Military Families Speak Out applauds President Joe Biden’s and Secretary of Defense General Lloyd Austin’s decision to drain the fuel tanks at the United States Navy’s Red Hill storage facility on the Hawaiian island of Oahu of 125 million gallons of fuel that were contaminating the base’s water supply.  The recent emergency relocation of 4,000 military families on the Hawaiian island of Oahu due to the leaking fuel tanks called for quick action to protect those who serve from the contaminated drinking water. MFSO is greatly relieved to hear of this important step that has been taken to protect the health and safety of our troops and their families.  

Military members and their families face many hardships in the service of their country, but being exposed to hazardous chemicals such as petroleum products and PFOC’s, the “forever chemicals, shouldn’t be one of them. Subjecting our service members and their families to hazardous conditions is not only extremely unsettling for military personnel, but could also contribute to a national security crisis. MFSO member US Army Colonel (Ret.) Ann Wright, speaking of the situation regarding military families in Oahu said, “National security involves the health and welfare of our people.”

MFSO urges the President to drain the fuel tanks in Oahu without any further delay and to direct the Environmental Protection Agency to set Minimum Safe Levels for PFOC exposure to protect our military families and the surrounding communities at this base and the other 400 bases that are being evaluated for contamination. In addition, free testing kits for measuring PFOC exposure should be made available to all concerned, as well as increased medical monitoring of those affected by the contamination.