The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and Navy have agreed on terms of a proposed consent order that requires the Navy to defuel and close the Red Hill Bulk Storage Facility. But for many concerned islanders, including the top official of the Honolulu Board of Water Supply (BWS), the EPA’s directive and responsibility do not go far enough.

It’s a solid concern, given that a 2015 EPA-Navy consent agreement requiring safe operations after a previous spill at Red Hill did not stave off the disastrous contamination of the military’s water supply by spilled fuel in November 2021. The fuel-contaminated water affected hundreds of residents of Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, as well as families in Ewa served by the military’s water system, sickening adults and children exposed to the spill.

Red Hill’s 20 massive fuel tanks sit over an aquifer feeding Honolulu’s water supply, and a major fuel spill at Red Hill could contaminate Honolulu’s civilian water. With such high stakes, the EPA must more clearly delineate required Navy actions.

BWS chief Ernie Lau was one of the hundreds of Oahu residents who crowded a Wednesday town hall meeting called by the EPA, questioning the EPA’s commitment to ensure that the Navy would fulfill requirements of the proposed order. On Jan. 9, Lau took the extraordinary step of sending BWS customers notice that the water agency did not support the proposed EPA agreement.

Among Lau’s criticisms: The proposed consent order lacks clear deadlines and strict penalties for noncompliance. Those criticisms are valid, and the EPA should modify its order to address these deficiencies or satisfactorily explain why it cannot.

The EPA order must also be amended to include measures to address the Navy’s November spill of aqueous film forming foam (AFFF), a fire retardant, from a holding tank at Red Hill. Regulators have become increasingly wary of the per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in AFFF; these “forever chemicals” persist indefinitely in soil and organisms, and can be toxic.

At the town hall meeting, EPA enforcement director Amy Miller said its proposed consent order “enhances” an emergency order by Hawaii’s Department of Health (DOH), which has oversight of the Red Hill cleanup and closure. Nonetheless, stricter guidelines within the EPA order will hold both the EPA and military accountable, and should be implemented. Continuous monitoring and vigilance by both the EPA and DOH are required.

In addition to oversight of the Red Hill cleanup that must be provided by both federal and state agencies, there is room for added involvement by Hawaii’s congressional delegation and other officials involved in accommodating the military’s extensive presence in the islands.

Negotiations over military lease renewals at Pohakuloa on Hawaii island — and Makua, where former Congressman Kai Kahele has called for a return to state control — can be affected by the quality of the Department of Defense response to the Red Hill crisis, as Hawaii Congressman Ed Case acknowledged last week in a Star-Advertiser editorial board meeting.

Earthjustice attorney David Henkin has pointed to regions throughout the U.S. and Pacific where military operations have been based and contaminated lands and waters have been left behind as a cautionary tale. One need look no farther than Kahoolawe or Department of Hawaiian Home Lands properties in Waikoloa, both left unsafe because of unexploded ordnance, for examples.

In the case of Red Hill, Hawaii’s representatives have received direct assurance from Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin that a complete cleanup will be conducted. But it also will take careful, continuous scrutiny to ensure that the military holds to its commitments throughout this operation.