The state Department of Health on Friday conditionally approved the Joint Task Force-Red Hill defueling plan in a move that sets the framework for draining 104 million gallons of fuel from the Red Hill Bulk Fuel Storage Facility.

Conditional approval, according to the department, means the plan is contingent on the Joint Task Force’s ability to address DOH’s comments and questions on the defueling plan, successfully complete repairs and other tasks, and submit additional plans describing operations to remove fuel from the Red Hill underground storage tanks, surge tanks and related pipelines.

Deputy Director of Environmental Health Kathleen Ho called the conditional approval an important step toward the defueling process.

“The Joint Task Force must still complete several important steps before DOH will allow defueling to begin, and we will continue to oversee all work with safety as our top priority,” Ho said in a news release.

DOH officials said they continue to review items in phases in order to expedite the process safely and to hold the Navy accountable for the start date for draining the main tanks, which is now October.

Before allowing defueling to begin, officials said, DOH will need to approve the following Joint Task Force deliverables:

>> Repairs to the Red Hill facility and pipelines

>> The operational plan to drain surge tanks at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, which are separate from the main Red Hill tanks

>> The operational plan for pipeline repacking, which is filling fuel back into the repaired lines as a precursor to defueling

>> The operational plan for draining the main Red Hill tanks and the tank bottoms

>> The operational plan for pipeline unpacking, which is the safe removal of fuel from the pipelines by gravity following defueling

>> The operational plan for removing the estimated 100,000 to 400,000 gallons of fuel that the Joint Task Force anticipates will be left in the pipelines and surge tanks following the completion of defueling by gravity

In October, DOH conditionally approved the unpacking of the Red Hill pipelines, which allowed fuel to be removed so repairs could be conducted. The repairs will be completed by U.S. Department of Defense contractors.