A year ago today, soon after an estimated 20,000 gallons of fuel started gushing from a ruptured pipeline at the Red Hill storage facility, Navy leaders prepared to tell military families and the public that all was well, that its Hickam-area water was safe to drink and use.
It was not.
Years of warnings, finally and unfortunately, met the public emergency they foretold: Leaking fuel had contaminated the water supply, affecting 93,000 military and civilian users of that Navy water. Rightful concerns quickly spread about possible taint of the civilian water supply, too, causing a preemptive shutdown of the Halawa shaft and calls for water conservation. Already disastrous, the crisis was compounded by the Navy’s attempts to cover up the extent of the Nov. 20 fuel spew and a related pipeline break earlier in May — which soon proved futile as people got sick, complaining of ailments such as nausea, headaches, vomiting, skin rashes, and burning mouths and throats.
Today, that sense of irreparable harm remains: over environmental damage already down to water wells and fuel-soaked grounds, plus risks for more once defueling starts; about the health problems of those who drank and used the tainted water; about the loss of Navy credibility and deteriorated trust from Oahu residents.
Actions are now moving apace on two general fronts: To drain 104 million gallons of fuel sitting in most of the 20 massive tanks, targeted for June 2024 completion, then closure of those tanks; and to address the medical issues of those affected, many who claim lingering effects, including more than 100 people who have filed a lawsuit against the military.
A recent first step toward defueling was, thankfully, successful. That involved the “unpacking” earlier this month of 1 million gallons of fuel from three pipelines connecting the tanks to facilities at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam. Now underway is a slew of repairs of corroded pipes and valves, to ensure the tanks can be safely defueled.
An engineering report by consultant SGH in May 2022 identified a stunning 200-plus deficiencies throughout the Red Hill system, 43 of them deemed critical to repair before defueling can even start. Those findings belied repeated Navy assurances, pre-November 2021, that the 80-year-old Red Hill facility would be operating safely and securely for at least another 20 years. Instead, what’s been aptly called “a ticking time bomb” sits a mere 100 feet above a main Oahu aquifer.
Even as structural preparation for defueling advances, worries mount about ongoing health problems of those already affected.
In two actions last week, Hawaii’s U.S. Sen. Mazie Hirono rightly pressed those concerns:
>> On Tuesday, she and New York’s Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand shot a letter to U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin demanding information about the Department of Defense’s (DOD) support of people impacted by last year’s fuel-water contamination.
>> On Wednesday, as a member of the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee, she questioned Veterans Affairs leaders about plans to support and care for servicemembers impacted by the Red Hill fuel leaks as they transition out of active duty.
“Red Hill is one of the cohorts we are concerned with,” replied Dr. Patricia Hastings, VA’s chief consultant for Health Outcomes Military Exposures. “There is a registry of those people who were exposed that DOD has. This is a cohort that we will follow into the future and this will be decades of following up.”
Hastings noted that “this is not exactly a Camp Lejeune scenario, but we’re going to look at it in the same manner.”
This promise must be watched, and kept, to ensure that anyone suffering long-term effects from Red Hill contamination will indeed get the help they need. (At the U.S. Marines’ Camp Lejeune in North Carolina, hazardous chemicals contaminated the water from 1953 to 1987, causing severe health problems. VA disability benefits and litigation have resulted from that.)
As for the Navy’s credibility and loss of public trust here: The new Joint Task Force Red Hill has tried to say the right things as it moves toward defueling. On Friday, it hosted a dozen state and community leaders in the first in a series of discussions about ongoing efforts to drain then shut down the tanks. It is crucial that JTF provide regular updates on anticipated next steps, but true engagement cannot be one-sided, with the military filtering out only what it deems to share. It must be transparent so that if something does go wrong, more damage isn’t done by hiding behind clumsy attempts at damage control. There is too much at stake.
It has been a difficult year, with more risks ahead that require utmost care. The military, so used to cycling people in and out of communities, needs to understand the depth of damage done here, on multiple fronts, to our island home. The Navy people whose shoddy management enabled this crisis may be long gone from Hawaii, but their mess remains. They have put Oahu’s precious water resources, and the health of people, in danger. Those who have now been rotated in to fix this mess must do better, much better, on all fronts.
