State and federal officials said Thursday that “immediate and long-term” actions being required of the Navy will help reduce the threat of future leaks at the Red Hill Bulk Fuel Storage Facility.
But the head of the Honolulu Board of Water Supply, the Sierra Club of Hawai‘i and at least one state senator say they continue to question whether enough is being done to ensure the safety of Oahu’s water aquifer in a prompt fashion.
“The tanks have already leaked, future leaks are foreseeable and there is no way to treat leaks before contamination reaches our water, so the only reasonable course of action is to retired the storage tanks.”
Marti Townsend
Director, Sierra Club of Hawai’i
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Details of the final Administrative Order on Consent, reached by the Navy, the Environmental Protection Agency, the Defense Logistics Agency and the state Department of Health, were made public by the agencies Thursday.
The settlement is in response to a January 2014 incident in which one of 20 Red Hill tanks leaked about 27,000 gallons of jet fuel oil, raising concerns that groundwater just below it may have been contaminated. Tests on drinking water samples taken since the incident have been largely within acceptable federal and state levels, but officials have voiced concerns about the use of the tanks.
At a joint news conference Thursday, federal and state officials emphasized that the agreement would keep Oahu’s water resources safe.
“Our top priority is protecting the public health and the environment in and around the Red Hill facility,” said EPA Region IX public information officer Dean Higuchi. “Under the agreement, EPA and DOH will take the steps to ensure the Navy does the job right for the long-term protection of underground drinking sources once it has been determined what the right upgrades and technology are for the facility.”
Among the stipulations agreed to, the Navy and Defense Logistics Agency must:
» Install additional monitoring wells in the area as soon as possible “to address data gaps.”
» Comply with new federal underground storage tank regulations in an expedited manner.
» Commit to installing the best available technology in the tanks as soon as “reasonably possible.”
» Consider alternative fuel storage options or locations.
» Provide more details regarding the scope of its tank inspection, repair and maintenance procedures.
» Consult with experts from the Honolulu Board of Water Supply and the state Department of Land and Natural Resources.
» Hold annual public update meetings.
‘Long timelines’
The Navy has received criticism from state and city officials, as well as the public, for foot-dragging in its response to the leak.
A draft administrative order released by the EPA and Health Department in June also was criticized for doing too little over too long a period of time. Specifically, it gave the Navy two years to evaluate the best options for upgrading the Red Hill tanks, and then 20 years to put the improvements in place.
Those timelines have not changed in the final agreement, Board of Water Supply Manager Ernest Lau told reporters Thursday.
“We are still concerned by the long timelines that are allowed,” Lau said. “The corrections to the tanks can take up to 22 years (under the agreement), and we hope they will take action much sooner than that.”
Lau said his agency continues to believe that creating a second lining around each of the tanks would be the best security measure. Studies done by the Navy in 2008 and 1998 concluded that either double-walling or development of a composite wall over the existing steel liner “seem to be the best solutions to reliably extend the life of this facility and to protect the environment.”
The Water Board has been trying to obtain records from the Navy, going so far as to submit a formal Freedom of Information Act request for documents that can better explain the nature of the leaks and the groundwater supply, Lau said. He said he is hoping the Navy turns over the documents soon for transparency reasons.
There is an urgency to make the improvements as soon as possible, he said. “Our concern is that because corrosion continues to occur on these tanks. … Based on the Navy’s reports, they need to take actions in a much faster time frame.”
‘Double-lining’ urged
State Sen. Laura Thielen (D, Hawaii Kai-Waimanalo-Kailua), former director of the state Department of Land and Natural Resources, also voiced dissatisfaction with the final agreement.
“It appears the state did not substantially alter the agreement with the Navy, which is extremely disappointing,” Thielen said in a release.
“The Navy is not being held to upgrading the tanks to the best available technology, which is double-lining,” she said. “Moreover, the Navy is still being allowed more than 20 years to upgrade the 70-plus-year-old tanks, which means we continue to place one of our largest drinking water sources for Honolulu at risk for contamination with deadly chemicals for the next two decades. “
Thielen criticized the administration of Gov. David Ige for ignoring public comments that expressed a need for more stringent remedies.
Marti Townsend, Sierra Club of Hawai‘i director, also chastised the Ige administration for signing off on the agreement because it allows the Navy to “take unacceptable risks” with the island’s water.
“The tanks have already leaked, future leaks are foreseeable and there is no way to treat leaks before contamination reaches our water, so the only reasonable course of action is to retire the storage tanks,” Townsend said. The Navy and the industries that rely on the jet fuel oil reserves should find new locations for the tanks that meet today’s environmental standards, she said.
She noted that the recently adopted rules for underground storage tanks require newly constructed ones to be double-lined.
Capt. Kenneth Epps, commanding officer of the Fleet Logistics Center at Pearl Harbor, said at the press conference that the agreement both protects Hawaii’s drinking water and allows the Navy to plan for the future of the Red Hill storage facility.
He called Hawaii and the Red Hill storage facility both uniquely situated from a strategic standpoint, saying operations could continue even if electricity were cut off.
“It would be very tough to replicate that somewhere else, either at a different location or to rebuild it above ground,” Epps said. “There are a number of advantages to being underground that we have now.”
Costly upgrades
Calling the facility a unique and strategic resource, Epps said the government has spent $145 million in upgrades since 2006 and estimated an additional $70 million will be spent in the next five years “to further enhance the integrity of the tanks and the overall operational effectiveness of the facility.”
Those dollar figures do not include what is being required in the agreement, he said.
Cmdr. Burr Vogel, operations officer for the Naval Facilities Engineering Command Hawaii, said the cost of the additional upgrades could range from “hundreds of millions up to a billion.”
A two-year study due in February will determine what best available practicable technology will be used for tank upgrades, Epps said.
Asked specifically about building second walls around the tanks, Epps said it is one option.
“We are looking at all options. … There are some particular dynamics of a second wall which we need to further investigate to make sure that is the most feasible approach,” he said.
Regarding the timeline for fixes, Epps said with the size of the tanks, as well as where they’re located, “it’s just going to be very, very difficult to do that in a quick fashion.” Even a routine tank cleaning, inspection and repair of one of the tanks takes three years, he said.
“It is unlike any other fuel facility in the world,” he said. “You have 20 tanks in the mountain. It’s just going to take some time.”
Ige, in a statement, said the agreement will kick-start “long-overdue” action. “The state will be safer and better off with this agreement than it would be without it,” he said.
U.S. Sens. Brian Schatz and Mazie Hirono, in separate statements, applauded the agreement and said they would be vigilant in ensuring it is followed.
