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House committee reconvenes working group push over Puʻuloa Ranch Range contamination; resolution passes
Summary
The House Committee on Energy & Environmental Protection passed HR27 (HCR28) to request reconvening a working group to address water and air contamination tied to Puʻuloa Ranch Range operations after multiple public testifiers and written statements urged further testing and remediation.
The House Committee on Energy & Environmental Protection on April 1, 2025, voted to pass HR27 (HCR28), a resolution requesting reconvening the working group established under a prior House resolution to continue efforts addressing water and air contamination tied to the operation of the Puʻuloa Ranch Range training facility.
The measure, introduced to the committee at the start of the hearing, drew in-person and virtual testimony from local advocates and residents. Wayne Tanaka, Sierra Club of Hawaii, told the committee, “We are in strong support of this resolution,” and said the measure aims at “protecting the next generations” from lead exposure. Resident Liam Chin described living downwind of the range and said, “we lost our baby,” linking that loss to local testing that found high lead levels along the shoreline and in household dust and fish samples reported by local advocates and media.
The resolution requests reconvening the multi-stakeholder working group created under prior legislative action to coordinate further sampling, public-health outreach and remediation planning. Testimony submitted in support included the Hawaii Department of Health, the Green Party of Hawaii, the Environmental Caucus of the Democratic Party, Conservation Council of Hawaii, Surfrider-related groups, small businesses and 48 individuals; the committee reported no testimony in opposition or with comments.
During verbal testimony, Chin said the Marine Corps’ own follow-up testing had echoed community testing results, stating that the Marine Corps’ tests “came back red hot.” He also told the committee that both the state House and Senate in 2023 had passed resolutions calling for the range’s relocation, and said the working group is needed to secure cooperation from the Department of Health for expanded testing and remediation planning.
The committee’s chair and vice chair recommended passing the resolution unamended. The committee then voted; recorded votes in the hearing transcript show the chair and vice chair voting aye, Representative Kahaloha voting aye and Representative Kush voting aye; Representative Quinlan was recorded as excused. The committee announced the recommendation as adopted.
Discussion versus action: testimony and written statements comprised the substantive discussion; the committee issued a formal recommendation to pass the resolution and recorded a vote adopting that recommendation. The resolution itself is a request to reconvene a working group and does not itself appropriate funds or mandate specific remediation steps.
Next steps noted in the hearing record: the resolution, having passed the committee, will proceed through the next stages of the legislative process; the record does not specify any funding, enforcement steps, or an implementation timetable.
Ending: Supporters said the reconvened working group would be central to coordinating additional testing, public-health outreach and potential remediation planning; the committee’s action sends the request to the next stage of the legislative process.
