Editorial: Navy must obey Red Hill order

The public applauded the state Department of Health decision: The order to drain the Navy’s aging Red Hill underground fuel tanks was upheld. Given the proximity of the island’s primary aquifer, and a series of episodes in which fuel contaminated the water, it was imperative to press for a course correction, protecting Oahu’s water supply.

Clearly, though, city and state officials will have to enlist a battalion of federal powerbrokers to get the Navy to do the right thing — without putting Hawaii through a protracted battle.

That process already is underway. In the past week, Hawaii’s congressional delegation underscored its call for compliance with the state’s order to safely remove the fuel from the tanks. The joint statement pointed to the broad public threat that the operation represents: an endangerment to the drinking-water resources for the entire island of Oahu.

On Tuesday, the U.S. House Armed Services’ Subcommittee on Readiness will summon testimony about the fuel spill from top Navy officials here and on the mainland. This is crucial in communicating the importance of the issue up the chain of command, up to and including the White House.

Hawaii U.S. Rep. Kai Kahele, a subcommittee member, said last week that the panel likely will request recordings from bank of closed-circuit cameras at the Red Hill facility. This data will be important for any independent body investigating the operation to help determine more about the cause and extent of the fuel-leak contamination.

In addition, the DOH has asked for a study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry. Health officials want the federal agencies to investigate exactly that civilian impact from the leaks of fuel from the aging tanks.

The CDC has begun to survey those civilians, starting with Kapilina Beach, which is on the Navy water system but includes 900 civilian households.

Last week also came the appalling news that the relocation of military families would be prolonged. These are families displaced before Christmas by the contamination a November leak had caused in their housing water source. They now will have to live in temporary hotel accommodations for another month.

However, this crisis no longer belongs within the primary authority of the military. The Honolulu Board of Water Supply last week pointed out the prospects for constraints on water supplies serving its Oahu customers. That’s due to the water board taking the well-founded precautionary step of shutting down two of its wells, to avoid drawing contaminants from the tainted parts of the aquifer.

The Navy needs to stop fighting the state’s rightful order and begin planning for a long-term solution.

The turning point came with the decision issued Monday by DOH Deputy Director Marian Tsuji to uphold the department’s Dec. 6 order, dismissing objections the Navy raised in the contested case hearing that followed.

The final orders to the Navy included several points:

>> Operations at the Red Hill Bulk Fuel Storage Facility, including fuel transfers, must remain under suspension.

>> Officials must install a drinking water treatment system at the Red Hill shaft to ensure that contaminants are contained, and water meets federal safe-drinking- water standards.

>> A third party, approved by DOH, must prepare and submit submit a plan and timetable for safely draining the Red Hill fuel tanks, a blueprint that identifies any needed corrective actions.

>> Within 30 days of completing any actions, fuel must be removed from all the tanks.

>> A third party, again approved by the department, must submit a plan and implementation schedule for assessing the safety and design and operational deficiencies of the Red Hill facility.

This last point is key: The Navy has not shown it has a handle on the extent and correction of the contamination problem.

The reason families are not returning home is because efforts to clear the contaminants by flushing the system with more water has not yet restored water quality to federal standards.

The entire process seems wasteful of Oahu’s water supply, especially if it proves ineffective. The cleaning protocol was under discussion Friday by the state Commission on Water Resource Management.

The community’s trust of the military — and of the Navy, in particular — has been badly damaged, a fact that underlies the call for independent experts to intervene.

Up until this point, the Navy has continually asserted that it is capable of correcting the problems inherent in the system that dates to the World War II era. Public authorities increasingly are doubtful of that, with so much at stake.

Specifically, it’s the 400,000 water customers on Oahu who stand to lose at least some access to pure drinking water, an irreplaceable resource. There could be shortages, and potential costs in developing new wells, should that become necessary.

It’s everyone’s problem now, and it’s time that the Navy recognizes that fact.