Letter: Comments restricted at Red Hill hearing

On Nov. 1, I attended the hearing by the Senate fuel tank advisory committee on corroding fuel tanks at Red Hill.

Throughout the meeting, more than 20 people stood in the hallway due to public interest surpassing room capacity. Many more had signed up to testify.

Yet because of a lengthy presentation by a Navy captain, we did not have the chance to testify before the end of the scheduled meeting time. The structure discouraged public participation, and I returned to work.

I was born in Honolulu and live here today. The water from this aquifer, which flows into taps from Moanalua to Hawaii Kai, sustains us. Water is life, not just a resource.

The testimony that I was unable to deliver advocates relocating the fuel tanks to a safe place, away from the aquifer.

Let the public speak. Let us participate in the regulatory process. Give us a voice.

Laurel Mei-Singh

Waialae-Kahala

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