The state is fining the U.S. Navy more than $325,000 for operations and maintenance violations at a massive underground fuel storage facility on Oʻahu. The state Department of Health says the fines resulted from inspections it undertook of the Red Hill Bulk Fuel Storage Facility in September and October last year.
The Sierra Club of Hawaiʻi has filed a public records complaint with the state Department of Health after learning of an email trail it believes could change the outcome of a contested case hearing for the U.S. Navy’s permit to operate the Red Hill Underground Fuel Storage Facility. The Sierra Club’s executive director Wayne Tanaka shared how he hopes the contested hearing will end.
The U.S. Navy says operator error was the main cause of a fuel leak from the Red Hill storage facility on Oʻahu in May. As HPR’s Scott Kim reports, the Navy maintains the leak did not contaminate the island’s drinking water.