WAI Panel Discussion Available Online to View; Civil Beat Article Reveals 8,000 Navy Water Samples Were Invalid

On September 10th, the Shut Down Red Hill Coalition and Sierra Club of Hawaii held a WAI Panel on Zoom, featuring Ernie Lau of the Board of Water Supply, Wayne Tanaka of Sierra Club, yours truly as a community member of the Fuel Tank Advisory Committee (FTAC), and special guest George Luján, Executive Director of SouthWest Organizing Project (SWOP) from New Mexico!

We had such an enlightening discussion sharing our experiences fighting for pure WAI, reflecting on the current problems we face, and brainstorming ideas upon which we may craft a better future moving forward.  If you missed the panel, please click on the link below to watch the entire discussion on YouTube.

WAI Panel Link:

https://youtu.be/cjaMmuAJOLc

Also in recent news, an article on Civil Beat revealed that the 8,000 water samples taken by the Navy after the 2021 jet fuel leaks were seen as invalid by consultants hired by the Honolulu Board of Water Supply:

https://www.civilbeat.org/2024/08/bws-consultants-thousands-of-navy-water-tests-after-the-red-fuel-leak-are-invalid/?utm_source=Civil+Beat+Master+List&utm_campaign=ce820764de-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2024_02_27_10_52_COPY_01&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_-da72b62cde-%5BLIST_EMAIL_ID%5D&mc_cid=ce820764de

A little bit of personal commentary: Ernie, Melanie, myself, and many others in the community had long voiced our suspicion of the samples taken by the Navy in the March 7th, 2024 FTAC meeting, not buying for a second that it was the chlorine in the water making people sick.  Now there is finally solid proof that our suspicions were valid after all.  (If it walks like a duck, and talks like a duck, it is indeed a duck, not an asthmatic koala.)

Ola i ka Wai,

-Ashley Nishihara