HONOLULU — The Board of Water Supply said the Environmental Protection Agency’s consent order with the Navy “does not go far enough” in a harsh rebuke released Friday.
The EPA released an agreement, called an administrative consent order, with the Navy and the Defense Logistics Agency on Wednesday that outlines steps to defuel and close the Red Hill Bulk Fuel Storage Facility. It also says that the Navy must keep the Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam water system safe to drink.
The consent order is not yet finalized. The EPA is holding a public meeting on an unspecified date during the week of Jan. 16, 2023, to answer questions about the proposed order. Comments may be submitted on regulations.gov until Feb. 6.
On Friday, BWS said in a news release that they are “extremely disappointed with the provisions of the proposed 2023 Consent Order which lacks details, clear timelines, strict penalties and public transparency.”
BWS also said they were not consulted in the draft's development consent order.
BWS Chief Engineer Ernie Lau has previously demanded the Navy shorten its timeline for the permanent closure of the Red Hill facility. Currently, the Navy says defueling the Red Hill facility will be completed by June 2024 and closing the facility will be completed by June 2027.
“For the past several months, we have been stressing the need for quick and decisive action to defuel and permanently close the facility and restore our drinking water resources. Unfortunately, these pleas continue to go unheeded,” BWS said.
BWS said the draft consent order “simply does not go far enough.”
“The draft order does not establish a firm schedule for defueling and closure. It does not impose mandatory penalties for Navy noncompliance. It provides no meaningful opportunity for stakeholder and public input or any defined role for external subject matter experts,” BWS said.
BWS said the most egregious omission is that the consent order does not mention that last month the Navy spilled aqueous film forming foam, also known as AFFF, which contains PFAS, and how this might impact Oahu’s drinking water. PFAs are slow to degrade and increase the risk of certain cancers, high blood pressure in pregnant women and other health problems.
BWS said the investigation and remediation of both fuel and AFFF leaks “must be prioritized, not neglected.”
“The defueling, permanent closure of, and the PFAS releases at the Red Hill facility call for immediate action, complete transparency, and independent and impartial third-party scrutiny, not the same failed policies and oversight practices that led to the contamination of our irreplaceable sole-source groundwater aquifer,” BWS said.
The release ends by saying that the BWS will provide detailed comments after completing a full review of the draft order.
Michelle Broder Van Dyke covers the Hawaiian Islands for Spectrum News Hawaii. Email her ideas and feedback at michelle.brodervandyke@charter.com.
