This week, the military began unpacking fuel from pipelines at the Red Hill Bulk Fuel Storage Facility.

It was a quiet but long-hoped-for beginning to what will be a momentous end: the permanent closure of the massive, 20-tank operation, the gas station for the Pacific Fleet since 1943.

It also was the beginning of what we hope will be a smooth, safe and transparent process marked by mutual cooperation and goodwill — something sorely lacking since at least 2014, when 27,000 gallons of jet fuel spilled at the Navy-run facility, threatening the precious aquifer 100 feet below.

In the hue and cry following that incident, the Navy fought every effort to close the facility, claiming it can be operated safely, that it was essential to national security, that there was no significant threat to the aquifer, that drinking water would not be contaminated.

We now know otherwise.

Thankfully, things look different today. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin in March ordered Red Hill to be shut down. Joint Task Force (JTF) Red Hill, the military group tasked with draining the tanks, appears to be working closely with the state Department of Health (DOH) and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) as it begins its work.

Over the course of about six days, hundreds of thousands of gallons of fuel have been unpacked from three pipelines: one containing commercial jet fuel, one with kerosene-based jet fuel, and a much larger one holding diesel fuel for ships.

There is a long way to go. The tanks themselves hold more than 100 million gallons of fuel. After making necessary repairs and modifications, draining the tanks is scheduled to be completed by July 2024.

It’s hoped that it doesn’t take that long. JTF Red Hill commander Rear Adm. John Wade told Hawaii Public Radio this week that he hopes to work with DOH and the EPA to “move the timeline left” to get the job done sooner.

It also would behoove JTF Red Hill to provide the media and public with regular, thorough updates on the work as it progresses, without any misleading public-relations spin. The local community’s trust in the Navy, severely diminished when Red Hill fuel contaminated the drinking water of as many as 93,000 people, must be restored. But first it must be earned.

Even after Red Hill is drained and shut down, the work will not end. Long-term monitoring of Oahu’s crucial water source will be necessary to determine whether, or to what extent, the aquifer has been contaminated by fuel leaks over the past 80 years.