The news that the military will shut down the Red Hill fuel tanks was welcomed by a number of community groups. And plans haven't changed for at least one citizen's group that is angling for federal oversight.
Tim Vandeveer, attorney for the Wai Ola Alliance, was happy to hear the Red Hill tanks would be shut down.
"This has been a citizen-led effort from the beginning. This is the result of years of organizing by Hawaiʻi's citizens to make sure this facility closed, where we got to today," he said.
Vandeveer says the WOA still intends to pursue lawsuits based on the federal Resource Conservation and Recovery Act, and the Clean Water Act.
"We have to remain ready to hold the Navy's feet to the fire and to make them keep their word. They do not have the best track record thus far in doing what's been required of them by the state."
Vandeveer, who worked as an unexploded ordnance technician, says the Red Hill fuel tanks are part of a larger environmental footprint the military has in Hawaiʻi.
"The nuclear legacy, the ordnance which is scattered across the island, across the Pacific and across the U.S.mainland, it's a catastrophic environmental legacy on the part of the Navy," he told Hawaiʻi Public Radio.
Key military leases involving 6,300 acres of state land are set to expire in 2029.
"After Red Hill, when you have a sitting U.S. congressman, Rep. Kahele, openly questioning in hearings how those leases might be taken up in the future, based on the Navy's behavior? That's going to be an interesting process to see unfold," Vandeveer said.
Recommendations on how to safely defuel the Red Hill tanks are expected at the end of April. Then the process of removing the fuel is estimated to take about a year.
"We have to stay engaged and have to make sure they do what they say they're going to do," he said.
The Navy's plan now is to add fueling locations around the Indo-Pacific, and build more refueling ships.
No price tag has been announced for the Red Hill clean-up.
