HPR : Citizens’ group to file lawsuit against Navy to ensure safe defueling process

Article (and listen to broadcast here) : https://www.hawaiipublicradio.org/local-news/2022-01-13/citizens-group-to-file-lawsuit-against-navy-red-hill-fuel

Hawaii Public Radio | By Noe Tanigawa

Published January 14, 2022 at 9:19 AM HST

Shannon Haney/Naval Supply Systems Command File/ U.S. Navy

(Jan. 26, 2018) A tunnel inside of the Red Hill Underground Fuel Storage Facility. (U.S. Navy Photo/Released)

A new citizens’ group is preparing a lawsuit against the Navy over its Red Hill fuel storage facility.

The Wai Ola Alliance wants to ensure the fuel tanks are emptied safely and never used again.

The lawsuit alleges that the Navy is endangering the public and the environment with its operations at the Red Hill Bulk Fuel Storage Facility near Pearl Harbor. It alleges the Navy is violating federal laws that govern resource conservation and recovery.

At a U.S. House Armed Services subcommittee meeting earlier this week, the Navy assured Hawaiʻiʻ s Congressmen Kai Kahele and Ed Case that it will comply with an emergency state order that calls for defueling the facility.

But the Navy stopped short of saying it would not pursue further legal action against the order.

"Given their behavior and their response thus far, even as they continue with the defueling, we should be prepared for the Navy to continue to fight the order in order to keep Red Hill in place," said WOA Attorney Tim Vandeveer.

Vandeveer says their lawsuit seeks to establish another layer of protections and mandates through the federal courts.

"We certainly support the governor's efforts, we support Sierra Club's efforts and think the DOH is moving in the right direction. But the order leaves a lot of questions and the Navy hasn't answered many of those questions," he told Hawaiʻi Public Radio.

Now that the Navy has agreed to defuel Red Hill, it is required to deliver a work plan and implementation schedule to the state by Feb. 2.