On the two-year anniversary of the fuel leak at the Navy Red Hill fuel storage facility, the Honolulu Board of Water Supply announced it has filed a $1.2 billion claim with the Navy to recover costs associated with the leak.
The November 2021 spill poisoned the Navy's water system serving 93,000 people in and around Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam. The leak continues to threaten the shared aquifer, which is used by the BWS to serve 400,000 people on Oʻahu.
When the Navy stopped pumping from some of its water sources, the BWS also stopped pumping from its main Halawa Shaft because contaminated water could be drawn toward the BWS system.
The BWS said it had to draw water from other sources and increase tests for contamination due to the "massive environmental and human health crisis."
"This emergency is ongoing and unresolved. The Navy's failure to prevent or timely and appropriately respond to these releases at Red Hill has inflicted devastating injuries upon the people of Hawaiʻi, including the Board of Water Supply, which are compensable under the Federal Tort Claims Act,” BWS Chief Engineer Ernie Lau said at a press conference Tuesday.
Lau said most of the recovered costs would go toward replacing the shutdown Halawa shaft at another location and developing two new production wells.
BWS Board Chair Nāʻālehu Anthony noted the importance of the action and of properly supplying drinking water in Hawaiʻi going forward.
“This isn't just about this time in 2023 and what decisions are being made right now, but this is about how it is that we make sure that we have the resources available for all of our customers as we move forward,” Anthony said.
The BWS has already proposed a 55% percent increase in water rates by July 2028, both to keep up with increasing costs of operations and to improve its infrastructure.
“That's a priority that has been strengthened. Red Hill's kind of triggered the need to go and find new locations for wells and to develop other water sources," Lau said, adding that the BWS also wants to "continue the pipeline replacement efforts, including some of our larger pipelines."
The water utility filed the claim in late October. The Navy has six months from then to respond.
Lau is hopeful that the Navy will cooperate.
Meanwhile, the military is in the process of draining fuel from the World War II-era underground fuel tanks — a key step toward shutting down the facility as demanded by the state. The military has said it plans to close the Red Hill facility by January 2027.
Other legal action related to Red Hill includes a civil suit filed against the U.S. government earlier this month by five military service members who allege they were physically affected by the leaks while off duty.
