The Honolulu City Council approved Wednesday the first reading of a bill that would give the city oversight of large underground storage tanks such as those at the Navy Red Hill facility. The action comes as residents of military housing and elsewhere continue to struggle with contamination of their drinking water.
The council passed Bill 48 on first reading, sending it to the Transportation, Sustainability and Health Committee for public hearings.
If approved at a third reading, the measure would require a city permit for any entity seeking to operate storage tanks holding more than 100,000 gallons. The bill also requires the applicant to demonstrate that the tanks will not leak.
Councilmember Radiant Cordero co-authored the bill with Council Chair Tommy Waters.
"Great power lies within that valley, but a lot of it has been desecrated because of what has happened to the water in Puʻuloa. And that’s only an example of what continues to happen to our water, to our island, to our people, and the neighbors that we have here," Cordero said.
"This issue – it is emotional. You don’t have water, we cannot live. And that’s what I feel from what you’re saying here. It’s that important," Waters said.
The Navy is already required to have a permit from the state Department of Health to operate the Red Hill Bulk facility. Its application for a new five-year permit is pending.
In other action, the council unanimously passed a resolution calling for the permanent closure, defueling, and removal of the Red Hill storage tanks. The resolution will be sent directly to President Joe Biden, the Navy secretary, the head of the Environmental Protection Agency and other officials.
Councilmember Esther Kia’āina, who wrote the resolution, says after years of promises from the Navy that the fuel facility was not a threat to the island’s aquifer, she can no longer trust it.
"It’s time for the Navy and the U.S. Department of Defense to wake up. This is beyond just Red Hill. If you fail to listen to us you will see an overall deterioration of your relationship with the people of Hawaiʻi," Kiaʻāina said.
Nearly three dozen individuals gave oral testimony at a special council meeting to consider the measures. All spoke in favor of the bills, saying the situation has become an existential crisis.
The council also received more than 1,000 written testimonials.
Sandy Ward is a resident of Iroquois Point, which is on the Navy water system. She is executive director of the nonprofit group Hui O Ho’ohonua, dedicated to the restoration of the wetlands surrounding Puʻuloa, better known as Pearl Harbor.
"A majority of our volunteers are students from local schools throughout the ʻEwa Moku. I want to be able to look into the eyes of the young people with whom I work — students who have worked so hard to restore the shoreline of Puʻuloa — and I want each one of you to be able to look them in the eye and tell them we did all that we could to ensure that we have protected their water and food resources for their children and their children’s children," Ward said.
Honolulu Board of Water Supply officials told councilmembers that if fuel were to pollute the aquifer and get into its distribution lines, it would be catastrophic.
Erwin Kawata, head of the Board’s Water Quality Division, says they would have to replace the transmission lines for the entire island because there’s no way to remove petroleum from pipes.
"Imagine you make salad dressing in a bowl, and you go oil and vinegar. After you’re done, and you take out all that’s remaining, you have this residue there. Take a paper towel and try to wipe that clean. It doesn’t come clean. You have to use some kind of detergent along with water to remove that salad dressing and the oil. I can’t imagine a detergent that we can put into our water system our pipelines that would be safe to consume," Kawata said.
Board of Water Supply Manager and Chief Engineer Ernest "Ernie" Lau told councilmembers if the island's water supply is contaminated, they may need measures such as rationing — and might find it difficult to provide water meters for proposed new development.
The city council action comes after the Navy said last week it had detected petroleum in its Red Hill well that draws on this aquifer and supplies water to military housing, offices and elementary schools. On Friday, the Navy said officials believed a one-time spill of jet fuel on Nov. 20 contaminated the well and tap water. The spill occurred inside an access tunnel containing fire suppression and service lines at the fuel storage facility. Officials said they don’t believe a leak from the World War II-era fuel tanks themselves tainted the water.
Gov. David Ige earlier this month ordered the Navy to empty the tanks but the Navy said it would challenge the order.
The Red Hill storage facility houses 20 giant fuel tanks that were built near Pearl Harbor in the early 1940s. It supplies fuel to all branches of the military in Hawaiʻi and has been the site of a series of leaks in recent years. The tanks sit 100 feet (30 meters) above an aquifer that normally supplies about one-quarter of urban Honolulu's water.
HPR's Scott Kim also recapped the latest Red Hill news with The Conversation on Thursday, Dec. 16, 2021. Listen below.
