Our Hawaii State Constitution states in Article XI, Section 7: “The State has an obligation to protect, control and regulate the use of Hawaii’s water resources for the benefit of its people.” At the Board of Water Supply (BWS), we take this stewardship responsibility seriously.
Climate change has the potential to affect our island’s freshwater resources over time, and we need to manage it for our future. Protecting these valuable water resources from contamination is investing in our future.
Currently, we do not detect fuel in the water from our wells closest to the Navy fuel tanks under Red Hill, and we continue to test this water. However, as we have stated, how can anyone guarantee that these 74-year-old underground fuel tanks won’t leak in the future? Treatment would be very expensive, if even possible. If the water has some fuel but not enough to abandon the resource, we would look at installing costly treatment systems at the source to remove the fuel. If too much fuel has leaked, then we may have to abandon the Halawa Shaft and Moanalua Wells facilities and start looking for options to provide 25 percent of the water to metro Honolulu. None of these options are inexpensive.
The Red Hill fuel tanks built in World War II are made of 1/4-inch- and ½-inch-thick steel encased in concrete, and the side facing the concrete is rusting and the concrete has cracks. The tanks have been leaking off and on since 1947 with the most recent spill in January 2014: 27,000 gallons of jet fuel leaked into our ground water. This was from a tank that had just been repaired.
When the Navy states that our wells at Halawa Shaft and Moanalua are not contaminated, it is underplaying the seriousness of the leaks from the fuel tanks at Red Hill and the potential for future leaks. It has been two years since the Administrative Order on Consent (AOC) was signed with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Hawaii Department of Health (DOH). How much longer do we need to wait to resolve a very serious situation?
We do not believe we are being alarmist in our concerns. As the stewards of our water supply, it is our duty to call out concerns where and when we see them; not do so would be abdicating our responsibility. If the water were to become contaminated due to a major fuel leak from the facility, then the public will look to BWS to solve the problem.
On Dec. 9, the Navy released a tank upgrade alternative report that reviews six tank upgrade options, and along with the DOH and EPA, are seeking public input before making a decision on which option for the Navy to implement. The report can be found on the DOH website (health.hawaii.gov/shwb/ust-red-hill-project-main/). Send in your comments to the DOH, EPA and Navy urging a swift resolution to the aging tanks by asking for doubled-lined tanks — via the website above, as well as at epa.gov/red-hill and cnic.navy.mil/regions/cnrh/om/environmental/red-hill-tank.html.
We applaud this step to greater transparency on this serious situation and encourage the community to attend public meetings when they are announced by the Navy and the EPA.
BWS will continue to be vigilant on this situation and actively participant in discussions on long-term solutions to the tanks at Red Hill. Ka Wai Ola – Water is life!
Ernest Lau is manager and chief engineer of the Honolulu Board of Water Supply.
