SUPPORT SB2046 SD1: No Jet Fuel In Water
/February 24 Update
The “No Jet Fuel in Water Bill,” SB2046 SD1, has a hearing scheduled for Thursday at 10am, and due to watered-down amendments made at the behest of the Hawaiʻi Department of Health, your testimony is needed now more than ever.
Despite the common-sense premise of the original draft of this measure – that jet fuel released from large underground storage tank systems, including the Red Hill facility, must be fully cleaned up – Governor Green’s Department of Health has pushed for amendments to only require the Navy to clean up its mess “to the extent practicable.”
This is unacceptable. We need this bill to keep moving if we want to have an enforceable cleanup standard for the Navy, but we also need the Judiciary Committee to recognize that its current language is now so vague as to be practically unenforceable, thanks to the testimony of the Green administration.
Sample Testimony
Aloha Chair Rhoads, Vice Chair Gabbard, and Members of the Senate Judiciary Committee,
My name is ______ and I strongly urge you to PASS, WITH CRITICAL AMENDMENTS, SB2046 SD1.
As originally drafted, this bill would have made clear that any jet fuel released from an underground storage tank system - such as the Red Hill Bulk Fuel Storage Facility - must be completely cleaned up.
Unfortunately, Hawaiʻi Department of Health testimony in the last hearing resulted in amendments that replaced its clear, enforceable, and common sense standard for jet fuel remediation with a vague and practically unenforceable “as much as practicable” standard. This change, combined with the removal of a rebuttable presumption regarding the source of jet fuel surrounding an underground storage tank facility after a confirmed release, all but assures that the Navy will evade true accountability for the Red Hill catastrophe.
After having ignored years of public outcry, whistleblower complaints, and basic common sense prior to the 2021 catastrophe, the Navy must not be allowed to ignore the harms it has inflicted on our ʻāina and wai. There should be NO jet fuel in our precious and once-pure drinking water or in our environment, especially when it has been released by the reckless operation of a decrepit underground storage tank facility after years of objections by Hawaiʻi's residents.
Please stand with the elected and agency officials of the Red Hill Water Alliance Initiative, the Oʻahu community, and all who care about our precious wai, and ensure that SB2046 SD1 moves forward with the clear and enforceable remediation standard and rebuttable presumption found in the original draft of this common sense measure. If overbreadth is a concern, I respectfully recommend including provisions that would limit this requirement to underground storage tank systems with a capacity of 1 million gallons or more.
Sincerely,
[Your name]
Testimony instructions
Register for a capitol website account if you haven’t yet (youʻll need to confirm your registration by responding to an automated email).
Sign in to capitol.hawaii.gov with your registration information and click the "Submit Testimony" button.
Enter "SB2046" where it says "Enter Bill or Measure."
Input your information, select “SUPPORT”, write or copy/paste your testimony. (No verbal testimony on this bill)
Spread the word!
February 3 Update
SB2046, the “no jet fuel in water” bill, and SB2093, requiring the Fuel Tank Advisory Committee (FTAC) to meet more frequently, were both passed out of the Senate Health and Human Services and Agriculture and Environment Committees on February 2.
Bill Background & Info
Here we go! Critical Red Hill bill needs our support for a hearing on MONDAY - please submit written testimony ASAP (sample verbiage and testimony instructions below) and consider attending the hearing on Monday, February 2, at 3 pm in Hawaiʻi State Capitol Conference Room 224 or via Zoom (must submit written testimony to testify verbally - see below).
What this bills does
SB2046 would require the Navy to remediate all jet fuel-related contamination (including compounds created when jet fuel breaks down over time) from the Red Hill Bulk Fuel Storage Facility, to below-detectable levels (using the most sensitive detection technology available).
Why this bill is important
There should be no jet fuel in our water. Period. After ignoring public demands, whistleblower complaints, and basic common sense for years leading up to the November 2021 Red Hill water crisis, the Navy must be held legally accountable to fully clean up the mess it created. Unfortunately, over four years later, the Navy has failed to make any meaningful investments in remediation efforts, assuring us that its jet fuel in our aquifer will go away "naturally" over the course of decades. SB2046 would make clear that we will not stand idly by as the Navy ignores the harms it has inflicted on our ʻāina and wai - and that of our children and grandchildren.
Sample testimony for SB2046 ("No Jet Fuel in Our Water")
Aloha Chair San Buenaventura, Chair Gabbard, Vice Chair McKelvey, Vice Chair Richards, and members of the Senate Health and Human Services and Agriculture and Environment Committees,
My name is [Your name] and I STRONGLY SUPPORT SB2046, which makes clear that any jet fuel released from an underground storage tank system - such as the Red Hill Bulk Fuel Storage Facility - must be completely cleaned up.
Well over four years after the November 2021 Red Hill fuel spill, and nearly three years after the Red Hill Water Alliance Initiative called for the complete clean up of this contamination, the Navy has failed to make any meaningful efforts to remediate our island's sole source aquifer. After having ignored years of public outcry, whistleblower complaints, and basic common sense prior to the 2021 catastrophe, the Navy must not be allowed to now ignore the harms it has inflicted on our ʻāina and wai.
This bill would establish an enforceable legal standard that will also be binding on the federal government: there should be NO jet fuel in our precious and once-pure drinking water or in our environment, especially when it has been released by the reckless operation of a decrepit underground storage tank facility after years of objections by Hawaiʻi's residents.
I urge you to PASS SB2046.
Sincerely,
[Your name]
Testimony instructions
Register for a capitol website account if you haven’t yet (you’ll need to confirm your registration by responding to an automated email)
Sign in to capitol.hawaii.gov with your registration information and click the "Submit Testimony" button.
Enter "SB2046" where it says "Enter Bill or Measure."
Input your information and your written testimony, select your testimony option(s)—in-person + written, remotely + written, written only. Please consider providing verbal testimony (in-person or remotely) if you are able!
Note: Virtual testimony option may be disabled 24 hours before the hearing.
If you are testifying via Zoom, be sure to review these instructions (page 4)
Spread the word!