For Hawaii, seeing March 22 on the calendar as World Water Day, the annual United Nations observance, stirs anxieties as environmental hazards emanate from the Red Hill fuel storage facility. What started in November 2021 with a 20,000-gallon fuel spill that contaminated the Hickam-Pearl Harbor water supply and sickened hundreds — already disastrous — has only intensified with another related water danger: from toxic “forever chemicals” that leached into the Red Hill ground when 1,300 gallons of firefighting aqueous film forming foam (AFFF) spilled last November.
Meanwhile, the public’s frustrating search for answers continues, as the Navy continues to drag on its promises to disclose major incident reports. While the Navy apparently met the Environmental Protection Agency’s extended deadline on Wednesday to submit reports on the AFFF spill and past AFFF leaks at Red Hill, details have yet to be publicly released. This pattern of secrecy has kept other vital disclosures from the public, including the scopes of and videos from the 2022 AFFF and 2021 fuel spills.
The dangers of AFFF were underscored Tuesday, when the EPA proposed raising the safety threshold for “forever chemicals” (PFAS or per- and polyfluorinated substances) in drinking water; these toxins are contained in the firefighting AFFF that was spilled at Red Hill. PFAS don’t degrade in the environment and are linked to health issues, including low birth weight and kidney cancer.
The EPA’s proposal would set strict limits of 4 parts per trillion, the lowest level that can be reliably measured, for two common types of PFAS compounds called PFOA and PFOS.
Water providers would have to monitor for PFAS, a growing concern in areas often near manufacturing plants or Air Force bases. And now, it’s an emerging worry for Hawaii — making the Navy’s Red Hill AFFF report to the EPA more pertinent than ever to help protect public health.
As for defueling of the 104 million gallons in the massive Red Hill tanks, and the facility’s permanent closure: that must progress safely, and quickly. All 252 contracts have been awarded to repair the facility’s deteriorated pipes and structures, and should be done by year’s end, said Joint Task Force Red Hill (JTF-RH) officials. Defueling can then start in February, with completion targeted for June 2024.
The World War II-era fuel facility sits just 100 feet above a major Oahu aquifer and has been called “a ticking time bomb” — so clearly, if safe defueling can be done quicker, it should be. A few new wrinkles, though:
>> On Tuesday, JTF-Red Hill announced that it will develop a pre-defueling environmental assessment (EA), with stakeholders and regulators, and in compliance with the National Environmental Policy Act.
“We are utilizing the NEPA process to help us make more informed decisions as we carry out our mission to safely and expeditiously remove and redistribute the fuel from the Red Hill facility,” said Vice Adm. John F. Wade, JTF-Red Hill commander. “By understanding the possible environmental effects of our proposed actions, we will be able to use best practices and minimize impacts, ensuring we are good stewards of the environment.”
The EA process starts Monday, with a public comment period on the draft EA to run June 9-30, followed by a June 15 NEPA public meeting; the final EA will come Aug. 31.
The NEPA process is not expected to impact the defueling timeline, say JTF-RH officials — and the public must hold them to it.
>> Emerging concern over a new provision in the National Defense Authorization Act signed in December, requiring sign-off by the U.S. defense secretary before Red Hill defueling can begin. Such certification that national security won’t be adversely affected by defueling could well be seen as a move to supersede the state Department of Health’s current oversight authority.
Oahu has long enjoyed good, clean water and pristine aquifers — and the military needs to be reminded repeatedly of that. The Red Hill situation cannot, must not, be allowed to further contaminate and compromise our invaluable water supply.
