Naval fuel tanks that poisoned Hawaii will be shut down: Pentagon
The Pentagon will permanently close a US Navy fuel tank in Hawaii that leaked gasoline into the water supply at Pearl Harbor, Defense Secretary Lloyd J. Austin announced Monday.
World War II-era Red Hill bulk fuel storage facility located on an aquifer provides nearly 20% of Honolulu’s drinking water – includes Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam. Officials are investigating what they believe to be a jet fuel spill in November 2021. contaminated tap waterdisplaced thousands of military families.
After nearly 1,000 households complained of their tap water smelling like fuel or illnesses like stomach upset and vomiting, Hawaii Department of Health found that the level of petroleum in a water sample was 350 times higher than what is considered safe in drinking water and that “organic matter in the gasoline range” was 66 times the safe level.
Petroleum can cause vomiting, diarrhea, headache, and confusion if ingested, inhaled, or in contact with skin.
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“The central bulk fuel storage facility may have made sense in 1943, when Red Hill was built,” Austin said in a statement. “And Red Hill has served our armed forces well for decades. But now it makes a lot less sense.”
“Moreover, when we use land for military purposes, at home and abroad, we pledge to be good stewards of that resource. The closure of Red Hill fulfills that commitment,” he said.
Navy suspend the use of fuel tanks in December, and Agree to drain the tank system in January after the initial resistance.
Thousands of soldiers and their families have been relocated from their home due to a fuel leak, and thousands of Hawaiians are still waiting for clearance to drink tap water.
The move to defuel and permanently close the Pentagon’s Red Hill facility comes after many local government officials called for the closure of the storage tank and followed the order of the Hawaii Department of Health to withdraw. fuel from storage tanks.
Hawaii Governor David Ige welcomed the decision.
“Our defense starts with the health and safety of our people, and there are better solutions for strategic fuel delivery today than there were when the Red Hill storage facility was built,” Ige said. build. in a statement.
US Congressman Kaialiʻi Kahele said Monday was a day of “relief and celebration”.
“The community was loud and clear: ola i ka wa. Water is life,” Kahele said in a statement.
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He also called on the Department of Defense to secure funding to remediate the entire Oahu aquifer located atop the fuel tank.
“While today is truly a day of celebration, we must do so with cautious optimism,” Kahele said. “While today may signal the end of Red Hill as a fuel storage facility, it is only the beginning of the hard work ahead. We have to blame the Navy. ”
The Red Hill Well holds 20 large underground fuel tanks dating back to the Second World War. An assessment team will now determine how to close the tanks and dispose of the fuel in an environmentally safe manner.
The Pentagon said by the end of May the government would put together an action plan with milestones to completely defuel the facility.