The tab for the Navy’s Red Hill calamity could double to $2.2 billion, which includes estimated costs for repairing the fuel facility so that it can be safely drained, remediating the environment and reimbursing service members and their family members who were displaced last year when jet fuel contaminated their drinking water, among other costs.

Congress already has appropriated $1.1 billion for the 2022 fiscal year, funds that Hawaii’s congressional delegation has taken credit for securing. On Wednesday, Hawaii Congressman Ed Case announced that another $1.1 billion is being sought as part of the 2023 fiscal year budget.

The budget proposal follows a report released by the Navy last month that found that its Red Hill fuel facility needed to undergo major repairs in order for the fuel in the massive, underground tanks to be drained safely and prevent another fuel spill that could further pollute the groundwater or threaten the safety of workers.

The third-party assessment, completed by Simpson Gumpertz &Heger, painted an alarming picture of aging pipelines, corrosion and faulty valves at the World War II-era facility and identified about three dozen repairs that it determined were critical before defueling. Many of the repairs relate to the pipelines and distribution system.

The report included estimates of the costs of the repairs and what portion of the work has been funded, but the Navy redacted that information. Navy officials have not responded to questions from the Honolulu Star-Advertiser asking what their basis is for withholding that information, which involves taxpayer funds.

It was not immediately clear if this new funding request incorporates the contractor’s cost estimates related to needed repairs. Case did not directly respond to a question about whether he had been apprised of the estimates.

He said that his appropriations request was based on President Joe Biden’s own budget request and ongoing consultations with senior military officials, as well as state, county and community leaders, to assess the costs for environmental remediation, defueling, closing Red Hill and redistributing the fuel in the tanks as safely and quickly as possible.

The Navy’s Red Hill defueling plan must still be approved by the Hawaii Department of Health, which could change cost projections. The Navy is expected to provide DOH with a timeline for defueling Red Hill by the end of this month.

The $1.1 billion appropriations request is split between two bills. The Department of Defense appropriations bill includes $1 billion and would allow the military to spend the funds on a wide range of activities to comply with DOH’s emergency order relating to closing Red Hill. Case said that the funds could be used to make repairs to the facility and defuel it, as well as support efforts to protect the local water supply or address health issues resulting from the fuel leaks.

The funding would be available until September 2026, according to the current version of the bill.

“The exact uses of the funds are still being evaluated by the military and Congress, but the total amount is viewed as the best estimate currently available,” said Case in response to emailed questions.

An additional $100 million is being sought in a separate bill for future water treatment projects and costs related to defueling, which the military could use through September 2027.

The $1.1 billion in Red Hill funding already approved for the 2022 fiscal year includes $250 million to address drinking water contamination, $100 million for implementing DOH’s emergency order and $53 million in unrestricted funds. An additional $686 million was budgeted to cover the costs incurred from displaced families impacted by the water contamination, water remediation costs and other related expenses.

The Pentagon announced earlier this year that it would permanently shut down the Navy’s Red Hill fuel facility after fuel from the facility leaked into its drinking water system that serves about 93,000 Oahu residents in neighborhoods surrounding Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam. The water crisis spurred community protests and widespread calls from Hawaii’s political leaders to close the facility.

Case, who is a member of the U.S. House Committee on Appropriations and the Subcommittee on Military Construction and Veterans Affairs, said he was “fully committed to ensuring the funding for our federal government to implement its commitment to fully remediate the consequences of the Red Hill fuel leakage, and defuel and close the facility as safely and quickly as possible.”

“I am also focused on fully funding our continued reserve fuel requirements in the Indo-Pacific through alternatives to Red Hill,” he said.