Team — We did it!

Yesterday, the Pentagon finally announced they are shutting down Red Hill permanently.

By joining together, not giving up, and keeping the pressure on, we have done what we set out to do, and what we knew was right.

In December, a jet fuel spill from the underground storage tanks at Red Hill contaminated the water supply on Oahu and forced thousands of families out of their homes. Several months later, many families still can’t return to their homes safely.

Since 2015, I have called on the Navy to address unsafe conditions at Red Hill. When the latest spill was discovered, I demanded that they drain the tanks, move the fuel quickly and safely, and shut down Red Hill for good.

This was a long effort, but it looks like we have finally achieved our goal — shutting down Red Hill and protecting our water supply and the health of Hawaii’s families.

Many people stood up and made their voices heard on Red Hill, but Ernie Lau, Manager of the Board of Water Supply on Oahu, deserves special recognition for his tireless and passionate advocacy on this issue.

Thank you for standing with me during this fight and helping apply the pressure necessary to make this change possible.

Red Hill currently stores over 100 million gallons of fuel just 100 feet above Oahu’s primary drinking water supply. Shutting this facility down for good will protect our communities from water contamination and our children from further exposure to toxic fuel leaks.

My heart goes out to the people that were — and are still — impacted by the spill. The health and safety of the people of Hawaii is my top priority, and I will continue to do everything I can to ensure clean water for our state, now and in the future.

Mahalo,