An upcoming meeting between the Red Hill Community Representation Initiative group and military officials could be contentious.
The Navy issued a news release late Monday saying it had asked the March meeting be postponed because of the transition between two task forces — one of which is charged with shutting down the underground fuel storage facility that contaminated water for thousands of people in November 2021.
CRI Chair Marti Townsend, formerly of the Sierra Club of Hawaiʻi, fired back at the Navy saying the community group will not change its date or agenda — nor will it accept an arbitrator as proposed by the Navy and the Defense Logistics Agency.
The Conversation talked to Townsend on Tuesday morning about the power struggle over the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency-mandated meetings.
"The Navy is attempting to exert control over the Community Representation Initiative — control that they are not allowed to have based on the enforcement action that establishes this community engagement group," she said.
"We feel like especially a mediator that is paid for and directed by the U.S. Navy is not a facilitator that we can trust in terms of facilitating the free flowing of information."
Townsend said she is not worried that the military might skip the meeting like they did in January. She said the enforcement action requires the military to meet twice quarterly with the CRI — and since they skipped in January, they have to attend in March.
Commenting on the Navy's proposed agenda, Townsend said it seems like the Navy does not want to include the opportunity for public testimony.
"Their preferences have been acknowledged and declined," she said.
The CRI meeting is slated to start at 5 p.m. on Thursday. Anyone interested in participating online must register in advance.
This story aired on The Conversation on March 19, 2024. The Conversation airs weekdays at 11 a.m. on HPR-1. Sophia McCullough adapted this story for the web.
