The U.S. Navy’s Red Hill Bulk Fuel Storage Facility sits just 100 feet above Oahu’s primary drinking water supply.
By Kathleen Wong, Prism
Last week, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Michael S. Regan conducted an inspection of the U.S. military’s World War II-era Red Hill Bulk Fuel Storage Facility in Honolulu to determine if it was operating in accordance with the Clean Water Act and the Safe Drinking Water Act. On Monday, March 7, the Department of Defense announced plans to close the facility.
The announcement follows a months-long water contamination crisis caused by leaking military underground fuel tanks that have displaced around thousands of households in Honolulu’s Red Hill neighborhood and poisoned many. Meanwhile, the Navy has tried multiple attempts to keep the tanks running.
According to an EPA spokesperson, the Navy is currently pumping and treating impacted groundwater with granular activated carbon filters and conducting product skimming from the Navy’s Red Hill Shaft.
In November 2021, about 14,000 gallons of fuel and water were released from the U.S. Navy’s Red Hill Bulk Fuel Storage Facility, which sits just 100 feet above Oahu’s primary drinking water supply, the Southern Oahu Basal Aquifer.
Recent Posts
ICE Sued Over ‘Civil Rights Catastrophe’ at West Texas Concentration Camp
Take Action Now “The conditions here in this ICE tent camp in a desert are inhumane and cruel,” said one Cameroonian plaintiff in the suit. “No human…
Tragedy and Potential: The Non-Proliferation Treaty Review Conference
Take Action Now The U.S.’s short, very general, poorly proofread statement on the conference outcome reflected a lack of interest in or familiarity…
California Democrats Keep Selling “Medicare for All” — While Protecting the System That Profits From Sickness
Take Action Now Gov. Gavin Newsom embodies that contradiction more than anyone.By Joshua Scheer, ScheerPost For nearly a decade, California…
Congress Quietly Moves to Integrate U.S. and Israeli Militaries
Take Action Now In the first step towards shifting aid further into the shadows, the House’s 2027 NDAA would all but fuse the two…