HONOLULU — A letter from Hawaii state senators that was sent to U.S. Navy Secretary Carlos Del Toro on Tuesday criticized the military for continuing to challenge the order to drain the Red Hill fuel tanks. 

What You Need To Know

  • Hawaii’s state senators sent a strongly worded letter to the U.S. Navy secretary for appealing the Department of Health’s emergency order to drain the Red Hill fuel tanks

  • The lawmakers criticized the Navy for manipulating the legal system in order to delay emptying the tanks

  • “Your appeal damages the credibility of the Navy and the entire Department of Defense,” the letter said

The letter was signed by 24 state senators, who wrote they have “grave concerns” over the decision to appeal the Hawaii Department of Health’s emergency order. 

“This decision is an error in judgment that will have detrimental ramifications to the Navy’s relationship with the people of Hawaii,” said the letter, which was sent directly to Del Toro. 

The emergency order was issued on Dec. 6, 2021, after fuel leaked from the Red Hill Storage Facilities in November and May 2021, contaminating the Navy’s water system. In November, people who use the Navy’s water system near Pearl Harbor started reporting that they felt sick after drinking and bathing in the water.

The Navy fought the order in a contested case hearing held on Dec. 20 and 21, but the Department of Health’s Deputy Director issued a final ruling on Jan. 3 that upheld the Emergency Order. The Navy was required to come up with a plan to drain the tanks within 30 days. Instead, the Navy filed an appeal on Feb. 2 in state and federal court.

The letter from the state senators notes the Navy’s Rear Admiral Blake Converse said on Jan. 11 during a congressional hearing that the emergency order was “lawful” and they would comply. 

“Your decision to reverse course and challenge the order explicitly contradicts that testimony, which was delivered on the record before congress,” the letter said. 

The state senators criticized the Navy’s appeal for saying that the Red Hill Bulk Storage Facility does not present imminent peril to public health and safety. 

“More than three thousand Navy families are currently displaced from their homes because the Navy determined it necessary that they relocate for their own safety,” with the latter part of the sentence underlined in the state senators’ letter. 

The state senators also chastised the Navy for refusing to release its report on the cause of the Nov. 2021 spill. 

They also condemned the Navy for trying to “have it both ways,” saying “you cannot argue that the Red Hill Bulk Fuel Storage Facility is both the cause of the fuel spill and not the cause of the danger.” 

“These legal games need to stop,” the letter continued. 

The state senators said the Navy was manipulating the legal system in order to delay emptying the tanks. 

“Your appeal damages the credibility of the Navy and the entire Department of Defense,” the letter said. 

The letter ended by urging the Navy to reconsider its position and rescind the legal challenge.

Meanwhile, the Hawaii legislature is also considering two bills related to Red Hill. One would prohibit building underground fuel storage tanks within a half a mile of an aquifer and the second would limit the size of an underground storage tank to 100,000 gallons. 

After the Navy filed its appeal, the Board of Water Supply and Department of Health also criticized the U.S. Navy’s decision to continue to fight the emergency order.

A senior official for the U.S. President Joe Biden confirmed to Spectrum News in January that the president was briefed on the fuel sickening and displacing thousands of military families and his administration is committed to restoring clean drinking water in Hawaii. 

Hawaii’s congressional delegation has vowed to hold the Navy accountable, and denounced the Defense Department’s decision to challenge the emergency order. 

Sen. Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii, said the decision “undermines public trust,” and that the “maddening resistance to the defuel order will not succeed.”

Meanwhile, Sen. Mazie Hirono, D-Hawaii, said “the safety and well-being of the people of Hawaii must be the top priority…” and urged “…all parties to continue working together to reach our shared goals of protecting Oahu’s drinking water.”

Rep. Kai Kahele, D-Hawaii, called the appeal a “betrayal,” adding that “they must shutdown Red Hill.”

In his statement, Rep. Ed Case, D-Hawaii, said he would “do everything I can to fully effectuate the order.”