Sierra Club criticizes state Health Department proposal for Red Hill fuel tanks

The Sierra Club of Hawaii criticized the state Department of Health on Thursday for its proposal to allow the Navy up to 20 years to upgrade underground storage tanks at the Red Hill Bulk Fuel Storage Facility.

“The Health Department is too cozy with the Navy in our opinion,” said Marti Townsend, Sierra Club of Hawaii director, in a release. “These proposed rules are just the latest example of how the health department lets the Navy slide on public health protections, instead of holding the Navy to higher standards.”

Townsend’s comments followed a public hearing during which the DOH heard testimony on its proposed new regulations for underground storage tanks.

In February, Circuit Judge Jeffrey Crabtree ruled that the department had incorrectly exempted the Red Hill facility from regulations requiring the upgrade or replacement of underground storage tanks attached to public services and private businesses. The department was subsequently ordered to draft new regulations by July 15.

The new proposed regulations would give the Navy 20 years to upgrade the tanks, an allowance Townsend argued is dangerously long given the facility’s history of oil leaks and the threat such leaks pose to public health.

“Because of the risk to our children’s water supply, the Red Hill facility should be strictly regulated to never leak into the environment,” Townsend said.