‘The Stakes Are High’: Why The Navy Doesn’t Want To Defuel The Red Hill Tanks … The Red Hill water crisis is stretching the Navy’s overstretched resources, experts say.
Public pressure to remove jet fuel from more than a dozen Navy underground storage tanks on Oahu comes as the U.S. military feels increasing pressure from China to strengthen its presence in the Pacific region.
On Tuesday, the Navy wrapped up its closing argument against a state order to remove about 180 million gallons of jet fuel from the 20-tank facility. The Hawaii Department of Health issued the order after the Navy confirmed petroleum contamination in its drinking water system that serves 93,000 Oahu residents earlier this month.
The health department, Honolulu Board of Water Supply and Sierra Club point to data that shows it’s only a matter of time before there’s another leak, and argue that could threaten more drinking water. The Navy suspended operations of the jet fuel facility but the fuel still sits in 18 of the 20 massive, 78-year-old corroding tanks just 100 feet above a drinking water aquifer.
