Amid all the news breaking daily on the Red Hill underground fuel tanks, one thing is clear: The Navy has few friends in this matter.
Just about everyone in local officialdom — at city, state and congressional levels — is taking the stand that the jet-fuel storage tanks are a menace. Environmental groups and the general public are aligned with them. We even have a new verb in common usage: “De-fuel.”
The Navy brought this animosity upon itself in the way it handled fuel contamination in water supplied to some 93,000 military housing residents. At best the information flow has been confusing, at worst outright misleading — contradictions on top of misinformation on top of an overall lack of transparency.
Our trust is gone.
One notable exception is Mayor Rick Blangiardi, who in his latest public statement said he had confidence in the Navy. Even he, though, added, “This is one of those things that will need to get fixed.”
The Red Hill Bulk Fuel Storage Facility comprises 20 underground tanks with a total capacity of 250 million gallons, although the Navy won’t say how much is actually stored there, citing national security. That same reason, national security, is the Navy’s justification for maintaining the system.
As old as they are (built during World War II) and perched as they are 100 feet above an irreplaceable freshwater aquifer, the danger of leaks has long been a concern.
Gov. David Ige and the state Department of Health issued an emergency order Dec. 6 calling for the Navy to prove the tanks are safe or empty them. Hawaii’s congressional delegation is now mincing no words: On Thursday the four delegates called for bringing “the full power of Congress to bear on the Department of Defense” to spend whatever is needed to immediately ensure the safety of Oahu’s water supply.
“We are deeply concerned,” they wrote, “that despite this being a crisis of its own making, the Navy may be reluctant to spend the money required to meet the moment … ”
The Honolulu City Council held a hearing on Wednesday that sadly was not attended by Navy or state officials. Even though Council members may have little power in this matter, their proposals add ballast to a vital community concern and deserve respect. They went ahead and advanced a bill that would give the city power to approve underground fuel tanks larger than 100,000 gallons in capacity, and adopted a resolution calling for de-fueling of the tanks.
Coming up: At a state hearing Monday, the Navy is expected to fight the part of the state’s emergency order to drain the fuel tanks. Navy Secretary Carlos Del Toro has said the Navy will essentially comply with other parts of the order, from safeguarding the water system to an independent review of the Red Hill tanks.
The Hawaii Sierra Club and the Honolulu Board of Water Supply have filed motions to intervene in the process, and as champions of clean water should be included. The Sierra Club in particular would be a voice against allowing the Navy to institute measures short of shutting down the tanks.
It remains to be seen what traction this issue will achieve nationally. The National Defense Authorization Act won Senate approval on Wednesday with an amendment directing the military to investigate fuel storage outside Red Hill, possibly even outside Hawaii. The order is but a tiny portion of the $768 billion bill now on its way to President Joe Biden, so it’s not a given that federal lawmakers are truly behind it.
The Navy should stop fighting this, but so far has been resistant — so a united front locally is crucial to protect the aquifer. Any independent review of the tanks needs to be directly reported to the state, so the Navy can’t redact, control or otherwise massage the message.
Everyone on Oahu who drinks water has a stake in this.
