The Navy released the 20-page plan June 30, in accordance with a department deadline, but noted in the document that it didn’t expect DOH would accept it and that it planned to submit supplemental information by September to help satisfy regulatory requirements. Read more
Despite all the promises from top brass that the defueling of the Red Hill fuel storage facility would be handled in a transparent fashion, the Navy’s reaction to just-leaked images of last year’s spill indicate it’s learned the wrong lessons from its mistakes. Read more
The state Department of Health says the Navy’s conclusion that just a small amount of fuel likely escaped into the environment following a May 6, 2021, fuel release doesn’t comport with its own analysis showing spikes in petroleum contamination in monitoring wells around the Red Hill fuel storage facility in the months following the spill. Read more
The Navy was swiftly criticized for not publicly disclosing the existence of the footage or releasing it on its own in the months following the fuel spill. Read more
Honolulu Board of Water Supply chief engineer Ernie Lau joined the Honolulu Star-Advertiser’s “Spotlight Hawaii” livestream show today and answered viewer questions. Read more
The Navy is investigating the publication of video and photos this week showing fuel gushing from a Red Hill pipe on Nov. 20, according to a Navy official who said the person who released the footage to the media could face disciplinary action. Read more
The officer who organized the Army’s initial response to contamination of the Navy’s water system from a spill at the Red Hill fuel storage facility is now a general. Col. Phillip “Cain” Baker, the 25th Infantry Division’s deputy commander for support, was promoted to brigadier general Friday in a small ceremony at the Schofield Barracks attended by family and friends. Read more
After all the jarring disclosures that have come to light over the course of the Navy’s water contamination crisis, there was still more startling news for Oahu’s angry and worried public, unveiled right before a long holiday weekend. Read more
The existence of the lava tube has raised alarm that the petroleum that leaked from the Navy’s Red Hill fuel facility in 2021 may have quickly traveled to an unknown area of the aquifer. Read more
Earthjustice senior attorney David Henkin and Sierra Club of Hawaii chapter director Wayne Tanaka joined the Honolulu Star-Advertiser’s “Spotlight Hawaii” livestream show today at 10:30 a.m. to answer viewer questions about the Red Hill water crisis. Read more
Reusing Red Hill water could be difficult; Ending women’s rights dangerous, despicable; Violence is contrary to how we live here. Read more
An alarming list of operational and leadership failures, communication breakdowns and cavalier attitudes toward oversight at the Navy’s Red Hill fuel storage facility contributed to two leaks in 2021 that ultimately contaminated the Navy’s drinking water system with jet fuel, according to a long-awaited investigation released Thursday by the Navy. Read more
The Pentagon expects it will take at least two years to safely defuel the 20 massive tanks at its underground Red Hill fuel storage facility, according to a five-phase plan released Thursday by the state Department of Health. Read more
The investigation concludes about 5,542 gallons of fuel escaped into the environment after a Nov. 20 pipeline rupture, a portion of which made its way to the tap water of residents in and around Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam. Read more
The words “Ka Wai Ola” — water for life — is a slogan the Honolulu Board of Water Supply likes to use in describing its mission. Especially with summertime drought looming, water is precious, and not a resource to be squandered. Read more
The Navy continues to pump about 4.5 million gallons of water daily out of its Red Hill shaft in an effort to remediate the aquifer that was polluted with fuel from its Red Hill tanks in 2021. Read more
Warships from 26 countries are arriving in the Hawaiian Islands for the biennial Rim of the Pacific exercise, the world’s largest recurring naval war game. Read more
Fuel leaks at the Navy’s Red Hill storage facility pose a grave hazard to Oahu’s environment and water supply. And revelations about the dimensions of this disaster keep coming, further complicating an already complex mandate to defuel the massive tanks. Read more
Hotel industry can pay for its own advertising; Questions raised about capabilities of Red Hill; Seagliders could interact with migrating whales. Read more
It could take more than two years and cost upward of $100 million in repairs before the Navy can begin safely draining its Red Hill fuel tanks, according to Hawaii U.S. Rep. Kai Kahele, who held a town hall meeting Monday night with U.S. Rep. Ed Case at Moanalua High School Performing Arts Center. Read more
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