More than 89 million gallons of fuel have been removed from the Red Hill fuel storage facility on Oʻahu so far.
The military started draining 104 million gallons from the World War II-era underground fuel tanks on Oct. 16, nearly two years after the massive facility sickened 6,000 people when it leaked jet fuel into a Pearl Harbor drinking water well.
Joint Task Force-Red Hill, the entity responsible for defueling, said Friday it had transferred 24 million gallons of jet fuel to two tankers last week.
This week, more fuel will be transferred to two merchant tanker ships: Stena Imperative and Yosemite Trader.
When Gov. Josh Green spoke recently on the three-month anniversary of the West Maui fires, he said the Red Hill drainage operations are on schedule.
“We're currently on track to drain 98% of the fuel at Red Hill by Nov. 18," Green said.
"The goal of the Red Hill Joint Task Force is to remove over 99% of the fuel by the end of January, so we can continue with the plan to close that facility permanently so that it's never again going to pose a threat to our health or the safety of our water."
Once the gravity drainage phase ends in January, work will begin to remove a residual amount of an estimated 60,000 to 70,000 gallons that will have accumulated in low-point drains and bends. That work is expected to be finished in the spring.
Removing the fuel is a key step toward shutting down the Red Hill facility as demanded by the state of Hawaiʻi. The November 2021 spill poisoned the Navy's water system serving 93,000 people in and around Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam.
The Navy reprimanded three now-retired military officers for their roles in the spill but didn't fire nor suspend anybody.
