Citizen Group Sues Navy Over Red Hill Tanks Seeking Safe Defueling and Closure

HONOLULU, June 14, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, June 14th, the Wai Ola Alliance ("WOA") filed a citizen suit seeking injunctive relief against the United States Department of the Navy ("Navy") in Federal District Court for ongoing violations of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act ("Clean Water Act" or "CWA"), stemming from the operation of the Red Hill Bulk Fuel Storage Facility. They are seeking an end to discharges to streams and harbors, safe defueling and closure, and civil penalties for past violations up to $56,460 per day, per violation. WOA is a community-based organization of environmentally and culturally focused individuals dedicated to protecting the waters of Hawai'i from the effects of past and ongoing discharges of petroleum pollutants from Red Hill to Pu'uloa (Pearl Harbor), Hālawa Stream, and other nearby surface waters.

The 144-acre Red Hill Fuel Storage Facility consists of twenty 1940s vintage underground storage tanks ("USTs") with a combined total capacity of 250 million gallons of petroleum-based fuel. It is located on the western edge of the Ko'olau mountain range, approximately 100 feet above the Waimalu and Moanalua Aquifers. This collectively covers the Southern Oahu Basal Aquifer, which the Navy has acknowledged as irreplaceable and vulnerable to contamination. Red Hill also includes tunnels, exposed and buried pipelines, ventilation systems with air intakes and exhaust portals, a pumphouse, control room, surge tanks, slop oil and oil recovery facilities, and fueling stations at various piers in Pearl Harbor, including Hotel Pier, Kilo Pier, Bravo Pier, and Mike Pier.

While the Red Hill facility has been ordered to permanently close and halt operations, defueling and closure pose an even greater risk of spills, leaks, and discharges than current operations. WOA's citizen suit seeks intervention of the Federal Court to require safe and timely defueling, both to protect the aquifer and to prevent petroleum spills and leaks to streams and the harbor during that defueling. Further WOA seeks civil penalties for past violations of the Clean Water Act by the Navy.

The Navy has self-reported discharges of petroleum from the Hotel Pier and Kilo Pier to Pu'uloa, On March 17 and June 2, 2020, the Navy notified the Department of Health that Red Hill discharged pollutants from the Hotel Pier. On July 23, 2021, the Navy also confirmed a release of pollutants occurring between July 16 and July 19, 2021, from Red Hill, Pearl Harbor at Kilo Pier. Confirming the Navy's inability to safely operate the Red Hill facility, the source of the Hotel Pier spill remained unidentified for at least 365 days after the Navy first reported the discharge. WOA is confident many additional unreported petroleum discharges will be discovered as the citizen suit proceeds. Small concentrations of petroleum are rapidly lethal to wildlife and habitat in the area.

WOA members listed in this citizen suit are: Melodie Aduja, a former State Senator and former Deputy Prosecuting Attorney; Pete Doktor, a veteran and peace activist; Kim Coco Iwamoto, a former Board of Education member and business owner; Mary Maxine Kahaulelio, a community organizer and activist; and Clarence 'Ku' Ching, a former Office of Hawaiian Affairs Trustee and community activist. Kahaulelio and Ching are Native Hawaiian Kupuna (elders) with long histories of successful protests, including against the military bombing of Kahoolawe, and Thirty Meter Telescope on Mauna Kea; they are both plaintiffs in the Hawaii Supreme Court case that affirmed that the State failed to protect trust property it had leased to the U.S. Army as Pōhakuloa Training Area.

"We can't rely on the State Government to protect our interests," - Clarence "Ku" Ching

"Water is the source of humanity, it's from God." - Mary "Auntie Maxine" Kahaulelio

"It's criminal to hold our `ohana (families) hostage while fuel leaks continue, including imminent threat of catastrophic spill according to even Navy's studies; as a military veteran, it's unacceptable that the military is our biggest security threat given clean water is security and true wealth." - Pete Doktor

"We always knew that the Red Hill Facility posed an imminent danger to our freshwater sole source aquifer on Oʻahu because of 80 years of corrosion, disrepair, and lack of adequate testing and maintenance. The Facility and its pipelines absolutely cannot be properly and safely operated even for defueling." - Melodie Aduja

"As a small business owner, 100% of my revenue depends on ensuring my customers have access to clean, safe water; since the State failed to hold the Navy to an adequate standard of care regarding Red Hill, the people must remain steadfast in shouting "foul" every time the Navy contaminates Hawaii's waters." - Kim Coco Iwamoto

Contacts:    

Wai Ola Alliance, www.WaiOlaAlliance.com, 816-287-4176, [email protected]

Daniel Cooper, Sycamore Law, Inc., (415) 360-2962, [email protected]

William Harrison, Esq., (808) 542-5297, [email protected]

SOURCE Wai Ola Alliance