HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) - Civilians John Floyd and Nelson Wu worked at Red Hill and are accused by the government of lying and conspiracy, allegedly reporting to regulators that 1,600 gallons rather than 20,000 gallons had spilled at the Navy’s Red Hill fuel farm on May 6, 2021.
That spill lead to the tainted water disaster Thanksgiving weekend.
The next year, HNN asked Adm. Samuel Paparo, commander of the U.S. Pacific Fleet, how many people were disciplined, reassigned or fired because of the disaster.
“There are a number of people who are no longer in their assigned duties,” Paparo said on June 30, 2022.
“Something didn’t smell quite right. I had to just document,” said Lt. Cmdr. Shannon Bencs, who was Red Hill’s fuel director in 2021.
She filed hundreds of whistleblower reports and told HNN Investigates even though she was interviewed by federal investigators, she was not called to testify before the grand jury.
“I had to either become a whistleblower or potentially go to jail if I didn’t report it, because I would be part of the crime because I saw something and didn’t do anything about it,” said Bencs.
“At that same time, by doing the right thing, I knew my career was over,” she added.
Bencs said she spent many hours, sleepless nights, documenting and submitting reports to authorities.
“I think if I didn’t do that, then they wouldn’t have the evidence that they have now or that the Navy would have destroyed it,” said Bencs.
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