Officials to give updates on aging Red Hill tanks

An advisory committee formed to monitor progress on safety improvements at the Red Hill Underground Fuel Storage Facility near Pearl Harbor will hold its annual public meeting on Wednesday at 9 a.m. at the state Capitol. Military officials are expected to brief the committee on ongoing studies and efforts to improve the safety of its 18 active tanks that provide fuel for military operations in the Pacific.

The aging tanks have a history of leaks since they were first built in the 1940s and are suffering from corrosion, increasing the risk of a significant release that could contaminate drinking water supplies.

After 27,000 gallons of fuel leaked from one of the tanks in January 2014, the Hawaii Department of Health and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency brought an enforcement action against the Navy and Defense Logistics Agency to address past fuel releases and minimize the possibility of future ones.