Gov. David Ige joins call to suspend Red Hill fuel storage operation

Gov. David Ige and Hawaii’s congressional delegation on Sunday called for the Navy to suspend its Red Hill fuel storage operation until its drinking water contamination crisis is handled.

The Navy on Thursday said recent testing of its Red Hill well detected the presence of petroleum contaminants. Hundreds of military and nonmilitary users of the Navy’s water system last week complained of a strong fuel odor in the water, including some who reported feeling ill or having pets who became sick after drinking water.

Ige and U.S. Sens. Brian Schatz and Mazie Hirono, and Reps. Ed Case and Kai Kahele, all Democrats, released a joint statement calling for the Secretary of the Navy Carlos Del Toro, who is in Hawaii for the 80th anniversary of the Dec. 7, 1941, attack on Pearl Harbor, to suspend Red Hill operations in the aftermath of the contamination of drinking water at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam and surrounding areas.

“Test results confirming contamination of drinking water … show that the Navy is not effectively operating the World War II-era facility and protecting the health and safety of the people of Hawaii. We are calling for the Navy to immediately suspend operations at Red Hill while they confront and remedy this crisis,” the joint statement said.

Del Toro did not respond to Honolulu Star-Advertiser requests for comment on the joint statement. Also, Rear Adm. Timothy J. Kott, commander of Navy Region Hawaii, was not available for an interview Sunday night, according to a spokeswoman.

During a town hall meeting about the Navy’s response to the crisis, held Sunday at the Hokulani Community Center, Del Toro declined to answer questions from the Star-Advertiser about the future of the Red Hill storage facility. “I’m here to listen,” he told the Star-Advertiser.

Starting in July, water samples taken by the Navy from its Red Hill drinking water well and tested at a commercial facility showed petroleum contamination, the Star-Advertiser reported Sunday. Petroleum also showed up in Red Hill drinking water samples in August and September. The Navy shut down the Red Hill water shaft on Nov. 28 as Department of Defense families began reporting the smell of fuel coming from their tap water, chemical odors, bad tastes, and a strange sheen.

Since suspension of use of the shaft, many residents said they developed skin rashes, nausea, headaches and vomiting. Others reported pets falling sick.

On Sunday, Capt. Erik Spitzer, commander of Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, issued a public apology, acknowledging that the Navy was wrong about the water being safe for drinking or bathing. Spitzer also apologized for a notice issued to military housing residents on Nov. 29 that indicated the water was safe. “My staff and I are drinking the water on base this morning, and many of my team live in housing and drink and use the water as well,” said Spitzer in the notice.

Families are suffering, Spitzer wrote Sunday, and he said he was “beyond grieved” to know that he contributed to their suffering with his words.

“We mistakenly felt the initial tests (that indicated no detection of contamination ppm) meant we may drink the water and I said in my notification that my staff and I were drinking the water. That was not a cover, we were. We truly thought the testing results indicated the water was safe to drink. We were wrong,” said Spitzer, in a statement.

Further, “I apologize with my whole heart that we trusted those initial tests. If there was one day I had a chance to do over, it would be that day. The words used in my notification were not the compassionate and validating words I wish were used, and I regret I did not tell our families not to drink the water. I am deeply remorseful. My apologies to you all.”

Before the town hall started, Del Toro walked the room, introducing himself to families, thanking them for attending and pledging the full support of the Navy and U.S. Department of Defense.

“Thank you for your fortitude and resilience. Moments like these are very challenging, physically, emotionally, spiritually and otherwise. We are doing everything possible. For me this is personal, very personal,” Del Toro said. Del Toro spent 22 years in the Navy “at a time when the DOD didn’t care as much as they do (now) about the conditions in family housing. My own kids … had to experience living in houses with lead paint and other challenges.”

Joining Del Toro at the town hall was Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Michael M. Gilday, who pledged to fix the long-standing issues at Red Hill storage facility and throughout the fuel and water distribution systems.

“The standard for Red Hill needs to be zero leaks … that is the standard we are pursuing,” said Gilday, speaking to the crowd at the community center. “Our goal is to provide you a completely safe environment, not just for our families but for the environment here in Hawaii that we all cherish.”

The meeting lasted more than two hours and Del Toro and Gilday heard tearful pleas for help from military personnel and their families.

Alexandra Kuepper, a nine-year Navy veteran who is pregnant and lives at Catlin Park, told the panel of leadership personnel that the water contamination was not her first experience with poor water quality within DOD. She was at Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune in 2014 when complaints of contamination started to come in. She said she lost some of her hair after drinking water aboard a Navy ship while on deployment.

“So what is the DOD going to do going forward to provide better safer water to the military,” she asked.

Del Toro said he will immediately speak with the U.S. Surgeon General and all other stakeholders to address the contamination, and track short- and long-term effects. All processes, policies and procedures will be evaluated and changed if needed to ensure this type of crisis does not happen again, he said.

“We are going to take every one of these instances seriously, starting with this one right here,” said Del Toro. “(We will) stop the contamination of the fuel in the water and get you the safe water that you need.”

The Navy built the Red Hill Bulk Fuel Storage Facility during the World War II era, situating 20 tanks, which can collectively store up to 250 million gallons of fuel, beneath a mountain ridge to make them harder for opposing military forces to strike.

But the unique architecture also has led to maintenance challenges at the site as the vertically placed tanks, each 250 feet tall, are perched 100 feet above a major drinking water aquifer for Oahu, which serves about 40% of urban Honolulu’s water users. The facility has been under increased scrutiny and regulatory review since 27,000 gallons of fuel spilled from one tank in 2014.