RED HILL FUEL TANKS

Task Force Meeting - October 30, 2015

On October 30, 2015, the Red Hill Task Force met at the Department of Health (DOH) offices. Some of those attending include DOH Deputy Director Mr. Keith Kawaoka, Mr. Ernest Lau, Director of the Board of Water Supply, and Captain Tufts, United States Navy Yeoman. The purpose of the public meeting was to ask for clarification of the presence of contaminants in the aquifer from spills at the Red Hill facility.

Mr. Ernest Lau advised the meeting that contaminants from the spills of petroleum products had contaminated the aquifer underneath the Red Hill facility. Mr. Lau's statements simply reiterates information we disclosed in February, 2014. We are now posting some of the sampling reports provided by the Navy to the Hawaii State Department of Health.

In October 2014, some suggested, and we were told, the only leak that occurred at Red Hill was the recent one in 2014. At the time they reported approximately 27,000 gallons leaked from tank 5. Information we have obtained refutes that claim. The attached letters from various ground level watering reports show that laboratory analytical results indicate a number of Chemicals of Potential Concern (COPCs) were detected in the monitoring wells in levels exceeding the DOH drinking water environmental action levels (or EALs) for human toxicity. We also know from the letters the Site-Specific Risk Based Levels (SSRBLs) are 4,500.

Why the Department of Health refuses to publicly disclose the information is puzzling. We are left with the impression that the DOH is deflecting criticism of the Navy.

Given the magnitude of the negative impact on human health and the environment, the DOH needs to change their philosophy as protectors of the health and well-being of Hawaii and its people.

Following is a recording of the meeting: