Hawaii’s Congressional delegation demands investigation of Navy’s actions at Red Hill

Hawaii’s four-member congressional delegation asked the Department of Defense on Wednesday to examine the Navy’s handling of fuel leaks at its Red Hill Bulk Fuel Storage Facility, a World War II-era tank farm situated 100 feet above Oahu’s primary drinking water aquifer.

In a letter to Acting Inspector General Sean O’Donnell, U.S. Sens. Mazie Hirono and Brian Schatz and U.S. Reps. Ed Case and Kai Kahele asked him to determine whether Navy officials properly addressed recent fuel releases in a timely manner, or rather delayed investigation or notification of state health officials while seeking an extension of their state operating permit for Red Hill.

Referencing recent news reports in the Honolulu Star- Advertiser and Honolulu Civil Beat, the letter sought an independent investigation of the Navy’s actions following a fuel leak into Pearl Harbor in March 2020.

It asked the department to examine whether, in anticipation of a permit hearing in February before the state Department of Health, Navy officials “covered up evidence or intentionally delayed concluding the leak.”

Also, it sought to learn whether, “in order to avoid jeopardizing the approval of Red Hill’s operating permit,” Navy officials were deficient or negligent in failing to conclude the leak was coming from an active pipeline and not a historical plume, and whether they “intentionally misled the Department of Health and/or the Red Hill operating permit hearing officer” by not disclosing the leak during the February permit hearing.

In May, approximately 7,100 gallons of fuel were recovered from the site.

On Monday, the Hawaii delegation wrote the secretary of the Navy expressing concerns about the March leak and a May 6 release of 1,618 gallons of fuel from a Red Hill pipeline.

The Red Hill facility has been under heightened public scrutiny since a spill of 27,000 gallons of fuel in 2014.

A community group, the Wai Ola Alliance, announced Monday its intent to bring a “citizen suit” against the Navy in federal court for allegedly violating the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act in its management of Red Hill.