The Joint Task Force Red-Hill (JTF-RH), the coalition riding herd on the painstaking and risky work of defueling the Red Hill Bulk Fuel Storage Facility, has shared some encouraging news lately — a rarity in a saga of lax oversight and missteps that has fouled a critical water source.

In mid-May, the timeline to start emptying the 20 tanks in the underground storage facility was accelerated so that the process could begin in mid-October, said Vice Adm. John Wade, who heads the task force.

More recently, both the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the state Department of Health have given conditional approval to JTF-RH’s defueling plan, contingent in part on its completion of 253 listed repairs — a list that, according to the task force, has been checked off.

There is a long way to go, though, with some well-founded public anxiety about points along the way in which plans could still misfire. And that’s a good reason for the federal and state agencies to act as the public eyes and ears.

“This is a significant milestone,” Wade said about the completed repairs, during a recent appearance on the Honolulu Star-Advertiser’s “Spotlight Hawaii” webcast. “It highlights the collaboration and coordination with the regulators who hold us to a standard by federal and state statutes.”

It also reflects a preparation process of repetitive testing, he added, aimed at sealing off any potential flaws before moving ahead with defueling. For example, the fuel lines, which already have been emptied, will have fuel reintroduced temporarily to check for any air pockets that could interrupt a smooth defueling later, Wade said.

This is all good to hear, but part of the ongoing tests must include frequent updates and reports that are made publicly. This entire crisis has dealt a near-fatal blow to the community’s trust of the military — including the community of military families, who continue to file claims of illness from the fuel that contaminated their water supply.

It’s a situation fraught with political tension, as evidenced by a federal judge’s decision last week to shield the chief of the Pacific Fleet from deposition in that civil lawsuit.

The frequent tests and reports Wade has promised thus become all the more essential to the rebuilding of trust — or risk compounding the damage, should there be further lapses and failures.