid continuing concerns over water safety at Pearl Harbor-Hickam and unsettling reports of symptoms from users of the drinking water system.

In early March, word started circulating about possible water taint being detected in an area school. It would be weeks later, though, on March 28, that it was disclosed that the Navy had notified the state Department of Education and the Department of Health on March 8 that a preliminary test result of water from a sink at Hickam Elementary had detected total petroleum hydrocarbon (TPH) at 324 parts per billion, higher than the 266 ppb baseline for safe drinking water. The delayed public disclosure tried to reassure that subsequent water testing found the sink’s water to be safe, and called the earlier “unvalidated” TPH detection an anomaly.

But by then, the damage had been done — intensifying mistrust between the Navy and the Red Hill Community Representation Initiative (CRI), a group created by an Environmental Protection Agency order after the military’s disastrous November 2021 fuel spill that contaminated the area’s water supply serving 93,000 users, sickening hundreds.

While the Navy did alert relevant agencies about the “unvalidated” TPH detection at Hickam Elementary, NCTF-RH failed to live up to its pledge of “proactive transparency” and proper engagement with its concerned community.

Referencing a March 21 meeting between the CRI, Navy, EPA and other stakeholders, EPA Region 9 Director Amy Miller would email CRI members that “before the CRI meeting I asked the Navy officials to discuss the recent (Hickam school) data at the CRI meeting and they did not.”

That’s unconscionable — the Navy should have taken that prime opportunity to disclose and address justifiable concerns. Short of information or disclosure, speculation will only take a turn for the worse and devolve the situation. Especially given the deep distrust toward the Navy, which for many years had insisted the Red Hill facility was well-maintained — when it was not, but had fallen into deep disrepair.

The earlier defueling task force has just successfully drained 104 million gallons of jet fuel from the 20-tank facility that sits just 100 feet above a crucial aquifer. Now, the Navy’s closure task force will begin removing remaining sludge from tanks and pipelines; the process will involve dismantling the pipelines themselves. A former fuel director at the facility, rightly, recently questioned how toxic fumes will be safely vented.

That will be just one of many pointed questions that must be raised — and be answered by NCTF-RH, in public and well-articulated plans before work begins. Also mandatory: A new extended drinking water monitoring program, which is supposed to begin this month. Clearly, a detailed plan here, including testing methods, also should be shared with concerned water users and the community.

The marked contrast in engagement between this Navy closure task force and the previous defueling one is stark. The EPA, in fact, on March 21 asked members of the Red Hill CRI and the Navy to enter into mediation as the shutdown process unfolds. Both sides should do so, to reset and improve the working relationship.

Conflict, secrecy and antagonism cannot continue. For the good of Oahu’s people and environment, and for a successful mission by NCTF-RH, information must be more forthcoming — and the task force must do better on its promised “proactive transparency.”