[News] Hawaiʻi Water Protectors Serve 'Eviction Notice' To US Navy Command

[Anti-Imperialist News]

popularresistance.org
<https://popularresistance.org/water-protectors-serve-eviction-notice-to-us-navy-command/>
Water Protectors Serve 'Eviction Notice' To US Navy Command
By Oahu Water Protectors - November 21, 2022
------------------------------
[image: image.png]
“Clean up and Get Out.”

*With no meaningful response to their demands for accountability and
emergency action by the U.S. Navy one full year after a fuel spill poisoned
Oʻahu’s aquifer and thousands of people, the community has had enough.*

Puʻuloa, Hawaiʻi – On the anniversary of the 19,000 gallon fuel spill that
led to the poisoning of Oʻahu’s sole source aquifer and thousands of
families, water protectors from across the island presented an “eviction
notice” to Navy leaders for numerous Navy and Department of Defense actions
that have continually threatened and harmed the lands, waters, and people
of of Hawaiʻi – including the Navy’s ongoing refusal to properly address
the existential threat posed by the Red Hill Bulk Fuel Storage Facility.

“We aren’t dumb. We aren’t sheep. We know when we are just being fed lines
by military officials in the hopes of keeping us quiet. We let them do that
to us for too long, and look at what we’ve got. Those days are over, maybe
forever,” stated Kainoa Azama, of the Oʻahu Water Protectors.

Prior to their presentation of the notice, water protectors gave out
hundreds of ice pops and informational brochures to families shopping at
the Navy Exchange. “First, people on the Navy’s water system need to be
informed that there are still reports of ongoing health and contamination
issues. They need to know that if they are experiencing health symptoms or
observing issues with their tapwater, there are resources and networks out
there who may be able to help,” said Wayne Tanaka, Sierra Club of Hawai‘i
executive director. “Second, we want these families to understand – we are
all connected. We all need water, we all want to protect what we love, and
we all need to take care of each other as well as these islands we are
blessed to live on, to call home. That is what today and the events this
weekend are all about.”

<https://popularresistance-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/2022/11/2-6-e1669061300554.png>

The eviction notice presented by the water protectors, representing
numerous organizations in the Shut Down Red Hill Coalition, cited the
following grounds for eviction:
● Navy officials’ lying under oath in legal proceedings concerning the Red
Hill Facility;
● Prioritizing military and hypothetical war time objectives over the
safety and security of ʻāina and people;
● Desecrating sites sacred to Kānaka Maoli; and
● The poisoning of wai and ʻāina, stolen from the Hawaiian Kingdom with the
assistance of the U.S. Navy.

Water protectors expressed alarm regarding Joint Task Force Red Hill
Commander Rear Admiral John Wade’s inability to acknowledge the emergency
nature of the continued presence of 104,000,000 gallons of fuel 100 feet
above Oʻahuʻs EPA Region IX Sole Source Aquifer. They also cited deep
disappointment in Navy leaders’ continued refusal to hold regular, public,
in-person meetings to receive and respond to community concerns, and to
meaningfully address the pleas of both military and civilian families still
suffering from the effects of hydrocarbon poisoning.

While the group had called upon INDOPACOM Admiral John Aquilino and Joint
Task Force Commander Rear Admiral Wade to meet them at the Makalapa Gate
entrance, neither official came forward.

“The buck stops at the top, and Rear Admiral Wade and Admiral Aquilino have
done nothing to answer the call to meet with the people whose island, whose
lives, and whose future remain in jeopardy,” reflected Janice Toma Shiira,
of the Shimanchu Wai Protectors. “Why are they afraid of meeting us, face
to face? Are they afraid that they can’t answer our questions? Or is there
something else they are hiding?”

Participants then “served” the eviction notice to the gate guards at
Pacific Fleet Command Headquarters.

Participants demonstrated that the concern for the health and future of the
wai (water) under Kapūkakī (Red Hill) has not subsided. Sunday’s eviction
action made it abundantly clear that community organizations, Kānaka Maoli
leaders, and water drinkers across Hawaiʻi are far from backing down.
Sponsoring organizations:

Oʻahu Water Protectors, @oahuwaterprotectors
Ka Lāhui Hawaiʻi, @healanipale
Sierra Club of Hawaiʻi, @sierraclubhi
Shut Down Red Hill Mutual Aid, @shutdownredhillmutualaid
Surfrider Foundation Oʻahu, @surfrideroahu
Faith Action for Community Equity, @faithactionhawaii
Hawai‘i Alliance for Progressive Action, @hiprogressiveaction
KAHEA: The Hawaiian-Environmental Alliance, @kaheaalliance
Da Hui o He’e Nalu, @huioheenalunorthshore
Lāhui Foundation, @lahuifoundation
Hawaiʻi Peoples Fund, @hawaiipeoplesfund
Hawaiʻi Youth Climate Coalition, @thehycc
Hawaiʻi Peace and Justice, @hawaiipeaceandjustice
Queen’s Court
Shimanchu Wai Protectors
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://freedomarchives.org/pipermail/news_freedomarchives.org/attachments/20221122/4657350a/attachment.htm>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: image.png
Type: image/png
Size: 1570966 bytes
Desc: not available
URL: <http://freedomarchives.org/pipermail/news_freedomarchives.org/attachments/20221122/4657350a/attachment.png>