Editorial: No foot-dragging on Red Hill tanks

The Navy sent someone with a big title to deliver big news, but it turned out he couldn’t provide all the information needed to put minds at ease.

Rear Adm. Blake Converse, appearing before the U.S. House Armed Services Committee Tuesday, stated that the Navy would comply with a state emergency order to drain the underground fuel tanks at Red Hill. Good — and finally.

Given the Navy’s staunch objection to the order not quite three weeks ago, Converse’s testimony was a lightning-bolt moment, only to be defused by what he said in response to follow-up questions. Asked if the Navy had further plans to contest the order, Converse said he wasn’t part of the decision-making process. “I don’t have any information on that at this point.”

Well, that was wholly unsatisfying.

The state’s emergency order came down Dec. 6, after a leak in the Red Hill system of 20 tanks contaminated the drinking water of more than 90,000 military housing residents in the area. The Navy quickly said it would comply with most of the order — to clean up and safeguard the water system and arrange an independent review of the Red Hill tanks — but balked at draining the tanks, which have a capacity of 250 million gallons.

In a contested case hearing, the Navy challenged the state’s authority to make such an order, but was essentially slapped down by the state Department of Health. Converse told Congress that Pacific Fleet commander Adm. Samuel Paparo issued directives late last week to begin compliance.

Civilian interest has been riveted to the fact that those tanks, built during World War II, sit just 100 feet above an irreplaceable freshwater aquifer that serves a good portion of Oahu. The city Board of Water Supply has shut down two of its wells near Red Hill to guard against contamination.

Both the general public and government officialdom have come down strongly on the side of defueling and shutting down the system, although not everyone agrees it should be forever.

The emergency order allows for resuming use of the system if the Navy can assure its safety. The Board of Water Supply and environmental groups want it closed for good and all that fuel permanently stored elsewhere — away from the aquifer. That is the safest, sanest solution; it’s just a matter of the Navy coming to the same conclusion.

After raising arguments over the strategic need for the Red Hill site and the burdensome cost of relocating, the Navy is now allowing that repairs and upgrades needed to operate the aged facility, coupled with cleanup costs related to the current crisis, are running up quite a tab. Converse testified that the ongoing costs of the cleanup, which includes hotel stays for affected households, is already at more than $250 million.

That’s far short of the billions it has been estimated it will cost to build a new facility, but it’s more good money thrown after bad should the Navy not opt soon to do the right thing.

As it stands, any defueling is on a nonspecific timeline. The emergency order gives the Navy until Feb. 2 to submit a plan to safely drain the tanks. Any repairs or upgrades needed in advance would take place once the Department of Health approves the plan, with defueling to take place within 30 days of their completion. And this all assumes the Navy doesn’t go to court with any further challenges.

The rear admiral’s testimony this week was a step forward; it is crucial that his agency keep going in the same direction. Hawaii Congressman Ed Case crystallized the issue, saying the Navy must concede the state’s authority in this matter, as volunteer compliance can always be withdrawn.

His colleague, Kai Kahele, effectively described the mood of the moment: an “inflection point” in relations between the Navy and the people of the state, one that can determine public trust for years.