While it is encouraging that the Navy has agreed to improve safety at the massive Red Hill underground fuel tanks that have leaked in the past, it should not take two years for a feasibility study to assess the problem or 20 years to complete upgrades designed to protect a large supply of Oahu’s groundwater.
The community input being sought now about the proposed agreement must emphasize the need for a tighter timeline to spur the Navy to resolve long-standing risks that the aging Red Hill Bulk Fuel Storage Facility near Pearl Harbor poses to nearby underground aquifers, which provide about 25 percent of the drinking water for urban Honolulu.
Fuel leaks and other potential problems have been identified for years or even decades, in some instances. A leak of 27,000 gallons of jet fuel from Tank 5 in January 2014 added new urgency to the issue; fortunately that incident did not contaminate the water supply, authorities said.
Still, public-health advocates and others are understandably disappointed that the proposed agreement among the Environmental Protection Agency, Hawaii Department of Health, U.S. Navy and the Defense Logistics Agency gives the military so much more time to take decisive action.
The proposal, an Administrative Order on Consent (AOC) under the authority of the federal Resource Conservation and Recovery Act and state laws and rules, requires the military “to install improved technologies” to prevent and detect fuel leaks — without specifying the technology. The military would conduct a feasibility study within two years to consider a variety of tank-improvement options, and upgrade active tanks over a period of 20 years. In the meantime, the Navy will double the frequency of certain tank testing, to once a year. The EPA and DOH would approve all work performed, and impose fines if it does not meet the proposed agreement’s requirements.
This plan is less prescriptive and proceeds at a slower pace than the staunchest health advocates had correctly sought. Some had urged that tanks be double-lined to trap any leaking fuel within an outer tank wall, and pushed for a 10-year timeline to complete the upgrades.
With 250 million gallons total capacity, the Red Hill facility is the largest such site in the world, and unique in the United States military. Constructed in the 1940s, it consists of 20 underground fuel-storage tanks built into the hillside; 18 are active and two are not in use. At 250 feet tall and 100 feet in diameter, each tank can store up to 12.7 million gallons of fuel. Each is made of steel and encased in concrete, surrounded by basalt bedrock.
Any improvements obviously will be complex and expensive. But they are necessary, now.
State Sen. Breene Harimoto, a Democrat who represents Pearl Harbor, Pearl City and Aiea, aptly summed up the situation: “I am happy that they finally got this to a conclusion with the agreement, after over a year, but, on the other hand, I’m not too pleased that there seems to be little immediate action. It’s a two-year feasibility study and it’s already over a year since the spill was reported. I was really hoping for a much more immediate response.” Indeed.
Public comment on the issue is being accepted for 30 days, and there will be a public hearing on June 18 at 6:30 p.m. at Moanalua Middle School’s cafeteria, at 1289 Mahiole Street. For more information, see epa.gov/region9/redhill and health.hawaii.gov/RedHill.
It will take a real community outpouring to persuade the military and the state and federal regulatory agencies that the proposed agreement does not go far enough, fast enough. Anyone who cares about protecting Oahu’s precious water supply should be there.
