The lawmakers told the Navy secretary to “repair your damaged military assets and your damaged relationship with the state of Hawaii.”
In a strongly worded letter to Navy Secretary Carlos Del Toro on Wednesday, Hawaii lawmakers admonished the military for fighting a state order to drain the Red Hill fuel facility.
The Hawaii Department of Health ordered the military to empty its World War II-era facility after fuel leaked into the Red Hill well, the drinking water source for 93,000 Pearl Harbor area residents. Families were sickened, and thousands remain displaced from their homes. Despite that, the U.S. Department of Justice filed legal appeals in state and federal court to fight the order to “defuel.”
The letter was signed by Senate President Ron Kouchi, Senate Vice President Michelle Kidani, Senate Majority Leader Dru Mamo Kanuha, Senate Minority Leader Kurt Fevella as well as Sens. Laura Acasio, Rosalyn Baker, Stanley Chang, Lynn DeCoite, Donovan Dela Cruz, Mike Gabbard, Lorraine Inouye, Gilbert Keith-Agaran, Jarrett Keohokalole, Donna Mercado Kim, Chris Lee, Bennette Misalucha, Sharon Moriwaki, Clarence Nishihara, Karl Rhoads, Gil Riviere, Joy San Buenaventura, Maile S.L. Shimabukuro, Brian Taniguchi and Glenn Wakai.
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