Thread by @oahuWP

HAPPENING NOW
HASC Subcommittee on Readiness Hearing: “Red Hill Bulk Fuel Storage Facility: The Current Crisis, the Response, and the Way Forward”
armedservices.house.gov/2022/1/subcomm…

From the get, it's immediately clear through Admiral Converse's testimony that their plan is to "remediate" the Red Hill facility in order to "bring it back online". They have zero intention to #ShutDownRedHill.

It's also becoming increasingly clear, as we suspected, that the recent report to beltway media that later trickled in to local media news outlets was a direct message to the House Armed Services Committee in the lead up to this Subcommittee Hearing washingtonpost.com/national-secur…

The report that the Navy is "complying" with the Governor's Emergency Order to defuel seems to be more than anything a message to the Subcommittee that they're working in concert with local officials rather than the truth: they've been working against them at nearly every turn.

Florida Republican Rep. @michaelgwaltz was named Ranking Member of the Subcommittee on Readiness just yesterday. If you had any faith in how this process would pan out with respect to shutting down Red Hill, take a look at his political positions WRT to... literally everything.

RADM Converse went through a list of basic services they’re providing to affected families, which members of the Subcommittee commended them for. It took over a WEEK to provide services after concerted outcry from residents who the Navy gaslit and lied to (while poisoning them).

The Navy is still failing to provide basic services and financial assistance to civilians they poisoned. This Subcommittee on Readiness will likely never hear community voices from affected families - which would be absurd but also unsurprising.

Subcommittee Chairman @RepGaramendi keeps calling @RepKahele "Kahlayhee".

@RepGaramendi @RepKahele Just in case anyone needs a reminder as to how we live under a One-Party System under Capital, Democratic Members of the Subcommittee all to a one so far have echoed the "need" for "improving" Military operations in Hawai‘i in the name of National Security and "Readiness"™️.

@RepGaramendi @RepKahele Admiral Converse testified that they have spent over $250m on crisis response efforts - money that could have been spent on anything else if the US Navy hadn't poisoned our water. By way of comparison: Senate Appropriations for FY 2021 for Native Hawaiian Education was $37.4m.

Throughout the hearing, Read Admiral Converse has frequently danced around questions about completely defueling the tanks and whether the Navy plans on challenging the Emergency Order, facing little push-back from any of the Subcommittee Members. Total farce.

When questioned as to why the order to defuel the Red Hill tanks was made when the Navy claims the leaks were only due to “operator error”, RADM Converse stated that he “can only speculate” as to why the @HawaiiDOH would support such an order. We know the Admiral knows why.

Rep. Kahele brings up concerns about flushing large quantities of “treated” contaminated water into Halawa stream. Unfortunately the concern is cushioned by a mere process critique, in which he hopes the Navy makes sure the public is “well aware before that discharge commences”.

Good lord, @RepEdCase claims that “it has been a real transparent process over the past few weeks” consulting with Navy officials. Here’s just one example of that “transparency”.

https://twitter.com/christinajedra/status/1480731700153892865