Navy Secretary Apologizes For Water Contamination But Will Keep Fuel At Red Hill For Now

Meanwhile, Hawaii’s congressional delegation is turning up the heat, requesting a comprehensive Inspector General investigation into the Navy’s ability to safely operate Red Hill.

ByChristina Jedra / Honolulu Civil Beat

December 6, 2021

Article: https://www.civilbeat.org/2021/12/navy-secretary-apologizes-for-water-contamination-but-will-keep-fuel-at-red-hill-for-now/

Navy Secretary Carlos Del Toro said on Monday that he was sorry that the Navy pumped petroleum-laced water into the homes of hundreds of military families, sickening many, but said there are no immediate plans to permanently shut down the Red Hill fuel facility that is the likely source of the contamination.

Navy officials also revealed on Monday that they temporarily suspended operations at the Red Hill fuel facility on Nov. 27 as residents in military housing began to voice concerns about a fuel smell in their water and various health problems, including rashes, sores and nausea.

But that suspension only means the fuel is not being pumped from the underground tanks at Red Hill to Pearl Harbor. Millions of gallons of fuel are still sitting in massive tanks made of corroding steel and aging concrete that sit 100 feel above a drinking water aquifer.

Navy Secretary Carlos Del Toro apologized to the people affected by the Navy’s water contamination.

Navy officials acknowledged that there was evidence of a problem months ago, but they did not alert the public. Monitoring wells around the facility, which were installed for the purpose of early detection of fuel in the water, flagged possible contamination in June, July and August, Rear Admiral Blake Converse said.

“There were indications that there were total hydrocarbons in the groundwater monitoring wells in the vicinity of the Red Hill shaft,” Converse said, confirming reporting by the Honolulu Star-Advertiser.

Officials said they reported it to the Hawaii Department of Health, but neither the Navy nor DOH put out a public alert. Converse said the hydrocarbon levels ultimately decreased to “non-detectable levels.” He also said just because problems were present in the monitoring wells doesn’t necessarily mean contaminants were present in the drinking water being pumped from the Red Hill shaft.

Chief of Naval Operations Admiral Mike Gilday said it was up to DOH to decide what to do with the information.

“The Department of Health, in an oversight role, they need to take a look at this test results that we share with them as soon as possible, and then they really have the determining role on next steps,” he said.

In the days leading up to the flood of public complaints, though, Converse said the Navy did not know there was something wrong with the water.

Meanwhile, Hawaii’s political leadership is increasing scrutiny of the Navy’s operations.

Hawaii House Speaker Scott K. Saiki and 45 members of the Hawaii House of Representatives are calling on the Navy to decommission the current Red Hill Bulk Fuel Storage Facility and store its fuel in an alternate location.

In a letter to Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin and Del Toro, the legislators also asked for a detailed plan for the development of a water treatment facility to address current and/or future potential contamination mitigation.

On Monday afternoon, Senators Mazie Hirono and Brian Schatz and U.S. Reps. Ed Case and Kai Kahele put out a joint statement calling for a Department of Defense Inspector General evaluation of the Navy’s ability to safely operate Red Hill. That’s in addition to a previous request for a defense department IG investigation into whether the Navy misled regulators earlier this year about a leak into Pearl Harbor.

“We recognize the strategic importance of Red Hill to our national security,” the delegation said. “However, it is imperative that the public has confidence that Red Hill is and will be operated in a manner that safely protects the aquifer that supplies a majority of the potable water to Honolulu and the surrounding areas.”

At Monday’s press conference, Del Toro and other Navy officials answered questions from reporters, who were restricted to two questions each.

He said he hopes to rebuild trust with the community “one day at a time, one individual at a time, one situation at a time, by always doing the right thing.”

No Plans To Shut Down Red Hill For Good

Despite calls from residents and longtime activists that the recent contamination warrants the permanent shutdown of Red Hill, Del Toro divulged no immediate plans to do so.

“All options are on the table, certainly,” he said. “We’re looking at some very serious options here in the very near future before I depart. I still need some more time to meet with additional groups, and different folks, and look at some additional facts.”

Even if Ige demanded the permanent shutdown of the facility, Del Toro said he would take that as a request, not an order.

Ige and Hawaii’s congressional delegation put out a statement on Sunday calling for the immediate suspension of the Navy’s Red Hill fuel facility – apparently unaware that the Navy had already done so a week prior.

Asked on the Honolulu Star-Advertiser’s Spotlight program about permanently shutting down the facility, the governor indicated he doesn’t believe he has the power to do so.

“In terms of the operations of the Red Hill facility itself, it is on federal property for the most part, and certainly, I think that the state is a regulator and we can order certain actions,” he said. “But clearly the Navy and the federal government can decide whether they want to heed those orders or not.”

But David Kimo Frankel, an attorney for the Sierra Club of Hawaii, said Ige does have the power to shut down Red Hill and that he should exercise that authority immediately.

“It is infuriating,” he said. “They’ve got to do something. They should be ordering the Navy to drain the tank and shut down operations.”

Congress gives states the authority to regulate underground storage tanks, and that includes the power to shut tanks down, Kimo Frankel said.

State law also grants the governor emergency powers when “imminent peril to human health and safety or the environment” is caused by a release from an underground storage tank or tank system, Kimo Frankel noted. Another state law states the director of the Hawaii Department of Health can issue orders to protect the environment and human health when hazardous substances have been released.

As of July 15, 2018, DOH required for the first time that the Navy obtain a permit to operate its Red Hill fuel facility. The permit has been held up in a contested case, and ultimately DOH Director Libby Char has the power to approve or reject the Navy’s application.

Kimo Frankel said he sent a memo to the Attorney General’s office on Sunday night outlining the state’s legal power to act.

“I don’t know if they don’t know the law, if they’re scared of the Navy or if the governor is getting bad legal advice,” Kimo Frankel said.

“But we know for the past couple of years the political leadership in this state and in the Department of Health have been overly deferential to the Navy. We see a shifting in attitudes, but not enough.”