A recent leak of a fire suppression system at Red Hill that spilled over 1,100 gallons of Aqueous Film Forming Foam (AFFF) into the environment could have lasting consequences on the health of people who live in the area.
“The Nov. 29 leak of a fire suppression system at the Red Hill complex that spilled over 1,100 gallons of AFFF into the environment, as well as other previous PFAS contamination events affecting Red Hill and Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam (JBPHH), have potentially exposed the community surrounding the Red Hill complex to enduring threats to their health,” U.S. Sen. Mazie Hirono (D-HI) said in a release issued this week.
PFAS, or polyfluoroalkyl substances, are long-lasting chemicals that have been shown to affect health.
Hirono, a senior member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, has teamed up with U.S. Sen. Brian Schatz (D-HI) and U.S. Reps. Ed Case (D-HI) and Kai Kahele (D-HI) to call on Congress to order an independent investigation into how the Department of Defense and the U.S. Navy have responded to contamination events at the Red Hill Bulk Fuel Storage Facility.
“This community and the people of Hawaii deserve answers regarding how the Navy undertook efforts to address these incidents and complete the clean-up and remediation of impacted sites,” the congressional delegates said in a letter to Gene Dodaro, the Comptroller General of the Government Accountability Office.
“While the Department of Defense and the Department of Navy should continue to conduct their own reviews on their responses to ongoing and previous PFAS/PFOA and AFFF exposure events, a GAO investigation will provide a necessary third-party assessment of their practices,” they said in making their case for an independent inquiry.
