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RED HILL BULK FUEL STORAGE FACILITY PUBLIC MEETING

Thursday, June 18, 2015 Commencing at 7:49 p.m.

Moanalua Middle School Cafeteria

1289 Mahiole Street Pearl City, Hawaii

Reported by: Laura Savo, CSR No. 3471

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I N D E X PAGE Introduction by Tom Huetteman 4

PUBLIC TESTIMONY: Ernest Lau 8 Philip Wong 12 Carroll Cox 12 Donald Au 14 Steven Onoue 16 Patricia Beekman 17 Francis Gora 18 Alison Bhattacharyya 21 Senator Mike Gabbard 22 Paul Paaaina 24 David Hinchay 26 Bea Sakai 26 Christine Chee-Ruiter 27 Dean Fukuchi 30 Senator Laura Thielen 31 Philip Souza 34 Robin Johnston 35 Mahealani Cypher 36 Leialoha "Rocky" Kaluhiwa 40 Dante Keala Carpenter 411

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I N D E X (Cont'd) PUBLIC TESTIMONY: PAGE Will Tungol 46 Council Member Carole Fukunaga 48 Shelley Muneoka 49 Marsha Joyner 52 Ashly Gutierrez 54 Koreen Yogi 56 Aulani Kaaihue 57 Kapua Keliikoa-Kamai 58 Karen Murray 621

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PEARL CITY, HAWAII JUNE 18, 2015, 7:49 P.M.

* * * MR. HUETTEMAN: There's an introduction I need to do before we start the public comment period. It just kind of sets the stage for the public comment period and gives us some information about just how this will proceed. So -- and we have a reporter here who's recording this part of the meeting.

So, again, welcome and good evening. We appreciate the enthusiasm and interest here this evening. The public comment period is now in session. My name is Tom Huetteman. I'm the assistant director of the Land Division for the USEPA Southwest Regional Office, also known as Region 9. With me tonight is Stuart Yamada, Environmental Management Division Chief, representing the Hawaii Department of Health or DOH. EPA and DOH are tonight taking public comments on the proposed Red Hill Bulk Fuel Storage Facility Administrative Order on Consent. This proposed order sets forth requirements on the Navy and Defense Logistics Agency, or DLA, to address fuel releases from the Red Hill facility and to1

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reduce the risk of future releases. The order was negotiated between the EPA, DOH, the Navy and DLA over the past year. The proposed order has already been signed by the Navy and DLA, but EPA and DOH have not yet signed the order.

Public comments received tonight and in writing will be used to help EPA and DOH decide -- decide whether to sign the Administrative Order on Consent as per proposed or whether to reopen negotiations with the Navy and DLA in order to change the agreement. EPA or DOH can also elect not to sign the agreement. The agreement is not binding on the Navy and DLA until it is signed by all parties.

EPA and DOH will make all comments received available to the public and will provide a summary of the comments received and how these comments were considered. There will not be a response prepared to each individual comment. A certified court reporter will transcribe all comments received during tonight's oral comment period. If you wish to provide oral comments and have not yet had a chance to sign in at the sign-in table, you may do so now as well. We will call up speakers in the order that they signed up.1

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Before making your comments, please state your name for the record. Your name will appear as part of the public record and will be included in the official transcript that will be posted to the EPA and DOH websites.

So we have 30 -- 31 -- 32 people identified who want to make comments. So we're trying to give everybody a chance to speak, but not keep you here too late. So in order to allow time for everyone who wants to make a comment a chance to speak, we're asking that you try and limit your comments to approximately two minutes. We'll hold up a card when there's 30 seconds left and another card when the two minutes is up. And we will appreciate it if you try and keep that time limit.

You are not required to speak tonight in order to provide comments to EPA and DOH on this proposed order. Written comments of any length can be submitted to EPA and DOH either by email or U.S. Postal Service. The email address and postal address are provided in the handout that we had at the sign-in table, and you can also find this information on our websites.

You can also -- if you make public comment tonight, you can also supplement that1

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comment with additional written comments. So the deadline for written comments is currently July 1st, 2015. However, we have received two requests for an extension to this deadline and will make the decision about that extension early next week. If the deadline is extended, we will post the new deadline on our websites.

EPA and DOH have also compiled an administrative record for this proposed agreement. The administrative record represents the documents we relied on in developing the proposed order. The administrative record may be viewed at the offices of EPA and DOH in Honolulu, and we'll also be making it available on our website beginning tomorrow. Details on the administrative record are also in the handout.

So now we're going to begin to call up the speakers. So you'll see that just so you can get ready and we can move smoothly, we have the order up on the screen. And before -- Stuart is going to help me, and we want to make sure our microphones are working. They should be working.

MR. YAMADA: Can we ask a favor that you can queue up by sitting on that table?

So Ernest -- we'll call Ernest Lau,1

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No. 1, and Philip Wong, please stand by. And Mr. Cox. MR. LAU: Thanks. I'm a little short here. Thanks. Good evening, everybody. My name is Ernest Lau. I'm the managing chief engineer of the Honolulu Board of Water Supply. I really want to take -- say mahalo to everybody, especially to our customers here of the Board of Water Supply for taking the time away from your families and coming out tonight to learn more about this very important issue to our future.

I also want to introduce my staff, my deputy here, Mrs. Ellen Kitamura. If you could wave or stand up.

I also have the head of our Water Quality Division, Mr. Erwin Kawata, and I have the head of our communications office, Shawn Nakamoto, along with her staff, Tracy and Keoni, in the room, and Mr. Paul Kikuchi, our chief financial officer, and Mr. Barry Usagawa there, standing on the side by the red board, heads our Water Resources Division. So feel free -- I know we're not part of the program officially, but if you have questions, feel free to come up to any one of us.

The Board of Water Supply does not1

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support the proposed Red Hill AOC and SOW as written. The documents lack public transparency, corrective action specificity, and the immediate implementation of improvements that will protect our groundwater and environment.

The BWS appreciates the long and hard work of the EPA, DOH, Navy and DLA to develop the proposed AOC and SOW. Unfortunately, the contents do not adequately address our concerns about the facility storing 187 million gallons of fuel located just 100 feet above a state designated drinking water aquifer. It also doesn't mitigate fuel contaminants already in the groundwater underneath the facility, and arrest the corroding condition of the tanks' thin, quarter-inch, steel wall and their fortification to minimize the risk of a large fuel release contaminating the aquifer.

The aquifer is the only one of its kind, and there are no cost effective alternatives that can replace it. BWS does not want the wells that presently, our wells, show no contamination to become contaminated in the future. At what point do the studies, required by the AOC and SOW to determine the best practical available technology, become actions for implementation? Studies could1

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potentially continue for years in the name of practicality while the existing situation remains unchanged. The Tank 5 leak, which occurred even after completing a multi-year, clean-inspect-repair and modernization process, does not demonstrate that the status quo approach is protective of the environment and our drinking water.

The AOC needs to require cleanup of the contamination that is presently in the groundwater and the rocks underneath the tanks to reduce the amount available for migration to those parts of the aquifer that are still uncontaminated. The absence of free product does not preclude the finding of petroleum constituents already dissolved in the water.

Also, the AOC and SOW need to include stakeholders and the public in an open process that requires immediate installation of improvements that will protect the groundwater and the environment. The AOC administrative record indicates past studies identified potential -- that identify potential improvements that interestingly not enough -- have not yet been acted upon. Further delays in taking action places our drinking water and environment at risk and defers1

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improvement opportunities vital to the protection and future sustainability of our underground sources of drinking water.

The BWS will be submitting formal written comments on the proposed AOC and SOW by the July 1st deadline, which will be made available on our website. And we will also post this and read testimony on our website. That's at BoardofWaterSupply.com. BoardofWaterSupply.com.

We are also requesting an extension of the July 1st comment deadline that Tom mentioned to allow us to review documents that cannot be copied and disseminated because of copyright laws that were listed in the administrative record and not available until now, midway through the comment period. The extension will give us the full 30-day review period originally established on the first day of the AOC and SOW when they were announced, which was June 1st.

I know the EPA mentioned -- Department of Health about posting information on-line for the public to do that. We already have that on-line for you, and it's a key word searchable. All the documents that we were able to obtain from the administrative records, it's located at -- this is1

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the url: Http://data.Hawaiiopendata.org/ -- data.hawaiiopendata.org.

Thank you for the opportunity to testify this evening and share our perspective on this very important matter.

(Speaking Hawaiian.) Life is in freshwater. We must care for this water. That is our responsibility. Thank you. (Applause.)

MR. WONG: My name's Philip Wong. I've lived in Moanalua pretty much all my life, and that's why I'm here. When I saw it on the news last night, the wells on the news, it's right at the end of Mahiole Street.

I'll make this short because I'm not too familiar with the AOC, and I cannot comment at this time. I pretty much just heard about it. So I'll turn in written testimony at a later date. Thank you very much.

MR. COX: Aloha, and thank you. My name is Carroll Cox. I'm just a citizen here. I'm with no one. Just interested in my drinking water and your drinking water and good government and transparent government.1

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But first of all, Mr. Lau, thank you. Thank you.

I must tell you that having the government background and what have you, it was painful to sit through this process. It was a bit overdone because we want to know what the people say, and, yes, we're going to have a 30-day period, but you've already pretty much formalized it. So that tells me the fix is on, and I hate to say that. If it's taken personal, no problem, but we cannot accept that.

(Applause.) So I ask that you, EPA and the DOH, reject this and return to the tables of regulating rather than participating and inoculating the Navy from their violations. There are spills that have occurred, millions of gallons, and you know it. In 1998, for example, where was the vigor then? Why didn't we have those resources brought to us then? Why didn't you act on these tank issues? Why?

So all of a sudden, there's this new found interest in doing what's right and cleaning up the environment when you've had nano chances. And by the way, we know that, in fact, that the Navy reports to the state and those records were1

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not produced properly. We know that EALs were lifted and raised by the state. So if the EALs detected chemicals in the -- if chemicals were detected in the water, then EALs were assigned. They exceeded the EALs. So the state went back and changed them. So that's the gist right there. If there's chemicals and they're needing to -- and exceeding the EALs, you already know that they're there. Where was the vigor in doing that? Where was this meeting? Why didn't you notify the public? It's RCRA. You are obligated by law to tell us and participate.

So I ask that you reject this immediately, and I am dumbfounded as to why Mr. Lau, though he's not a regulatory body, is not put in this up-front. He has our best interest at hand and I have lots more to say, but the time is important. But, again, please reject this. You know that there are more chemicals in the water than you're letting out, and you're playing with words, and I ask that you declare this a bad deal and reject it completely.

(Applause.) MR. AU: Aloha, my name is Donald Au. I'm a self-made resident. Some of the wording in1

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the OAA (sic) needs to be reviewed. I'm going to post some few items. First one is -- it says, "Chronic exposure to these constituents can be harmful to human health." The other one is, "EPA has determined that Navy and DLA's handling, storage, treatment, transportation or disposal of solid waste may present an imminent and substantial endangerment to health or environment." And the last one is probably the worst, "that actions required by this OAC may be necessary to protect health and environment."

The other item I want to cover quickly is the funding. According to this agreement, there are penalties that will be applied. The funding process will be in the normal budgeting process that the Navy uses, and according --

I think that this project is a major contract. It comes under that category, which is -- comes under the MilCon project program, and this program pits this project against all other projects in the military. So funding is very important. Without funding, you won't be able to do anything. It takes a lot of work on the congressional delegations to obtain funding, and I don't think there is anyone in any position at1

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present to do that. Thank you.

(Applause.) MR. ONOUE: Hi, good evening. My name is Steven Onoue, a long-time Moanalua Valley resident, and tonight I will speak on behalf of Moanalua Valley Community Association, but I speak as a private citizen.

I sat on the board for this Red Hill Task Force for many months. Lots of this was discussed. Lots of the issues were discussed and negotiated. Now, the issue here is that we have an order on consent to go ahead and consider, and I ask you this one question. Do you stand by --

Even though this document is not, quote unquote, perfect, but it is at least a starting point to get things going. It is better to go ahead and continue to move forward than it is to go ahead and stop and say, "Well, we need to negotiate everything that's already been pretty much agreed upon." When you do that, it's going to take months, if not years. Then nothing will start and nothing will be done at that time. If you say no, then everything is canceled out and you start all over again and nothing gets done. Meanwhile, the ticking time bomb, it sits up there on Red Hill,1

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and, granted, it may not be perfect, the situation, but at least we're moving forward in the right direction. Okay? So I urge you to consider that. Thank you.

(Applause.) MS. BEEKMAN: Hi. I'm Patricia Beekman, and I'm a concerned citizen. I'm concerned about the Hawaii I love and the possible ruin of the our water, which when I was going to school in Hawaii, I was always told that it's one of the best in the world. I was hoping that I would be able to ask some questions rather than just make comments, but it doesn't look like we're set up. If we have another meeting, I hope that people will be able to ask questions of the main players in this situation. For example, I keep hearing about this contractor who messed up on the construction of the tank, and I never hear this contractor's name. Who is this contractor, and what does this contractor have to say about turning in a tank that releases fuel? What's his story?

And another question I'd like to ask is why did the Navy award this particular contractor the contract for Fuel Tank 5 if he turned in -- if1

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this contractor turned in such shoddy work? What made the Navy think the contractor was competent for such work and it turned out that they weren't?

And I read that, if I recall correctly, the fuel release from Tank No. 5 was because there were three pinholes in the tank. Three pinholes released 27,000 gallons? I would like to know what the diameter of those pinholes were and where exactly were they. How can 27,000 gallons of fuel escape without being noticed? How do we know that this was an accurate figure or is this just a guesstimate? The people have to know how that figure was arrived at.

If you haven't seen it, you might be really interested in seeing the documentary "Semper Fi: Always -- Always Faithful." It's about the water pollution at Camp Lejeune in North Carolina, and the military's behavior in that does not give me a lot of confidence in what's going on now. Thank you.

MR. GORA: Aloha. (Speaking Hawaiian.) When the Heavens speak, the Earth grows.

I understand some of what was going on, but I don't understand how long is the life of a tank? It's been there 77 years. Okay? What would1

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have to happen to shut it down? Earthquakes? You see a small little --

(Applause.) Because all of you have to be concerned about is the children of your children and their children. It takes about a hundred years for the water to percolate down in the Ko'olaus, a hundred years. These tanks are only a hundred feet above the aquifer.

Next thing, the timeline and the arguments, the reports are too complex. The Hawaiians, they simple. We're not complex. Things gotta be taken care of. They gotta malama things. It's not rocket science to say, "Is it that much of a need that we need this facility here? Is it that much of a need that the Navy needs this here or put it someplace else?"

(Applause.) Because the water is so precious. They call that wai wai nui. If you have water, you had taro batches. If you had taro patches, you had bananas on the site there. If you had bananas, you have coconuts in there. Without the water, you don't survive.

Are we guessing? They don't know where1

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the water (sic) went? Donald Au told me 27,000 gallons they cannot account for. That's like three tractor-trailer trucks. Three tractor-trailer trucks. You don't know where it stay? We're missing something. Thank you.

I'm almost there. In 2007, this is the report from the Department of Navy, Commander of Naval Facilities, Engineering Command Pacific. Okay? They told Tank No. 1 and Tank No. 19 permanently out of use. Permanently. What does that tell you? Something is broken in there. If your car got eight cylinders and two cylinders don't work, your car don't work. It's not going to work. It's not going to move.

And, you know what, I looked at it and all of us here, we pay of lot of taxes out here in Moanalua. I live in the valley. I seen my taxes go up and up. Never go down. Because the last part here on the financial responsibility when it comes to the federal government, they're exempt. Exempt. They don't need to pay, but you're going to pay. Mahalo.

(Applause.) MR. YAMADA: Speakers, please state your name for the court reporter. Thank you.1

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MS. BHATTACHARYYA: Aloha. AUDIENCE MEMBER: Aloha. MS. BHATTACHARYYA: Aloha. My name is Alison Bhattacharyya. I am an 18-month cancer survivor. I came down with a very rare form of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. About 1,800 people in the United States are lucky enough to get this disease, and I'm lucky enough to survive it. Imagine my surprise when I found my neighbor two doors down had this exact same kind of lymphoma.

I was absolutely furious when I got this letter from the Board of Water Supply saying that jet fuel has been leaking into our groundwater. The Department of Health says that it's safe, but we have no epidemiology studies to show that it hasn't caused an increase in cancer or learning disabilities or all of the other things. Autism, Alzheimer's, all of these diseases, where do they come from? Well, maybe it comes from drinking jet fuel in your water.

I tried to read the Statement of Work. I couldn't get past the first page because it said it's going to take 20 years to fix this problem. It seems to me that we should be immediately taking these fuel tanks offline. We should be cleaning up1

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the groundwater that's already leaked -- the fuel has leaked into it. And as far as I know, a 20-year project is an extremely unrealistic way to approach anything. Take it offline. Fix one tank at a time and figure it out as you go along. I don't think that this plan is the best approach. It's not fast enough. Thank you.

SENATOR GABBARD: Aloha kakou. AUDIENCE: Aloha. SENATOR GABBARD: My name is Senator Mike Gabbard, and as a member of the Red Hill Fuel Storage Facility Task Force and the current chair of the Senate's Water, Land and Agriculture Committee, I'd like to offer the following comments on the recently assigned AOC.

I also want to mention before I get into my remarks that the Senate and House, we passed a concurrent resolution that extends the task force, and also now the task force includes the congressional delegation, which is a good thing because, after all, that's what we're really talking about here; right?

And, secondly, which is something I found out in one of the task force meetings is that in addition to these 20 tanks, there is another 261

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tanks; that when I asked at one of the meetings, I said, "What's the status of these tanks? They're also over 70 years old," no one really had an answer. So we are also looking at those additional 26 tanks. So given that there were delays in reaching an agreement, it was a positive step that the EPA, the DOH, Navy and DLA tentatively agreed to the AOC. This document does require that the Navy and the DLA make improvements to the tanks which must be approved by the EPA and DOH to better protect our water supply.

I note that during the 22-year timeline for the AOC, the Navy has agreed to shut down any tank that doesn't meet, quote, "best available practical technology," unquote. This agreement -- this agreement also allows the Navy and DLA to initiate pilot programs which incorporate the latest advanced technologies. So these are important actions. However, one thing that I and maybe even the public are feeling is that there is a lack of urgency in moving forward with these needed improvements. And based on the fact that these 20 tanks, which should each hold 12 and a half million gallons of fuel, are just 100 feet1

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above 25 percent of the island's drinking water is an enormous concern for our future. With this in mind, I suggest that in addition to the initial two-year study put forth by the AOC, the Navy and the DLA move as quickly as possible to upgrade the fuel release prevention and detection at the facility. This is urgently needed to calm public fears and to show good faith that the Navy and the DLA are serious about being good stewards of our precious environment. Without an additional commitment, it is unlikely that the AOC will gain widespread community support. Mahalo for considering this.

(Applause.) MR. PAAINA: Aloha, my name is Paul Paaina. I'm from Nanakuli, and as a Hawaiian, I feel I have the right to speak up against people that come to our islands and pollute and abuse our islands and our people in their quest for world domination.

I'm glad I came tonight, and I now realize as a taxpayer, I'm actually contributing to more possible pollution in the future to our groundwater and the environment.

My other concerns about the tanks are1

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that they're hazardous and can explode. What I'm hearing tonight is that the military has polluted our groundwater, and some of you are actually here to help them continue to jeopardize our health and safety and our island and its people.

I'll be honest with you guys. I do have issues and concerns with the military of the United States, and they are valid concerns, starting from the overthrowing of our kingdom to the damages and danger they are putting us in. I personally want them to leave. It's like a damned-if-you-do and damned-if-don't situation. They're supposed to be here to protect us from the dangers of the other countries, but because they occupy our islands, they're actually putting the big moves on our islands from their enemies.

It is a fact that the military is polluting our islands and they are not cleaning it up or doing anything about it. They did it to Kaho'olawe. They did it to Makua Valley. They're bombing Schofield, and they're just -- I mean, they have a past history of doing this and they're not cleaning it up.

You know, and -- excuse me. It's a fact that the military will continue to do what they1

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like, and there's nothing we can do tonight that's going to change that. I'm totally against giving something to the military or anyone that has polluted our island and wants to continue to pollute it. Thank you.

(Applause.) MR. HINCHAY: Hello, my name is David Hinchay. I'll pass since we're running so late.

MR. HUETTEMAN: Can you come to the mike, though? MR. HINCHAY: You want me to come up there? It's not an easy task.

MR. HUETTEMAN: We can bring the mike to you. We can bring the mike to you. We can bring the mike to you. We can bring the mike. You can stay there.

MR. HINCHAY: Yes. My name is David Hinchay, and I will not give testimony because it's already 8:25, and this meeting was supposed to end at 8:30. So I'll just pass and let other people have the opportunity to speak. Okay.

MS. SAKAI: I'm Bea Sakai. I live in the Salt Lake area and near the high school. We were about the first residents in this area.

The -- we're worried about the1

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contamination of the jet fuel from the tanks. The Board of Water Supply has never told us what the health effects could be, and that was the question that I had. We're worried about contamination. What are the health effects? I have had cancer for 10 years. My next door neighbor on one side, his father died. His son has cancer. On the other side, the woman died of cancer. Up the block, another woman died. And I'm told since I'm still under chemotherapy, that even low levels of contaminant could affect my health. Does that mean I have to go to bottled water from now on? I will be on chemotherapy until I die.

The health department has not told us any of the health effects of even low-level contamination. The AOC talks about many things, but it seems to me that the tanks are old and they're going to start leaking. If they aren't going to start leaking, is it possible to put another coat or layer and then close that so that they do not have a leak or slow leak? Thank you.

(Applause.) MS. CHEE-RUITER: My name is Christine Chee-Ruiter, and I'm a Moanalua resident. As a member of the public, I want to say I was very1

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impressed and appreciate the work of the task force members because those guys put in a lot of work to get where we are today with the AOC. That being said, I have some respect for comments on the document, and the first was I wanted to reiterate Senator Gabbard's comment that there doesn't seem to be a sense of urgency, especially when it's been established that there have been multiple releases of contaminants into the groundwater. So I think for the AOC, if it's possible, we could really use a lot more detail in the document.

So along with the sense of urgency, I think the first order of business would be to install more monitoring wells in appropriate locations around the facility and to immediately start monitoring for petroleum, especially since no one agrees which direction the groundwater is flowing. Because I'd like to say, you know, according to the AOC, the deliverables are a report based on the data. Well, you can do work with not very good data, or you can do the work with complete data. So I think we should get good data and then do the work.

Okay. So a second point is there does not seem to be an emergency response plan in place1

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for a leak in the facility. Neither the Navy's Groundwater Protection Plan nor the AOC document itself references an emergency response plan specifically for that facility. Particularly, the AOC says that the Navy and the DLA shall take all appropriate actions to prevent or minimize the threat and then notify the regulatory agencies. So to me, that sounds like quick, do something, but there's no plan. So I'd like to see the AOC specify the development of an emergency response plan. Okay. Next, there does not seem to be any short-term plan for recovery or remediation for existing contamination that may be detected in the groundwater as monitoring continues. And by the way, Section 6 of the AOC or Statement of Work, it mentions remediation. I thought it was remediation of the contamination. It's actually remediation of the tanks. So I'd like to know how they're going to address any ambiguities in the document.

Finally, I'd like to ask that they include something about the control of possible, galvanic current in the tanks that are not scheduled for upgrade for the next 15 years. Thank you.1

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(Applause.) MR. FUKUCHI: My name is Dean Fukuchi. I have a couple comments on the AOC. One of them is the tightness testing. You identified it. I wish that you use the EPA's certified tightness methods or standards.

The other one that I want you to consider is raising the penalty. By raising the penalty to $1 million a day, that would change the cost-to-benefit ratio and will make it more urgent for the Navy to take some kind of action for remediation.

The next item that I'd like you guys to consider is also to change the funding source. There is no MilCon. There's a moratorium right now. So there needs to be other appropriations where other funding sources can be used or utilized. DLA has funds that they can use and have been. O & M funds can be utilized as well. So I'm going to ask you guys to consider that.

The last thing that I'd like you guys to consider is solving or constructing a new tank within the old tank so that it can be comparable to the current EPA ASC standards as well as UFC standards. That's all I have.1

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(Applause.) SENATOR THIELEN: Aloha, good evening. My name is Laura Thielen. I'm a state senator for Kailua, Waimanalo and Hawaii Kai. I'm here tonight because I understand the aquifer that these tanks sit above provides a quarter of the drinking water for the urban Honolulu area, which includes from Moanalua to Hawaii Kai. But I'm also here as a windward resident because if that aquifer is contaminated, the Board of Water Supply is not going to have any option but to start to draw from other aquifers around the island. That's going to overpump and impact the aquifers on every area of our island. It's also going to impact our streams because some users are going to be forced onto stream waters. And so many of the battles that were fought to return waters from the streams to our near-shore waters to restore and repair the environments in the near-shore ocean hiuwais are going to be impacted as well.

I'm here tonight to ask you to reject the proposed AOC and to go back to the table and renegotiate it. The reason is this. These tanks are already 72 to 75 years old. If you're going to spend the next 25 years upgrading them, that means1

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you plan to continue using them beyond that. The tanks will be 100 years old at the end of the time period of this AOC.

Now, according to the Navy documents, and this was presented to the legislature in the task force report, and the Navy is a member of the task force, these tanks have been leaking since 1947. The Department of Health was not made aware of that until 1998. The Navy is unable to quantify the amount of fuel that was released into the environment prior to that period.

In 1998, they did core samples and found that there's petroleum leaks under 20 -- 19 of the 20 tanks in the basalt rock, and they found that the groundwater monitoring wells that are near Tanks 5 and 6 have petroleum in 12 to 20 times the rate of the DOH acceptable level.

Now, the Navy has said, "Don't worry because what we're going to do is we're going to adopt the highest standard for tank inspections and repairs and maintenance." Well, guess what? Tank 5 had just finished that highest standard of tank repairs and maintenance and inspections that was supposed to ensure it was operable for the next 20 years, and when they refilled it, it didn't last 201

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days. It released 27,000 gallons of fuel into the environment.

These tanks are beyond their life expectancy. Over three periods in the last 40 years, work was done to extend the life expectancy of these tanks, and we're at the end of it now. So I'm asking the Department of Health on behalf of the state to please renegotiate this AOC to require the tanks be replaced or upgraded to modern standards. And there is nothing -- the people who are worried about the fact that we're going to be standing still, there is nothing that will prevent the Navy from being a good neighbor to start to implement immediately the groundwater monitoring and testing work that needs to be done.

Thank you for your time. (Applause.) I'm sorry. I forgot one last comment. But when we're talking about the cost analysis and feasibility studies, the only thing that's mentioned in the AOC is the cost to the Navy of replacement. I'm also asking that the State Department of Health and EPA require the Navy and itself to do a cost analysis of what's the cost to the taxpayers of Oahu (inaudible due to applause).1

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MR. SOUZA: Aloha kakou. I am -- for the record, I am Philip Souza. I am a Hawaiian national, born and raised here 78 years ago. I've seen a lot of things like some of you have. I don't understand this at all. I wish that my father-in-law was here with me because at 17 years of age, he was one of the welders that put this thing together. He graduated from St. Louis, and St. Louis was known for having the accounting. They knew math. They knew geometry. He was never a welder. They worked on that hill for 24/7, double shifts. They didn't even have to go home. They had everything they needed there. The steel was there. The concrete batching plants was there. The whole mountainside was under construction.

The skies, while they enticed Japan to bomb Pearl Harbor --

I look at this as being -- You know, we have a lot of South Pacific nationals that are now walking around the streets of Hawaii. They are here because their islands have been contaminated by military science. That's why they're here. They cannot even live on the island anymore. Is this what we want? This is another rail. It will never stop. I say terminate1

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your research and take out the fuel tanks completely.

(Applause.) MR. YAMADA: Is Henry Cho present? Henry? Going once, going twice.

Robin Johnston? MR. JOHNSTON: Aloha. I'm Robin Johnston from Aina Haina. I just heard a couple things that made me really think tonight. One of them was that the AOC is not supported by the Board of Water Supply for a list of good reasons, which I'm anxious to hear more about.

Also, you know, when I spent some time in the mountains up in Kahuku, I noticed a lot of trash from the military. When they're doing their exercises, they leave their trash everywhere, their food trash. It's supposed to be come and picked up, but, obviously, someone's slacking.

And it's an interesting point to hear about the other Pacific Island people that have had to be shipped here because their reefs are polluted. They can't eat there and it's just dangerous.

A statistic I just looked at that makes me sad about another thing about the military is1

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the 42,000 innocent beings or people that are still being killed or have been since 1975 by undetonated land mines that still exist today.

I just have to wonder if we really need to sit around to wait to see that it's a coincidence that neighbors upon neighbors upon neighbors have these cancers. And, you know, if it takes 20 years to redo these archaic leaking storage tanks, then shouldn't we just weigh out the fact that it is probably just a couple weeks to drain them? Thank you.

MR. YAMADA: Amelia Gora? Mahealani Cypher? MS. CYPHER: Aloha mai kakou. My name is Mahealani Cypher. I'm here to offer testimony and comments regarding your proposed Administrative Order of Consent regarding the continuing problems of leaking fuel from your Red Hill Bulk Fuel Storage Facility. I'm here to speak on behalf of the Oahu Council of the Association of Hawaiian Civic Clubs of which there are 27 clubs throughout the island of Oahu.

As Native Hawaiians and leaders in our communities, we are deeply concerned about what we consider to be a significant and serious threat to1

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our island's freshwater supply. We wish to bring to your attention the Department of Defense's recently approved policy for consultation with Native Hawaiians and ask that our council be immediately included in any further discussions or actions relating to this problem which can affect all of us on Oahu, Native Hawaiians and non-Hawaiians alike.

I will speak briefly about the cultural and religious significance of our island's freshwater supply to the Hawaiian people. In centuries past, when the islands were first inhabited by our people, we were able to sustain ourselves and survive despite being the most remote group of islands in the world. E malama i ka wai, "care for the water," was among our most important cultural values, containing within these words the kuleana, the responsibility of our people to protect this resource so critical to our survival. To be wealthy was to be waiwai, to have an abundance of water resources. The kanawai became the law of the land for our people, and water resources were strictly safeguarded by our kupuna kahiko. Our water resources also had religious1

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significance, and to hiuwai was to engage in a freshwater cleansing, among the many ceremonies in which water played a key part. From ancient times even until today, Hawaiian ceremonies, blessings and practices utilize our island's freshwater in our religious practices.

So to consider the freshwater resources underlying the moku of Ewa and Kona, Oahu, for the purpose of commenting on this draft document, we wish to inform you that the waters beneath the Red Hill Bulk Fuel Storage Facility are, indeed, important to Native Hawaiians for cultural, religious and practical purposes. We cannot survive, we cannot live without good quality, fresh drinking water.

These fuel tanks -- these fuel tank leaks pose constant and immediate threats to our island's largest aquifer, and, in our view, should be considered a Homeland Security matter rather than addressed merely by an Administrative Order of Consent. That's urgency. It is an urgency.

Nonetheless, we begin by offering our mahalo to those of you who have advocated for protection of our precious water resources and for1

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swift and permanent corrective action to deal with these chronic fuel leaks into the aquifer.

I'm almost done. Sorry. I'm just going to give you the six -- the priorities that we have from the Oahu Council.

Okay. We request that the Administrative Order of Consent be amended to address comments offered in our seven-page testimony with our priorities as follows:

No. 1, consultation with Native Hawaiians, including the Oahu Council, in future consultations regarding this matter.

No. 2, the Navy and DLA should acknowledge that they are responsible for the problem of the leaking tanks and will be responsible for correcting the problem. In the released AOC, they deny (inaudible due to applause.)

No. 3, the Navy/DLA should begin an incremental program of relocating, replacing or rehabilitating each of the currently active fuel tanks, at least two per year, until all 20 tanks have been corrected, with a time period of no more than 10 years for these actions to be performed. You need to give them a limit -- a time limit.1

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The Navy and DLA should begin a program to remove the contaminated soil wherever possible.

No. 5, fuel tanks that are not currently in service should be removed or eliminated from active use.

All costs associated with monitoring, testing, treating contaminated soils or water should be borne by the Navy and DLA, which should also reimburse state and county agencies that are affected by the Red Hill fuel leak problem. So we shouldn't have to pay for their mistakes.

Okay. No. 7, all information relating to this problem, including updated information on results of soil or water monitoring, testing, progress of work and minutes of meetings, should be included on a new website dedicated to the corrective action at Red Hill and should be accessible to all consumers.

We appreciate the time and attention given to this matter by all parties, and we hope you to take to heart the recommendations we have offered and readily agree to make the changes we have offered. Mahalo.

(Applause.) MS. KALUHIWA: Aloha mai kakou. My name1

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is Rocky Kaluhiwa, I am the Oahu representative of the Aha Moku Committee, a committee comprised of other Hawaiian practitioners. I wish to inform you that we practitioners are deeply concerned that this proposed Administrative Order of Consent may go forward unamended. I wish to offer our agreement with Mahealani Cypher and the Oahu Council of Hawaiian Civic Club's testimony as our own. Mahalo.

(Applause.) MR. YAMADA: We'll now call Dante Carpenter. Michael Dau has left.

MR. CARPENTER: Aloha to Mr. Tom Huetteman and to Mr. Stuart Yamada, members of the team. I, certainly, want to introduce myself. My name's Dante Keala Carpenter, a concerned citizen born in Hawaii whose residence is in the Salt Lake area here in Honolulu.

I've occupied elected positions as a former state senator, trustee and administrator at the Office of Hawaiian Affairs as well as councilman and mayor of the Big Island of Hawaii. Further, I am a consulting engineer, a retired naval officer and recent past chairman of the Democratic Party of Hawaii.1

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Additionally, for the last 18 years, I've been president of the Country Club Village, Phase 2 Homeowners Association, which has some 469 units in two 20-story buildings just down the road. I've also represented as its president the Country Club Village Complex Community Facilities Maintenance Association with a total of 942 units, including the 469 that was mentioned. That represents roughly between 1,200 and 1,500 residents who consume freshwater daily from these aquifers.

I want to thank Ernie Lau and the Board of Water Supply officials for bringing this matter of the Red Hill tank leaking problem and continued concerns for contamination of our community's drinking water supply.

Thanks too to the EPA and State Department of Health and U.S. Navy officials for engaging in the Administrative Order on Consent and inviting public comment.

Now, it was earlier in -- and I think it was a humorous turn, the reference to the AOC was an infamous order. The more I think about it, the more I believe that that may be absolutely true.

But I grew up in a place called Damon Tract just down the road in the proximity of Pearl1

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Harbor. I witnessed with my older brother several attacking aircraft at what was the beginning of World War II. My father, then a retired Navy airman and Honolulu policeman, was familiar with the construction of the Red Hill storage tanks at its onset. To my recollection, there were at least a dozen people killed in the construction and many, many hurt in that same construction and development.

In the Merchant Marine Academy, many years later after graduating, I was completing my active duty in the Navy as well and assigned to several Pacific Fleet and destroyers and other facilities at Pearl Harbor for many Reserve activities and training. This gave me a thorough understanding of various storage methodologies and transportation methods you need to marine fuels, including viscous, bunkering, diesel and kerosene, which was the original quantities and qualities used in the facility and using gravity to fuel the ships during World War II.

I did have the occasion, as a Reserve active duty officer, to actually go into a storage tank farm and actually went inside one of the tanks undergoing cleaning and testing. I gotta tell you,1

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it's an awesome sight, and, certainly, the feeling inside that tank -- it was nearly a football field long. Height of that was 35 yards in diameter from roughly the end of that back wall over there. These tanks are huge, and it's certainly an awesome sight and an awesome feeling.

They, obviously, need scaffolding and rigging, and workers' safety factor is required. It's quite extensive just to clean it up and not to mention the actual quality of repairs required to ensure no leakage.

Let me just try and finish it up as fast as I can. But I did note in the Federal Register, Volume 76, No. 223, dated Friday, November 11, 2011, 40 CFR, parts 280 and 281, a revision of the existing underground storage tank regulations which discuss leaking underground storage tanks, also known as LUST, L-U-S-T, and contains 88 pages of proposed rules which appear to be necessary for the AOC to become effective.

Further, as I guess I think I need to ask you, has that LUST proposal, which was offered in 2011, been adopted as of this date? Because if it hasn't, then that's that much more time it will1

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take before you can even begin your process.

Finally, 2016 is the approaching 75th year of the Red Hill fuel storage tank installation. Evaluations under the AOC are expected to take a minimum of two years, assuming expedited decisions are in the works. Thereafter, construction contracts adapted, bids awarded, that may be well beyond 2020. At that point in time, these tanks will be almost 80 years old and beyond with all of that -- what that entails.

Going forward, I think the people of the state of Hawaii and communities therein need your protection to properly address this long-standing issue. I certainly look forward to continue working with you to make this effort a reality, and if there is a need for congressional delegations of state government officials' support, I want to offer my assistance. I noticed Senator Gabbard earlier, and, certainly, I know he has Washington D.C. influence as well. But I think we are all -- this is an all-hands evolution, and I think you cannot only depend upon your inherent minimum sized committee. This is something that affects three-fourths of the population of the island of Oahu, which exceeds 1.5 million people.1

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So thank you very much. I appreciate your attendance, and thank you very much for holding this public hearing.

(Applause.) MR. TUNGOL: Aloha. My name is Will Tungol. Ua mau ke ea O ka aina I ka pono. The life of the land is perpetuated in righteousness.

And I want to thank Ernie Lau and his staff at Board of Water Supply for giving notice to all of us because I wasn't aware of this meeting until the letter came out.

I live in Pearl City, but as Senator Laura Thielen indicated earlier, everyone will be affected in the event that there's a disastrous leak because the aquifers on our island will be drawn by the east Oahu side and other parts of the island. Now, think about this. This is our home. This is our island. A mile from here, we have a stadium called Aloha Stadium built in the '70s, about 35 years later than the jet fuels. When they built it, they said, "This stadium is rustproof." Remember that? Low and behold, you know, not even 25 years later, we spent millions of dollars. Okay? We have representatives here to verify that.1

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And that's with the technology, supposedly.

Now, these tanks were built 75 years ago. I don't know what kind of steel was available back then, but they did pour concrete. Now, those of you who have chain-link fences, all right, what do you use for the posts? Steel. Galvanized steel buried in what? In concrete. Okay. And I have one in my house. I lived in my house 30 years, and I noticed that it starts rusting at the bottom. So the concern is there. Okay? You got old steel buried underground that may leak and leak dangerous chemicals that's prohibited by the BWS, Board of Water Supply, in terms of contaminants that's not supposed to go into the aquifer.

Finally, one last comment on the AOC. I'm a lawyer by training. And so I looked at what's -- you know, what's the administrative process. It will take you, before you can even go to court, over 180 days for the parties. To first resolve the dispute, you had to go through this process. Okay? It goes all the way from the parties, all the way to the Secretary of the Navy. I think Assistant Secretary of the Navy. It goes all the way through the EPA, and then Secretary of the Navy, and then I believe also the Secretary of1

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Defense. I'm not sure, but all the way up there.

My point is this. You can't just run to court with this disagreement among the parties and ask for an injunction. Post -- I mean, "injunction" is one word. A party will say, "There's an imminent harm coming. We want you to stop the Navy or the DLA from using these tanks," and the court will review it and will issue and give you an injunction. Well, under this AOC, the parties can't do that. They gotta wait at least 180 days. My calculation is 195 days for the process to run before they can then go to court. So that's a concern. So thank you very much.

(Applause.) MR. YAMADA: We now call Council Member Carole Fukunaga. Kilikina Kekumano has left.

COUNCIL MEMBER FUKUNAGA: Good evening and Aloha. I'm Carole Fukunaga, city council member representing the Aiea and Moanalua area, and I also chair the city council's Public Works Infrastructure and Sustainability Committee.

I wanted to advise the EPA and Department of Health that the Honolulu City Council is in strong support of Board of Water Supply's position, and that we have adopted a resolution calling1

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for -- calling for the U.S. Navy to immediately fortify containment of the 20 tanks at Red Hill and clean up the existing groundwater contamination under the facility to protect Oahu's groundwater.

We also urge the Navy to consider additional protective measures and tank integrity improvements to reinforce the Red Hill Fuel Storage Facility as needed. We also urge Board of Water Supply, Department of Health, EPA and the U.S. Navy to install additional groundwater monitoring wells and to increase the frequency of all monitoring and sampling activities in the Red Hill Fuel Storage Facility to enhance petroleum detection in the monitoring wells.

We very much appreciate all of the participants who have come here tonight, and thank you for this opportunity to provide comment.

(Applause.) MS. MUNEOKA: Aloha mai kakou. My name is Shelley Muneoka. I'm from the ALE and Governors at Oahu, and thank you to this community for hosting us on this AOC thing.

Today in the presentation, Mr. Yamada from Department of Health said that he thinks we can all agree that protecting our drinking water is1

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No. 1, but it is quite clearly not. It was clear that the main objective of the AOC is to keep the tanks operational, to keep the war machine running.

The presentations tonight spoke so lightly of the huge holes cut with dynamite and filled with concrete. I want to ask in the future for some sensitivity for the sacrifices and the risks imposed on this community.

We've heard in this presentation that sheer size is a constraint in terms of time and cost, but that is the responsibility of the Navy when they decided to build these tanks. If they weren't able to take care of them, they shouldn't have built them. That responsibility only became heavy day by day as they enjoyed the use and benefits of these tanks while the residents carried the risks.

It was mentioned that fines will be levied if action is not taken in a timely fashion, but it's been over 70 years. We know that there's been leaks as far back as 1947. 2002, we heard tanks -- 19 of the 20 tanks leaking. I believe that qualifies as not timely action being taken.

So the question is have there been any fines or consequences at all? I don't think there1

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have been. Besides, all the actors are publicly funded. So we're paying no matter what. You haven't left us with any good options, but of the three, I would advocate to reopen negotiations and drain the tanks in the meantime.

One suggestion was made that they double-line the tanks, and the Navy has said that they have reservations because of the costs and because of the reduction in tank capacity. I find that so offensive when you're talking about the health and quality of water, and they're concerned that their 12-million-gallon tank will be able to carry a little bit less.

(Applause.) To me, that tells me that their main concern is for themselves and not for our water.

It sounds clear that the Board of Water Supply has concrete recommendations that haven't been taken into account and haven't been incorporated into the AOC. I think that would be a logical place to start.

Two tanks have been taken offline of the original 20, and the others can be too, and that would be what I would want.

In closing, one of the stories that were1

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presented earlier said, "Heaven forbid that the AOC be reopened to the public comment." I found that really hurtful in this setting where all these people came out to offer their public comment, and I ask that that hurtful statement not be made. And I also wanted to be very, very sure for the record that almost every single person who talked has asked that this be reopened and not to be approved as is. That's all. Mahalo.

(Applause.) MR. YAMADA: We now call Marsha Joyner. David Crest has left this evening.

MS. JOYNER: Aloha mai kakou. Oh, come on. Wake up.

AUDIENCE: Aloha. MS. JOYNER: I didn't say that. I said, "Aloha kakou."

AUDIENCE: Aloha. MS. JOYNER: Oh, boy. Okay. All right. I am opposed to the AOC, and I have lots of reasons, most of which have already been stated. But in this statement, it says, "The DOH, EPA and the Navy working on the Administrative Order of Consent." Nowhere -- nowhere did you include the Board of Water Supply. For us, the people that1

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drink this water, that use the water, that use this land, they are us. They are the ones that represent us, and you didn't include them. Why is that not -- why are they not included in the negotiations? Is there a reason for that? I mean, that really disturbs me, and I find it really offensive that they were left out. And, in fact, if the Board of Water Supply had not sent this letter to every customer, none of us would have known that you were having this hearing. You didn't send us anything. We did not get one word from the Navy, which we're used to them not informing us. I mean, we've been down that road. Okay. And let me tell you one second ago, one person talked about them not cleaning up. One day in April 1984, I was doing a documentary up at Waikane, up in the mountains of Waikane, and I took a step back and stepped on a World War II bomb. So I know firsthand that they don't clean up. And then they say it was too expensive to clean it up. So what is this whole thing? And they drink the same water. As long as they're on this island, they're drinking the same water we are, and how the hell can they say, "Oh, well, we'll get around to1

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it"? I am totally offended by this whole thing, and, yes, I am -- want us to relook at this thing.

The one last thing that no one talked about, when it is absorbed into the ground, people grow vegetables. We need the farmland. Did anybody talk about that? Where do you suppose the cancer comes from? Not just drinking water, but you eat the vegetables. You lay in the grass. Your children run and play. Did anybody talk about that? No.

So, again, thank you and thank you for your time. (Applause.)

MS. GUTIERREZ: Aloha. My name is Ashly Gutierrez, and I'd like to say that I'm speaking on behalf of all the people that, you know, graduated from here within the past five years, and I'm glad to say that I'm finally waking up to realize what's going on. I have a few important questions that I'd like to be addressed. First of all, I lived in Moanalua Valley for five years. After -- on my sixth birthday, my father died with cancer. What a surprise. Alison spoke about that and that got to me. If that doesn't get 20 of you here, I1

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understand why you guys haven't acted quickly because you don't understand. It's not only the money that you play with here, but the children, their future. And I'm standing here 22 years later, and I've lived on the mainland, cursed this state, but I'm back and I'm not leaving. And I want to make sure that the Navy understands that -- the military understands that we're here. We've been here. Where have you guys come from? Why would this even bother you? It bothers us most. And the other lady clearly made a statement. They did not once consult the people that live there. How will they compensate those who are affected by the spill? Can we have a copy of the risk management and safety policy published for review by the community?

They say Navy cannot fix for a minimum of two years. Remember, I'm 22 years old. My father died, when I was six years old, of cancer. What is -- you know, the evidence is all laid out right in front of our eyes.

Do they have other tanks that have potential leaks on our other islands? Is there any way they could possibly operate the tanks on ships or other places? And don't you guys think that you1

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should figure out the flow pattern before you even decide to dig up the aina?

That's all I have to say tonight. Thank you. (Applause.)

MR. YAMADA: Koreen Yogi? Koreen has left. Kaaihue 4 Mayor?

Who do we have? MS. YOGI: Hello. My name is Koreen Yogi, and I'm a resident of Moanalua Valley. Our family was one of the first to live in that valley. So when we were living there, we would see geese walk up and down the roads, the owls fly at night. You don't see that anymore.

What's disturbing about what I found out tonight is that the information provided didn't allay my fears. It heightened it. I've heard about the contamination, but didn't know how bad it was. It disturbs me that the U.S. Navy could not account for this leakage; that that much fuel was not accounted for in their inventory. And so it got me more scared because what else don't they know? And I heard things mentioned about1

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draining the tanks, and if you look at that picture there, you see how centralized the tanks are. And I've heard that within the time frame that they will fix or attempt to fix the tanks, it will be 20 years. The tanks will be almost 100 years old. What other problems will arise? The tanks are so close to our aquifers. I heard no mention of emergency contingency plans that if a major catastrophe happens, where will we get the water from. How will it affect not just our island, but the whole state because everyone is affected by one community? We are not that large a community; that what we feel here will affect Lihue; it will affect Hilo. So I just want more answers. I don't want you to sign off on it, commit us to this, and then we find out later that we need more addressing to problems we didn't know was there. So thank you, everyone.

(Applause.) MS. KAAIHUE: Aloha. My name is Aulani Kaaihue, Kaaihue4mayor.com.

I would think the density of the two different layers of jet fuel being lighter than freshwater would help identify it and keep the two1

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layers separated. My question of concern is the possibility or potential of radionuclides and chemical contaminants which would affect our drinking water as it's doing in Japan's groundwater, and if there is any monitoring of radionuclides, which is cesium or strontium, from the ongoing nuclear reactors from Fukushima.

Instead of storage of jet fuel, could the tanks be converted to filtration tanks and used to purify our drinking water if we need to? And if so, are the tanks big enough to sustain and filter all chemical contaminants and radionuclides from our entire -- for our entire island's water supply for safe drinking water consumption?

And, finally, is our precious water being exported outside to other states or to foreign countries, and if so, how would this affect and impact our safe drinking water supply for the people of Hawaii, for the Nation of Hawaii and for the United States of America?

Thank you. Mahalo. (Applause.) MR. YAMADA: David Gomes. David? Kapua Keliikoa-Kamai? MS. KELIIKOA-KAMAI: Aloha.1

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(Speaking Hawaiian.) Thank you for this meeting. I don't even know that you folks really wanted it because you didn't tell us about it. So like the other lady stated, thank you to the Board of Water Supply for informing us. Thank you to this community for coming. It is a travesty when the people who we expect to take care of us fail in full disclosure. It's a travesty when they take years to write up a report to have all of these -- I call you folks alphabets, all you educated people -- to have all of these educated people make determinations on what will and will not affect us, what is and is not acceptable to us. I'm very concerned about this lack of transparency, lack of disclosure, lack of sharing.

You know, it was brought up earlier -- I submitted written testimony earlier. I did not anticipate to speak tonight, but, you know, when you go to a community meeting, you hear so much more than what you anticipated. So that's the beauty and the benefit of having community meetings. And so in my written response, I'm asking for the Waianae local meeting. So we will1

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be inviting you. I don't know whatever is that process, but I do expect the Navy, the EPA, the Department of Health, and we will also bring the Board of Water Supply to the table.

(Applause.) So, Mr. Yamada, thank you so much. I don't know what the process is to make that happen, but this is something that all of our communities need to do. They came from Ko'olaupoko, Ko'olauloa. They came from Pearl City. So it's not just the Moanalua/Hawaii Kai folks, because like the latest -- previous folks have stated, this is going to affect all of us. This is a small picture of our aquifers, and this is how it affects us. This is how the water moves. And so they've only identified these wells have affected Moanalua to Hawaii Kai. If we don't fix this in a timely manner, it's going to affect all of us in one way or another.

So we need to all invite them to our communities because it's years of discovery undisclosed. It's years that -- they have taken two years to write this report, this proposed Administrative Order of Consent, but they give us one meeting, two hours, two minutes.1

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(Applause.) We're talking about our babies -- our babies and our babies' babies. Maybe EPA doesn't live here. Maybe DLA doesn't live here. Our state folks, you folks live here. You're part of us. Your kuleana is us, us as a community, us as a whole regardless of our po'e. You know, so we are a community. Na po'e O Hawaii.

So, so much has already come out that I support all of it, especially all of the detailed information that you folks shared. I really thank you for that detailed information because I'm one that comes to meetings to glean, and then when I glean so much, I get upset because that's not what was shared. That's not what was presented. So, of course, everything looks good. Look, two of the guys are already signed off, halfway there. But the one guy that really takes care of us, not even at the table.

So I'm so glad that you folks took a position, and it is alarming. And I'm so grateful to our council for their position of support, to our Board of Water Supply, because it takes a lot for government to oppose government, especially when it's the little guy against the big guys.1

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We're all going to pay for it one way or another. It won't be us. It will be our mo'opunas, mo'opuna. Although, I do feel for those communities, for those people who have suffered of cancer, that are living with this cancer. Where is the reports that show that there's -- our health has not been impacted? So we need more study time; otherwise, just shut it down. Because, you know what, our life is worth way more than the millions that it's going to cost. (Inaudible due to applause.) Shut it down.

(Applause.) MS. MURRAY: Hi, my name's Karen Murray, and I'm from town side. And, originally, I was just going to come up and say something because Kilikina Kekumano could not be here, and then the person she passed off --

She always comes with like tons and tons of documentation and I love her. And then she had to go home, and she passed it to somebody and they couldn't stay. So before she left, she said, "Just remember, in 1953, Tank 7 had to be drained, and in 2002, Tank 6 had to be drained."

Those things just -- those two things1

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alone should have given -- given us an indication that these were improper, not only deteriorating. They need to be taken out and alternative things/measures should have been taken. Other plans should have been made.

The other thing -- but then as I was thinking about it, my own ideas being a long-time anti-war activist, I started thinking of things like there's a huge disconnect. We drink the waters. Their crews drink the waters. Times are changing with technology. Our Facebook friends are everywhere. Okay? We bomb our Facebook friends. Do we really need this larger war machine that's so large to be so life threatening just to maintain?

The Hawaiian culture has so much to offer the world, to teach us, teach us alternative priorities and methods of problem solving.

There's also -- I also wanted to note there's, I think, two different ideas in the room that there's only one aquifer being affected, but I think that another large aquifer is also being in danger, which is Pearl Harbor aquifer. I think someone said -- I think I read somewhere where it's coming within a mile. Creep is -- slow creep is or maybe not-so-slow creep is happening within a mile1

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of our Halawa aquifer, which is a smaller part of our Pearl Harbor aquifer. Is that correct? No? Yes? No? Okay. So, anyway, that's what I heard. And so I just think that the world is changing with our technology. There's got to be better ways, and maybe we don't need this. My thing is I think we should shut those down.

(Applause.) All right. Thank you very much, and thank you for your thoughts tonight.

(Applause.) MR. YAMADA: Thank you, everyone. That concludes the formal comment period. We appreciate your coming out. Have a good evening and drive home safely.

(Meeting adjourned at 9:17 p.m.)1

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C E R T I F I C A T E STATE OF HAWAII ) ) ss. CITY AND COUNTY OF HONOLULU )

I, LAURA SAVO, a Certified Shorthand Reporter in and for the State of Hawaii, do hereby certify: That the foregoing proceedings were taken down by me in machine shorthand at the time and place herein stated, and was thereafter reduced to typewriting under my supervision;

That the foregoing is a full, true and correct transcript of said proceedings;

I further certify that I am not of counsel or attorney for any of the parties to this case, nor in any way interested in the outcome hereof, and that I am not related to any of the parties hereto.

Dated this 22nd day of June, 2015, in Honolulu, Hawaii.

____________________________ LAURA SAVO, RPR, CSR NO. 347