A group of key local officials want to use “bioremediation” to help break down what could be up to 2 million gallons of fuel released from Red Hill.
The Red Hill Water Alliance Initiative, also known as the WAI group, on Tuesday released a report on what is needed to recover the Navy’s Red Hill Bulk Fuel Storage Facility from decades of fuel leaks.
The process they are advocating for involves the use of microorganisms to accelerate the natural breakdown of fuel in the environment. Officials believe this could be the best option for preventing the further contamination of Oʻahu's water supply.
Other remediation processes considered in the Red Hill WAI report include the excavation and injection of heat to “mobilize” fuel in the ground, but the group rejected those processes because of environmental conditions in the Red Hill area.
The report said that monitoring is a key part of the remediation process, so the WAI group needs access to the Navy’s monitoring wells — meaning it wants greater transparency from the federal government.
The WAI said the U.S. government is responsible for the 20,000 gallons of fuel leaked from Red Hill in 2021 and all the physical, mental, emotional and financial problems associated with its contamination of a major water supply.
“We want the public to know that we will continue to insist on transparency and accountability beyond the defueling process, as all people living in Hawaiʻi deserve pure, clean drinking water,” Gov. Josh Green, one of the WAI members, said in a statement.
The remediation plan takes into account the possibility that the Red Hill underground storage tanks, which can hold up to 250 million gallons of fuel, have been leaking since they were constructed in 1943.
“There's also the past releases of this facility, which has been in operation like 80 years. And today, you know, it was disclosed that the latest estimates now of potential leaks in the past, you know, range from potentially 644,000 to nearly 2 million gallons of past releases,” Ernie Lau, Honolulu Board of Water Supply’s chief engineer and a WAI member, told the Honolulu City Council in a Red Hill update on Tuesday.
The WAI also spoke on the reported leaks from the facility — an estimated 6,000 gallons spilled per year in “incidental leaks” over the last 80 years and another 1.3 million gallons reportedly spilled in the 1940s.
But it’s not exactly clear how much has spilled, Lau said, also reiterating the need for the Navy to be more transparent.
“My discussions with the military will be (that) we really need greater transparency here. Please share the full history and experiences of that facility so we can understand exactly how much leaked what leaked, and so we can understand the scope of the problem we're dealing with on the cleanup,” Lau told the city council.
The BWS recently filed a $1.2 billion claim with the Navy to recoup costs associated with its Red Hill response.
The board recently also approved a water rate increase for customers, partly to recoup Red Hill costs, but also in response to its increasing operational costs.
The WAI report supports the closure of the Red Hill facility.
“The facility cannot be used for any purpose that will store or use substances harmful to the water, air, or natural environment, or accelerate the level of contamination of the subsurface or water table. This prohibition includes any use that introduces substantial amounts of water intentionally or accidentally as this would accelerate the migration of fuel contaminants,” the report stated.
It also wants the federal government to prohibit the reactivation of the facility in the future.
Lau, Green, House Speaker Scott Saiki, Senate President Ronald Kouchi, Board of Land and Natural Resources Chair Dawn Chang, University of Hawaiʻi President David Lassner, Honolulu Mayor Rick Blangiardi and Honolulu City Council Chair Tommy Waters are members of the WAI.
