The Navy is covering up contamination at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam
Records since November 2021 have disappeared.
New campaign will organize the public to file FOIA requests.
May 22, 2023
By Pat Elder
Rear Adm. John Wade, Commander of the Navy’s defueling task force, has said repeatedly that “transparency is absolutely critical.” Photo - Wyatt Olson/Stars and Stripes
The Navy has not been transparent with the release of public records documenting contamination at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, (JBPHH).
The Navy’s most recent publicly available environmental records pertaining to contamination at JBPHH date back to November of 2021, a month that will live in infamy. After the fuel leak, the command shut down the pipeline for public information. What little we do know comes from leaks from individuals close to the command. The public is required to file Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests for dated environmental reports that take nearly forever and return little or nothing.
Rear Admiral Wade says over and over the Navy is trying to rebuild public trust by being open and transparent. He says he values the public’s engagement. These outrageous statements are repeated ad nauseum. I’m sick of hearing them. Aren’t you?
The Navy has published 2,512 environmental records on the Naval Facilities Engineering Command Hawaii (NAVFAC) website dating back to 1990 pertaining to contamination at Joint Base Pearl Harbor Hickam. That’s an average of 81 records a year. They were publicly accessible at one time.
We have seen nothing filed in the last year and a half when we might have expected to see roughly 120 records made publicly available. Sources close to the command say they’re so afraid of liability and public outrage that they’ve shut down access to the damning records.
Shutting down public access while claiming to be transparent is a dangerous, double-edged sword. Some claim Wade would likely be more open with the records if he didn’t face pressure from his superiors at the Pentagon. Others say he’s perfect for the job because he doesn’t have an original thought. It’s all speculation.
Some records were previously made available to the public but access to them is now closed off and some don’t appear on the index. For instance, see the 2019 report on PFAS at the former industrial waste treatment plant site that shows a total of 937 parts per trillion of PFAS in groundwater. Who knew?
In response to the groundwater levels, the 2019 Navy report says, “The exceedance of the tap water regional screening level for PFOS in groundwater does not suggest an unacceptable risk to human health.” They say, “Chemicals in groundwater may migrate to discharge locations in Pearl Harbor, which is located approximately 900 feet to the west of the site.” Maybe this is the type of information they don’t want us and our attorneys to see.
The water draining into Pearl Harbor had a concentration of 516 parts per trillion of PFOS and it is likely ongoing. The public will eventually come to understand the significance here. The compound greatly magnifies in fish, posing a grave threat to all of us. It becomes part of the sediment and the banks. It dries and forms as dust and settles in our lungs and homes.
Can you imagine all of the things they’re not telling us about the fuel leak?
The Navy resorts to Dog & Pony shows to sidetrack the public.
The Navy plans to hold two public events on May 23rd and 24th from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. at Keehi Lagoon Memorial Park’s Alfred Los Banos ballroom to explain how the defueling process is supposed to work, even though their dog and pony shows aren’t playing well in Hawaii.
Their playbook copies a page from Joseph Goebbels, chief propagandist for Hitler who said, “It would not be impossible to prove with sufficient repetition and a psychological understanding of the people concerned that a square is in fact a circle.” Sorry, Navy. The Hawaiian public still sees the square. They’re touchy on these matters because of their unique cultural and historical experience. You still don’t understand it after all these years. Your trickery won’t work.
People can attend the Navy’s dog and pony show, but they ought to understand that the Navy is keeping lots of secrets that are supposed to be made public. Things are likely to be much worse than anyone can imagine. They’re poisoning people in Hawaii.
File a FOIA
If you have 10 minutes you can file a simple FOIA request for JBPHH data. The process is a snap, and I can help you.
It’s so frustrating! Why do we have to file a FOIA to get files that once were publicly available and why does this process take nearly forever? FOIA requests fizzle into nothingness. Gotta love Christina Jedra with Civil Beat! Maybe if we file enough of them, Rear Admiral Wade will loosen up a little.
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File a FOIA in ten minutes. Here are the steps:
Go to the Navy’s home page for Administrative Records for JBPHH here: Hawaii (navy.mil)
Scroll down to “Pearl Harbor JBPHH” and click on “Administrative Record.”
Randomly select a record from 2017 forward. Just pick reports. Don’t select memos or correspondence. Copy and paste the title of the report. Here’s an example: “FINAL ACCIDENT PREVENTION PLAN GROUNDWATER MONITORING PETROLEUM, OIL, AND LUBRICANTS AREA 11 (SS11) JOINT BASE PEARL HARBOR-HICKAM OAHU HI JBPHH PEARL HARBOR HI SITE H0016 Sites(s): SITE H0016”
Click where it says, “Request for Record PDF” and you’ll be greeted with this:
Next, click on the link to the United States Government’s FOIA online. https://foiaonline.gov/foiaonline/action/public/request
Where it says, “Select an Agency,” scroll down and select the Department of the Navy.
Where it says, “Will pay up to,” put in $0. There will be no searching or photocopies involved. You will be providing the title of the document you want. If you do receive results in a few years, they will be PDF’s, often redacted, that will be emailed to you.
Where it says “Description,” simply copy and paste the title of the document from the index page.
Where it says, “Request for Expedited Processing,” just leave it at “no.”
Where is says “Request a fee waiver,” just leave it at “no.”
There are no supporting files to be attached.
Send the request.
You’ll receive an immediate auto-response.
In a few days you’ll receive an email from the Navy acknowledging receipt of the request.
Your request will likely fizzle into nothingness, but it’s something and it’s likely to make you feel better about things.
Feel free to select another base, like Barber’s Point or one close to you. Reports on the Marine Corps Base Hawaii’s waste water treatment plant would come in handy now, considering massive releases of fecal matter into the ocean.
Please let me know what you’ve filed.
Financial support from the Downs Law Group makes this work possible.
The firm is working to provide legal representation to individuals with a high likelihood of exposure to PFAS and other contaminants.
Interested in joining a multi-base class action law suit pertaining to illnesses stemming from various kinds of environmental contamination?
Join the Veterans & Civilians Clean Water Alliance Facebook group.
(2.4 K members and growing rapidly.)