People of the Red Hill Community Representation Initiative are accusing the federal government of backtracking in its efforts to similar the , Navy underwater Red Hill gas service as the military attempts to show improvement in a public gathering scheduled for Thursday.
People of the Red Hill Community Representation Initiative are accusing the federal government of backtracking in its efforts to similar the , Navy underwater Red Hill gas service as the military attempts to show improvement in a public gathering scheduled for Thursday.
As part of a federal consent order enacted in 2023 regarding the closing of Red Hill, the CRI was created by a combination of local people, activists, military personnel, and community members affected by the Red Hill water crisis.
It was established based on group calls for a speech in the defueling and closure procedure after gas from Red Hill contaminated the , Navy ‘s , Oahu , water system, which serves 93, 000 people, in , November 2021. The Red Hill service sits just 100 feet above a crucial groundwater most of , Honolulu , relies on for drinking waters.
But people of the CRI say the , Navy , authorities are upset with how sessions have gone and are trying to change the rules to mouth criticism.
On Monday evening the , Navy , put out a press release that said that it and the , Defense Logistics Agency , are “prioritizing the needs of the 2023 Operational Consent Order (ACO ) to ensure a successful and courteous website to reveal information on the topics of Red Hill defueling, shutdown, and drinking water criteria”.
In the release, the , Navy , said federal officials would attend Thursday’s meeting and that they would “discuss each of the topics that relate to defueling, closure, and drinking water actions”. A recent review of the state of drinking water in the United States, the New York Times and the Red Hill defueling task force, a discussion of website and data reporting, and a discussion of “establish CRI Guidelines and Processes” were included on the agenda items.
The CRI claimed in a press release that the , Navy , had “published a media statement that included a false agenda for the next meeting of the Community Representation Initiative for Red Hill ( CRI), a list of unilateral principles and expectations for the CRI’s operation, and a fake CRI website. The true CRI members reject this attempt to control its sessions and undermine their emphasis on accountability and transparency.
In a statement, CRI Chair , Marti Townsend, a prominent local environmental activist, said that” the , Navy ‘s , attempt to strong- arm the CRI is a significant setback in the , Navy ‘s , stated mission to rebuild trust with the people of O ‘ ahu after their water supply was permanently poisoned by a jet fuel spill from Red Hill”.
In , March 2022 , the , Navy , and the state , Department of Health , said they had successfully cleaned the contaminated water system. But many residents had doubts.
After testing four homes where residents had complained of symptoms, the EPA released a report in December. Three of them had traces of petroleum in the water, and in each case previous , Navy , testing had shown no traces. In January an influx in complaints from residents on the , Navy , waterline prompted the , Navy , to extend its water monitoring programs for an additional year. The , Navy  now acknowledges that some homes may still have contamination while maintaining that the main water supply is secure.
Relations between the , Navy , and the CRI have from the beginning been strained, but have become particularly contentious since the new year after federal officials canceled a scheduled , Jan. 18 , meeting.
Deputy Assistant Secretary of the , Navy , for Installations, Energy and Facilities , Robert Thompson , wrote a letter to members saying,” As you know, the meeting in December did not go well, and so we will defer the meeting in January on the 18th that you have requested and will look forward to our next CRI meeting in February. We are evaluating the structure of the CRI and will work with you to establish operating procedures and ground rules that will encourage friendly discussion and the effective exchange of information in order to have more effective meetings.
The CRI’s members gathered for the meeting in January at the Office of Hawaiian Affairs, with empty chairs on one side of the table, where federal officials would have sat. In its Monday release the , Navy , acknowledged the no- show in January, saying that” the signatory agencies took a purposeful pause to re- Âevaluate the effectiveness of the process, ensure that the signatories were adhering to the agreement, and improve the outcomes directed by the ( consent order )”.
The , Navy , said that during the “reset time” the , Navy, DLA and EPA finalized new procedures and shared them with elected CRI members, as well as hired additional staff and “improved access to information to better support the CRI”.
But the , Navy , asserted that “following ( Navy , ) and DLA efforts to consult with the EPA and the elected community representatives throughout January and early February, the CRI meeting held on , Feb. 15 , did not live up to the ( Navy , )’s and DLA’s enduring commitment to interact with stakeholders in a safe and respectful information sharing forum”.
” That the , Navy , now wants to rewrite these rules to make themselves feel’ safe and respected’ is a distraction from the real issue here, which is that the , Navy ‘s , water supply is still hurting people, and the Red Hill fuel tanks remain a serious threat to the rest of the island’s water supply”, Townsend said. ” Making the , Navy , feel more comfortable has never made our extensive’ to do’ list”.
Joint Task Force Red Hill, the military organization, this month removed the 104 million gallons of fuel that sat in tanks above the aquifer, and completed the removal of “accessible residual fuel” in the tanks.
The newly established Navy Closure Task Force- Red Hill will be responsible for cleaning up the tanks and pipelines connecting Red Hill to Joint Base Pearl Harbor- Hickam, a procedure that will occur concurrently with the disposal of the pipelines. During the February CRI meeting, the Red Hill facility’s former fuel director , Shannon Bencs , asked officials how they will approach community safety as they move forward with that process.
” Now that you’ve de- Âfueled the tanks and the pipelines, now there’s poisonous toxic fumes in those tanks, and the only way to vent them out is through the top of Red Hill and then through the (vents )”, Bencs said, warning that it will be “extremely toxic, and it will flow down to , Halawa Valley , and down to , Pearl Harbor”.
Rear Adm.  , Stephen Barnett, commander of Navy Region Hawaii, told Bencs,” That is something that we’ll be working through as far as the ventilation”, and that the , Navy , would ensure the community would be notified.
” The , Navy , has a long way to go yet to solve the Red Hill water crisis—they still do not know the full extent of the damage done—and it has been less than completely honest with us throughout this crisis”, Townsend said.
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