Red Hill task force to conduct assessment on fuel removal

Joint Task Force Red Hill announced Tuesday that it will develop an environmental assessment, or EA, on plans to redistribute the 104 million gallons of fuel at its World War II-era Red Hill fuel storage facility.

The storage tanks sit just 100 feet above a critical aquifer that most of Honolulu depends on for clean drinking water. In November 2021, fuel from the facility tainted the Navy’s Oahu water system, which serves over 93,000 island residents, prompting widespread calls to close Red Hill.

In 2022 the Pentagon set up Joint Task Force Red Hill to oversee the defueling of the facility, which is set to conclude by summer 2024. The timeline for the EA calls for a final report by Aug. 31 after a public comment period and meeting.

“We respect the land and people of Hawaii and will thoroughly consider all potential environmental impacts prior to deciding the pace of de-fueling and the relocation of the Red Hill fuel,” JTF Red Hill commander Vice Adm. John Wade said in a news release. “By understanding the possible environmental effects of our proposed actions, we will be able to use best practices and minimize impacts, ensuring we are good stewards of the environment. We will also ensure that the public is informed about any environmental effects considered in the decision- making process. This is the right thing to do.”

The National Environmental Policy Act requires federal agencies to assess the potential environmental effects of proposed major federal actions and include community input in the decision-making process. In its news release, JTF Red Hill said the NEPA process is not expected to affect the de­fueling timeline.

The EA will “analyze the potential environmental impacts of various options for relocation of Red Hill fuel by tanker ship,” the release said. The Defense Logistics Agency, which owns the fuel in the Red Hill tanks and is responsible for keeping U.S. military forces fueled and supplied, will work with JTF Red Hill on the proposed action.

The Pentagon plans in the short term to move fuel to the mainland and another fuel storage facility in West Oahu. While military documents have yet to officially name the Oahu facility, state officials have discussed using facilities maintained by fuel refinery and distribution company Par Hawaii.

The military plans to transport some of the jet fuel to the mainland in three round trips using a tanker with a 10.5 million-gallon capacity, according the report. Each round trip is expected to take about 45 days. The Department of Defense plans to contract with a second tanker with the same capacity to move the rest of the fuel to the West Oahu facility.

In the long term the Pentagon has said it hopes to have a more “resilient” fuel posture, redistributing fuel to facilities around the Pacific and “afloat locations” aboard fuel tankers.

Some analysts and policymakers had long pushed for this shift, arguing it would put fuel closer to U.S. troops and allies in the event of a conflict breaking out in the Western Pacific. Such proposals conflicted with the efforts of military planners who worried that keeping fuel in the Western Pacific would make it vulnerable to enemy attacks and blockades cutting off supply lines, putting the fuel in a “contested” environment during a conflict.

But the Pentagon has a long road to that point. The facility and the pipelines connecting it to Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam that will ultimately bring the fuel to the tankers have fallen into serious disrepair and require extensive repairs, upgrades and maintenance to safely remove the fuel without further spills. The Honolulu Board of Water Supply has called the tanks a “ticking time bomb” and urged the military to speed up efforts to remove the fuel from above the island aquifer.

JTF Red Hill said that once the draft EA is completed, it will be posted online for a public comment period to begin June 9, with a public meeting June 15.