Shut Down Red Hill

Thousands of people were poisoned by the US Navy’s Red Hill Bulk Fuel Storage Facility, yet over 100 million of gallons of fuel remain in the tanks— every day threatening the safety of Oʻahu’s drinking water supply and life as we know it.

Photo: Jason Lees

In November 2021, a fuel leak from the US Navy’s Red Hill Bulk Fuel Storage Facility poisoned the water system for nearly 100,000 residents, sending thousands to seek medical support as they suffered from acute petroleum exposure. Thousands, including children, pregnant women, service members, and pets experienced headaches, rashes, vomiting, dizziness, and breathing difficulties for weeks and months on end. Some continue to suffer from complications over a year later, while others are still experiencing symptoms of petroleum exposure despite Navy claims that the water is safe to consume.

The contamination forced the Board of Water Supply to indefinitely shut down adjacent municipal wells, including its major Hālawa shaft, plunging Oʻahu into a water crisis that threatens water conservation mandates and shutdowns for many years to come.

People power prevails, but Red Hill isn’t pau yet

In the weeks following the leak, the people of Oʻahu came together demanding justice and seeking answers as their anger and fear grew. Calls to shut down the Red Hill facility were echoing from almost every level of decision maker, culminating in an emergency order from the Governor, directing the Navy to defuel the tanks.

Still yet, the Navy denied and resisted; the same Navy officials that refuted that Red Hill was dangerous for years, continued to fight to keep the tanks in operation, despite sickening thousands, including many of their own friends and families.

Pressure mounted as the people’s demands reached President Biden, the Secretary of Defense, and the Secretary of the Navy, while the Sierra Club of Hawaiʻi took to the courts to ensure the emergency order was upheld. Finally, over a month after fuel contaminated the drinking water, the Navy agreed to follow the emergency order and defuel the tanks. But it isn’t over yet.

Video: Oʻahu Water Protectors

Two years too long, our water can’t wait

The Navy has committed to defueling the Red Hill tanks by July 2024. Every day that the fuel remains in the Red Hill tanks is another day that Oʻahu’s drinking water future remains in danger. Once fuel has reached the water supply, it cannot be removed and it is still unclear how fuel moves through the underground aquifers. Meaning that the potential for widespread fuel contamination is great.

Together, we must see to it that the Navy acts with the urgency and meticulousness that this issue deserves—that they treat it like our lives depend on it—because they do. Holding the Navy accountable takes everyone. Please, for the love of water and the future generations, sign up to stay in the know on the latest actions and updates and tell everyone who will listen that it isn’t over yet and you need their help.

US Navy’s Red Hill Bulk Fuel Storage Facility

stores well over 100 million gallons of fuel just 100 feet above Oʻahu’s primary drinking water supply for over 400,000 people. Constructed specifically for World War II, the facility is completely underground and holds 20 tanks, each tank standing 250 feet tall and 100 feet wide—large enough for Aloha Tower to sit inside each tank.

The facility is located in Kapūkaki, known today as Red Hill, which is a mountain ridge located between Hālawa and Moanalua in the ʻewa district of Oʻahu.

Leaky past, risky future

Since 1943, a conservative estimate of 200,000 gallons of fuel have leaked from the Red Hill facility into the surrounding environment. This includes the 14,000 gallons of fuel-water mixture in November 2021, 1,600 gallons of fuel in May 2021, 27,000 gallons of fuel in January 2014—all from the Red Hill facility and unknown amount of fuel starting in early 2020 at Puʻuloa Hotel and Kilo piers.

Following the most recent 2021 leak, operations at Red Hill were ceased but fuel remains in the tanks and the hundreds of miles of pipelines leading to Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam.

Warnings go unheeded

A 2019 study, by the Navy themselves, cites a 27.6% chance that the facility could leak up to 30,000 gallons of fuel every year. The study also reveals that the tanks could have chronic leaks, releasing upwards of 5,800 gallons of fuel annually. The Navy also assumed that a sudden release of 120,000 gallons of fuel or a slow release of 2,300 gallons of fuel per year per tank “would have, at most, a minimal impact to groundwater.”

In 2018, the Navy tested the corrosion of the steel tank liners and the results were much worse than anticipated. While their testing protocol was later found to be inaccurate, the condition of the samples were shocking regardless. The Navy predicted that there would be minimal corrosion. However, half of the ten samples taken revealed extensive corrosion, one sample being only 0.079-of-an-inch thick—less than a third of the width of the original 0.25 inch steel lining.

Despite these warning signs that the facility is dangerously antiquated and the long history of leaks, the Navy chose to continue operating the facility while making minimal improvements, putting everyone in danger of a catastrophic leak like the one in 2021.

Sierra Club litigation on Red Hill

2021: The Sierra Club intervenes in the state’s emergency order forcing the Navy to suspend operations and defuel the Red Hill tanks following the November leak that poisoned thousands. The Sierra Club, represented by Earthjustice, intervened to ensure that the Department of Health held the Navy accountable and followed through with the process to shut down the facility.

2021: The Sierra Club and the Honolulu Board of Water Supply challenged the Navy’s permit application to operate the Red Hill tanks because it failed to prove the tanks will not leak, will not affect Oʻahu’s groundwater, or demonstrate a practicable tank upgrade alternative. The hearings officer issues a recommended decision and order finding that the Red Hill facility is inherently dangerous, but that operations should be allowed to continue with certain inspection and repair requirements that would effectively shut down 8 of the tanks. The contested case goes on to be reopened several times—first when 1,000 gallons leak in May and again in October when a whistleblower confirms the Navy withheld information during the hearing.

2019: The Sierra Club sued the Department of Health to prevent the automatic permit approval of underground storage tanks. The department’s proposed rule amendments allowed underground storage tanks permit applications—including Red Hill—to be automatically approved after 180 days. The department went on to amend the rules to remove the problematic language and in 2020 the Environmental Court ruled this change was sufficient to address the lawsuit.

2017: The Sierra Club successfully sued the Hawaiʻi Department of Health over the department’s exemption of the Red Hill tanks from underground storage tank regulations. The Environmental Court ultimately ruled that the exemption of the tanks was illegal and ordered the Health Department to update their regulations to remove the exemption.