![]() ![]() Some groups, like the Sierra Club of Hawaii, have been in the fight for years. Facing that public pressure, Hawaii lawmakers and the congressional delegation, who had been mum on the issue for years, started advocating for a shutdown. More than 70 organizations joined forces last year with the aim of closing Red Hill. “I’ve never in my lifetime in Hawaii – and I’m a pretty old guy – seen something like that get galvanized so quickly,” said Ernie Lau, the chief engineer of the Honolulu Board of Water Supply. Protesters waved signs for weeks after the Navy contaminated its own water supply with fuel. The sudden about-face came amid unrelenting political pressure from a community that had unified around the issue in what supporters are calling a testament to people power. Then last week, the Department of Defense reversed itself and agreed to shut it all down. It suspended operations at the World War II-era tank farm but spent months fighting efforts to close the facility altogether, fending off criticism during public hearings and arguing the state lacked the power to enforce an order to drain the fuel. The military initially denied any problems, then confirmed that recent leaks at the Navy’s underground Red Hill fuel storage facility were to blame and promised to clean up the mess. In late November, military families were sickened by fuel ingestion, including babies with rashes, after the tap water source for some 93,000 people in the Pearl Harbor area was contaminated. ![]()
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