The Red Hill Community Representation Initiative was formed in the aftermath of the 2021 Red Hill fuel spill in an attempt to give a voice to residents with a vested interest in the review of the fuel storage facility.
However, the group has had a rough go of it from the beginning — and its involvement in the process recently took a new contentious turn.
Marti Townsend, chair of the Red Hill CRI and specialist with Earthjustice, said a Trump administration memo limiting external communications has affected talks over the Red Hill controversy.
"I find it disconcerting that the EPA staff are severely limited in their freedom to speak to the public that they are serving, while the U.S. military just put out another invitation to a town hall. So it looks like the Navy folks get to speak freely to the public however they want. But other federal entities, especially regulators, don't have that freedom and flexibility at this stage," she said.
Townsend said that as federal agencies figure out what's happening, the CRI will continue to share information as best it can. However, she added that before the Trump administration, it was hard to figure out what was going on in the federal government — and now it's "infinitely harder."
"Our government really should be working on our behalf, working to help us, and these kinds of limitations on who they can speak to, when and how, just go to further foment the distrust and the schism between the public and the government," she said.
Townsend said that there was a meeting scheduled with the Navy for Feb. 6 — but the logistics didn't come together in time, and the CRI was unable to finish that conversation with the EPA once the order was issued.
"The Navy was supposed to meet with the public in December, and at the very last minute they decided not to attend, and for which they got fined, and so we had high expectations for our next get-together, next meeting," she told HPR.
"We're hoping that whatever additional delays have been added to the process, for the EPA to work out these details with members of the public, like the CRI, hopefully it'll be done in time for there to be a meeting in March with the Navy," she said.
Townsend said it has been nearly a year since the last open conversation with the Navy.
"The island of Oʻahu's water supply is at serious risk, and the U.S. federal government isn't a trusted ally in finding a solution to our problem. That's very troubling," she said.
HPR reached out to the EPA and Navy for clarification on the next CRI meeting. The EPA said it has not set a meeting yet.
The Navy said it has a webinar scheduled for Feb. 24 and an open house scheduled for March 12.
This interview aired on The Conversation on Feb. 4, 2025. The Conversation airs weekdays at 11 a.m. on HPR-1.
