Some 104,642,160 gallons of fuel down — just 60,000 gallons to go, plus 28,000 gallons of sludge sediment. That’s what remains in the massive tanks at the Navy’s Red Hill fuel storage facility, after a defueling operation that began Oct. 16, is six months ahead of schedule and has laudably been done with minimal mishap.

Starting mid-January, pending regulatory approval, the sludge and remainder of fuel that couldn’t be gravity-drained will be removed. Also underway: the military’s transition from a defueling mission, to permanent closure of the facility and environmental remediation.