Board of Water Supply lauds ruling to drain Red Hill fuel tanks

The Honolulu Board of Water Supply on Tuesday welcomed the recommendation of a state Department of Health hearings officer that the Navy must comply with an emergency order to empty its fuel tanks at the underground Red Hill Bulk Fuel Storage Facility, which is being blamed for a fuel leak that contaminated the Navy’s drinking water system that serves 93,000 people.

Hearings officer David Day, who also serves as a state deputy attorney general, issued his proposed order Monday after a hearing last week in which the Navy contested the Dec. 6 emergency order by DOH. Day dismissed the Navy’s arguments that its all-hands-on-deck response proves it can safely manage the Red Hill facility.

“The draft decision provides a clear and well-reasoned assessment of the damage that has occurred and that will occur if the Navy is allowed to continue to operate that facility as it currently exists and concludes that it cannot be safely operated as currently configured,” said Ernie Lau, BWS chief engineer and manager. “The Navy should immediately comply with the Department of Health’s emergency order for the sake of our aquifer if they have any hope of rebuilding the trust with our community that they have lost.”

When asked about Day’s recommendation Tuesday, U.S. Navy Chief of Information Rear Adm. Charlie Brown said, “We are aware of the proposed decision and have no further statement at this time.”

David Henkin, the Earthjustice attorney who represented the Sierra Club of Hawaii during last week’s proceedings, said the hearings officer “came to the only rational, logical conclusion that can possibly be made in this case.”

“The evidence is overwhelming that our residents and our way of life are and will remain in imminent, existential peril as long as the Red Hill Facility continues to store more than 100 million gallons of fuel right over O‘ahu’s primary source of drinking water,” Henkin said Tuesday in a joint news release from the organizations.

The order as written would require the Navy to drain its tanks and store the fuel elsewhere, but leaves open the possibility that it could return to the facility if it can prove that any upgrades would adequately prevent future spills and leaks.

Lau said he thinks the Navy should plan on permanently leaving the facility but respects the order. Ultimately, he said, the Navy should move its fuel storage elsewhere, given the facility’s location above a critical aquifer.

Lau said that in previous years the BWS was open to the prospect that upgrades like “double walling” the tanks could make the facility safe, but added “I think at this point, given the latest developments, our position is the fuel should be relocated to locations that do not put our aquifer at risk. Now there are other locations out on this island that they can safely do that.”

Lau also vowed that BWS would fight any efforts by the Navy to contest the decision.

“If the Navy does contest the proposed decision in the order of the hearings officer, we are going to be there to just stay with this fight, this fight for the protection of our water resources and for our community,” Lau said. “I’m not trying to threaten the Navy but understand that you are going to need to deal with us whether you like it or not.”

State officials are currently in talks with Par Hawaii on the possibility the energy firm could store some of the fuel in its facilities in Kapolei. Representatives of Par said they can store some of the fuel but need more information about just how much they would need to take and that the company would need to sign a formal agreement with the Navy.

The latest iteration of the National Defense Appropriations Act signed into law Monday by President Joe Biden also requires the Navy to propose alternative locations, including those outside Hawaii. Lau said the BWS has not gotten any response from the White House after sending a letter requesting that Biden intervene.

The Navy has been flushing water systems in its residential areas after ordering several large filtering devices to safely extract the water, and Navy salvage divers have been working below ground in the Red Hill well in grueling conditions. BWS indefinitely shut down several of its wells that are in close proximity to the Red Hill well out of what officials call an abundance of caution and is conducting continued testing.

Lau said that at least for now, BWS is still meeting Honolulu’s water demands.

“It’s been raining so water demand is lower. And it’s also been cool, but the test will be … when we get into the hot, dry summer months when we don’t anticipate being able to turn on those wells even by then, so that’ll be the test,” Lau said.

“I think the bottom line here was I think our community should not expect us to turn those wells on in the near future. They could be off for quite a while.”