The Navy’s media reports present “demonstrably false or misleading information as fact”
‘Civil Beat’ and ‘Hawaii News Now’ get it right
By Pat Elder
June 9, 2024
Redacted Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam Insignia.
(See letter and note below.)
From Civil Beat : “This week, a Navy spokesman, meaning to share a press release, accidentally sent Civil Beat reporter Christina Jedra a copy of the Red Hill team’s draft communications plan for the rest of the year. Oops.”
Hawaii is lucky to have Civil Beat, although I’m not sure this was an unintentional release from the naval command. It may have been intended to accomplish its propagandistic mission in a backhanded way. Who knows?
Read this selection from the Navy’s Closure Task Force-Red Hill Six Month Plan – June-December 2024:
“Public Affairs Function and Purpose - Navy Closure Task Force - Red Hill - Public Affairs functions are part of a broader communication process that collaborates with Strategic Engagement (SE) cell to communicate Red Hill closure operations and Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam (JBPHH) drinking water initiatives in support of the commander’s mission objectives.”
What does this mean? In Navy speak FSEC’s engage KLE’s to counter insurgent organizations. Force Strategic Engagement Cells initiate Key Leader Engagements in the Navy’s targeting process to counter insurgent organizations. In the case of Hawaii, those insurgent organizations include Civil Beat and Hawaii News Now.
The Navy’s “mission objectives” are most threatened by an informed public. The command understands that news outlets like Civil Beat and Hawaii News Now are doing an excellent job reporting truth and analyzing complex issues. The cat is out of the bag in Hawaii. Too many know the score, and more are learning it. The Navy is threatened. It can’t close Pandora’s box. They’re likely to lose tens of thousands of acres of land because they haven’t proven to be good stewards of the environment. Good for Hawaii!
The suspicious document on Christina’s desk provides a glimpse into how the Navy feels threatened by reports of truth in the media. They say their current data as of May 24 indicates a one out of twelve positive-to-negative story ratio in Hawaii’s media.
Examine this ratio in the Maryland-DC-Virginia media market and you’re likely to find nearly opposite numbers.
The Navy says they are striving for a “reduction in news media reports presenting demonstrably false or misleading information as fact.” What are they talking about? Are they suggesting Hawaii’s two leading news sources regularly publish false information? The Navy uses the terms: communication, misinformation, disinformation, accurate, inaccurate, false and misleading 26 times in the brief report.
The Navy is attempting to undermine the free press in Hawaii but the Hawaiians are a feisty lot and the Navy is failing miserably.
Don’t think the Navy is so anti-democratic? Consider this excerpt from the press release announcing the Navy’s anti-terrorism, force protection exercises from the Patuxent Ricer Naval Air Station, Maryland last year.
Pax River Prepares for Citadel Shield-Solid Curtain. “Week one’s Citadel Shield focuses on installation-level training, and all scenarios will occur entirely within the Pax River fence line. In the past, those scenarios have included active shooter, hostage situation, gate runner, unmanned aerial surveillance, mass shooting, protesters at the gate, suspicious package, and release of a biological weapon, among others.
One of these things is not like the others.
Let’s examine the brief section on PFAS in the Navy’s missive. My remarks are in bold.
AFFF (Aqueous film-forming foam)
Navy - On April 23, the Navy Closure Task Force-Red Hill team completed the safe removal of 39 55-gallon drums and seven drums of personal protective equipment used by personnel during the AFFF concentrate removal process.
What did they do with it and what did they do with the 1,300 gallons of deadly concentrate? The chemicals cannot be safely disposed of.
Navy - Successful removal of the AFFF eliminates a final major threat to the aquifer and the environment. This is an example of the Navy’s commitment to close the facility safely and deliberately.
Don’t we all wish the Navy’s actions eliminate a final major threat to the aquifer!
After October 1, 2024, fluorinated AFFF may not be used at any military installation, unless the Secretary of Defense waives the prohibition on use. Navy ships will continue to use AFFF with PFAS until a suitable replacement is found. The firefighting foams only constitute a small amount of the use of PFAS.
Navy - The Department of the Navy has a comprehensive program to respond to per-and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) releases that it has incorporated across the country, under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA) and its long-standing regulations.
Joint Base Pearl Harbor Hickam is years behind installations throughout the rest of the country regarding the release of reports pursuant to CERCLA. The Navy has created an alternative reality and prefers to dwell in it. They’ve closed the books on huge swaths of perpetually contaminated land and water throughout Hawaii and we still don’t have any data from JBPHH. See the Navy’s Preliminary Assessment of Potential Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances. Also see my report on this Preliminary Assessment.
Navy - For Joint Base Pearl Harbor Hickam and the Red Hill Facility, the Navy initiated the investigation process to identify the nature and extent of PFAS releases from Navy activities and determine the appropriate cleanup actions based on risk to human health and the environment. This process is occurring under an enforceable Federal Facilities Agreement (FFA) executed by the Navy, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the Hawaii Department of Health.
The Navy already knows the “nature and extent” of PFAS releases! How do they define “appropriate cleanup actions”? We’d all love to see the plan.
The Navy dictates environmental policy in these matters. The releases of PFAS are ongoing. The Navy uses hundreds of applications and products containing PFAS that are released into the environment and threaten human health.
Congress directed the DOD to prepare a report outlining the uses of PFAS that are critical to the national security of the United States. In response, the DOD published a report on Critical Per-and Polyfluoroalkyl substance uses in August, 2023. They’re telling you they’re not going to change their behavior.
They don’t want you to know they use and dispose of the carcinogens daily.
Navy - The Navy has submitted preliminary assessment/site investigation reports identifying areas of PFAS storage, use or release in Hawaii for regulatory review, and remedial investigations are underway to determine the nature and extent of PFAS in the environment. Navy is committed to working with the regulatory agencies to monitor, investigate and take any needed actions to address PFAS to ensure the drinking water continues to meet all state and federal standards and requirements.
The Navy has not released a site inspection for JBPHH. Site inspections contain data. We have no data. We don’t know what’s in the soil, subsurface soil, sediment, surface water, groundwater, air, etc. We don’t know about PFAS results from the wastewater treatment process or where the toxic sludge is spread or incinerated.
The EPA and the DOH are on the sidelines. The Navy is in charge, and they are continuing to rely on propaganda and falsehoods in an attempt to steer the narrative.
Does this article seem to be presenting demonstrably false or misleading information as fact? It may be regarded as such in Washington, but not in Honolulu.
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After publishing the results from a FOIA regarding deadly levels of groundwater contamination at the Patuxent River Naval Air Station in Lexington Park, Maryland in 2020, I received this warning from the Navy.
My civil rights attorney advised me to immediately take down the Navy insignia and to refrain from using navy insignias or face heavy penalties. The local media freely use Navy indicators, but they provide a platform for Navy press releases. I would never, without being afforded the opportunity to reply in bold.
Posing with the Navy’s carcinogenic foam on my beach in Maryland. I will be travelling to Ireland, UK, and Germany in July and to Japan in August to meet up with environmental activists to test surface waters draining from industrial and military sites for PFAS contamination. We’ve raised a lot of money, but we still need to raise $4,000. Please help. Please make a note that your contribution is for testing waters in Europe and Japan. - Thanks, Pat
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