Sen. Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii, submitted a comment to the Environmental Protection Agency calling on the agency to allow more public input in the Red Hill closure agreement process.

What You Need To Know

  • Schatz told the EPA after any changes to the closure agreement for Red Hill are made, there must be a period for public comment

  • The EPA’s closure agreement with the Navy and Defense Logistics Agency was released in December

  • Hundreds of people have submitted public comments, with Monday being the last day to do so

  • The agreement allows the EPA, Navy and DLA to change it without requiring another period for public comment

In December, the Environmental Protection Agency released its closure agreement, known as a proposed order, with the Navy and the Defense Logistics Agency, which outlines steps to defuel and close the Red Hill Bulk Fuel Storage Facility. The facility is being closed after it leaked fuel, which entered Oahu’s groundwater and affected 93,000 people who use the Navy’s water system. 

Schatz submitted his public comment on Monday, which said that hundreds of people have also filed public comments. Monday is the last day the public may submit comments. The agencies may now change the proposed order.

“It is unusual for me to file a public comment, since I have other ways to communicate with administration officials,” wrote Schatz. “I’m taking this step because of the seriousness of this situation and because as the Proposed Order is currently written, it would leave the people most impacted by Red Hill—Hawaii citizens—without a formal role or voice in this process.”

Schatz called out that the proposed order allows the EPA, DLA and Navy to change it without requiring a period for public comment.  

“Given the magnitude of the catastrophe and its environmental and community impacts, the order should always allow input from all Hawaii citizens. The public’s right to review and comment should not depend on a judgment call by any individual. It should be enshrined in the Proposed Order,” Schatz wrote.

The Department of Health ordered the Navy to defuel and close Red Hill on May 6, 2022. The EPA’s proposed consent order is meant to work alongside DOH’s order. 

After the EPA’s proposed consent order was released, the Board of Water Supply wrote a harsh rebuke, saying it “does not go far enough.” BWS said the most egregious omission is that the consent order does not mention that the Navy spilled aqueous film forming foam, also known as AFFF, which contains PFAS.

On Monday, the BWS released another statement, saying that the EPA should not approve the proposed consent order.

Earthjustice and Sierra Club of Hawaii also criticized the EPA for putting forward the proposed order without consulting the Board of Water Supply or community members. 

The organizations urged the public to use the comment period “to demand the EPA do better.”

Read Schatz's public comment in full here.

Michelle Broder Van Dyke covers the Hawaiian Islands for Spectrum News Hawaii. Email her at michelle.brodervandyke@charter.com.

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