The Defense Department will permanently shut down the Navy's massive Red Hill fuel tank facility that leaked petroleum into Pearl Harbor's tap water, and will remove all the fuel. Hawaiʻi's congressional delegation and local leaders praised the announcement but warned there is a lot of work ahead.
Attorneys for the U.S. Navy on Wednesday appealed Hawaiʻi's order to drain the Red Hill fuel tanks above Pearl Harbor, saying the state wrongly concluded the tanks posed an imminent threat that requires immediate action. The state Department of Health said it looked forward to taking its “fight to court.”
The state Senate is considering a bill that would prohibit permits for fuel tanks near the aquifer, and would effectively make it illegal under state law to operate the Red Hill fuel tank facility by 2023.
A new citizens’ group is preparing a lawsuit against the Navy over its Red Hill fuel storage facility. HPR's Noe Tanigawa reports the Wai Ola Alliance wants to ensure the fuel tanks are emptied safely and never used again.