Red Hill Haunts USN as Honolulu Orders Weekly Pollutants Testing
Pollutants from the Red Hill Bulk Fuel Storage Facility continue to haunt the U.S. Navy after the Honolulu City Council passed a resolution demanding weekly water testing to protect public health. This comes after fuel contaminants were detected in wells in Aiea, located about a mile away from the facility.
The Council adopted a resolution demanding that the Navy and the Department of Defense immediately implement weekly testing of all Red Hill monitoring wells and drinking water wells for all chemical contaminants. The weekly testing has been deemed necessary to protect public health from dangers stemming from past fuel and hazardous materials that were used, stored, or released at the facility that was shut down two years ago.
In November 2021, the WWII-era Red Hill facility suffered a 19,000-gallon jet fuel spill inside an access tunnel. The fuel percolated into a well and contaminated the drinking water supply for about 93,000 American soldiers, sailors, and family members at Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam. At least 2,000 people reported that they were sickened by fuel in water, more than 850 sought medical treatment, and at least 17 people said they were hospitalized overnight, Hawaii's Department of Health found in a survey.
The Honolulu Council continues to express dissatisfaction over the Navy's slow and inadequate response to reporting the aquifer contamination following the 2021 devastating fuel leak into its water supply sources, which it terms as being unacceptable. For that reason, the Council through a unanimous resolution is now demanding weekly water testing for all fuel contaminants.
The order calls for the Navy to facilitate weekly sample testing by an independent party and the installation of additional monitoring wells to the west and northwest of the Red Hill facility. The resolution demands that the Navy submit unredacted laboratory reports to its Board of Water Supply and the public and also take any other necessary actions to protect the public's safety and safeguard public drinking water supply.
“We must fully understand if fuel and other contaminants from the Red Hill facility are making their way to our other water sources,” said Tommy Waters, Council Chair. “Real-time monitoring and reporting are crucial to understanding the underground situation and protecting public health. The Board of Water Supply is making efforts but needs access to the Navy's well data immediately. This testing and the resulting data are non-negotiable for us at this point.”
The Navy initially resisted the efforts to close Red Hill. It is now distancing itself from the latest detection of fuel contaminants in wells in Aiea.
“They (the U.S. Navy) and some of the experts are trying to tell us that this could not have come from Red Hill. That it came from some combustion source or house fire or something, but we don’t know for sure,” said Ernie Lau, Honolulu Board of Water Supply Manager & Chief Engineer.
Though Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin ordered the closure of the Red Hill facility in 2022, the Navy continues to face litigation over the site's legacy of pollution. The Honolulu Board of Water Supply has been demanding $1.4 billion in compensation for its efforts to address and work around aquifer contamination.